In the Heart of the Sea
Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea won the National Book Award and reconstructed the true story that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick. In November 1820 the Nantucket whaleship Essex was three thousand miles from the South American coast when a massive bull sperm whale rammed the hull twice and sank the vessel. Twenty crewmen escaped in three small whaleboats with limited provisions, and over the next three months they were forced to drift across thousands of miles of empty ocean, drinking rainwater, eating sea turtles, watching companions die of thirst, and finally drawing lots to decide who would be eaten so the remainder might survive. Philbrick draws on the journals of first mate Owen Chase and cabin boy Thomas Nickerson, on Nantucket archives, and on modern oceanography to reconstruct both the disaster itself and the Quaker whaling town that produced it. The result is a vivid, unsentimental history of the dawn of American maritime industry and the human cost of hunting whales for oil.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about In the Heart of the Sea
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In 1820 a Nantucket whaleship was rammed and sunk by an enormous sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific. The crew spent ninety days in three small boats. What they did to survive haunted them for life.
Yes. In the Heart of the Sea is Nathaniel Philbrick's nonfiction account of the 1820 sinking of the Nantucket whaleship Essex by a sperm whale. The disaster inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Philbrick draws on survivor accounts and ship logs.
Yes. Ron Howard directed a 2015 film adaptation starring Chris Hemsworth. The film follows the book's framing of an older Nickerson recounting the events to Melville.
In the Heart of the Sea was written by Nathaniel Philbrick, published in 2000 by btb.
In the Heart of the Sea is 320 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, In the Heart of the Sea takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
In the Heart of the Sea is a standalone novel by Nathaniel Philbrick, not part of a series.
In the Heart of the Sea is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.