The ordeal of the whaleship Essex was an event as mythic in the nineteenth century as the Titanic disaster was in the twentieth. In this award-winning book, Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history. From the intricacies of Nantucket’s whaling economy and the mechanics of sailing a square-rigger to the often mysterious behavior of whales, Philbrick brings an incredible story to life, but it is his portrayal of the crew of the Essex that makes this a heart-rending book. These were not romantic adventurers, but young working men, some just teenagers, trying to earn a living in the only way they knew how. This is a timeless account of survival against all odds and the triumph of the human sprit under extreme duress, but also the story of a community of men and women shaped by the forbidding, remote island of Nantucket.