A review by bookbelle5_17
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

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Review of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
By: Nathaniel Philbrick
            Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby Dick is considered a must-read classic, and one that was inspired by the real-life tragedy of the whaleship Essex. Philbrick’s book tells of that event.  Just like Melville, Philbrick got a lot of his information from First Mate Owen Chase’s account of the events, though Chase’s account is limited as he, along with cabin boy Thomas Nickerson (the other source of information for Philbrick’s book), and a few other members of the crew were separated from the captain. It was a shock for Owen Chase when one of the Sperm Whale they would normally hunt attacks the Essex sinking it.  They experience the horrors of dehydration and starvation eventually resorting to cannibalisms.  Owen Chase comes off as ambitious and he along with the second mate didn’t always agree with Captain Pollard, who came off as passive and not a very good Captain.  We do get a bit of Nickerson and his thoughts on the situation, but most of the book focuses on Owen Chase.  Philbrick goes into detail on how they catch and remove the blubber from the whales and at one point crew ends up on an island where they try to hunt try tropical birds.  There is also a discussion of the African American’s being the first to died and are the ones that die first and are eaten by the survivors.  The author also talks other ships that have similar circumstances and how they responded.  This good deep dive into an event that people don’t know about.  
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