Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-ship Essex

It's the bicentennial of the Wreck of the whaling ship Essex (out of Nantucket) in the southern Pacific Ocean. "We have been stove by a whale" were among the last words yelled from the deck of the vessel before all aboard had to abandon it for lifeboats. And what an interesting staving in that was.......more

This is a coffee-table book, if you want to spit the coffee all over the table. Because of yuckiness of a few chapters, which were essential details indeed. I did not read the illustrated version of this book; just from Project Gutenberg. Unnecessarily extra-long sentences. But short read, which was a......more

Good Historical account, and well presented......more

This is the first-hand account of the Essex, which was sunk by a whale in the southern Pacific in 1820, leaving the sailors in small boats for many days with great suffering and finally cannibalism. I read this on a kindle and was at first baffled by the format. There is a straightforward narrative,......more