Rating: 
Summary: human face on history
Review: I could not put this book down! For those who enjoyed the story of the Essex, I also recommend Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party. Both of these books allow the reader to enter multidimensional worlds which are so often represented thinly in the history texts. As well, the reader is able to glimpse the horrors of survival cannibalism through the interpretations of empathetic authors. It is easy to harshly judge others, and to reduce these stories to their least common denominator. However, if you want to enjoy the emotional roller coaster of exquisite time travel into two different realms of the American experience, you must read both of these books.
Rating: 
Summary: Good adventure yarn, not very interesting as a history
Review: Nathaniel Philbrick has done an absolutely masterful job digging out the world of the sailors on the Essex, on their fateful voyage. The book is filled with detail of the day-to-day travails of the seaman & officers, and interesting speculation about the relationships between major players in the drama. The book would be of particular interest to people intoxicated with the sea & sailing, since there is plenty of information about how sailing & navigation was done (right & wrong by this group) in the early nineteenth century. Where I found the book to be weak is in the general history, the context in which all this occurred. I prefer a book that uses an incident like this as a centerpiece to elucidate the social, political, economic, cultural situation of the day. Philbrick does this, in places, particularly in the first few chapters, but then the book degenerates, or better said, narrows its view to the Essex voyage itself, abandoning the historical context. The book would have been much much longer & less focused had it taken the approach I suggest ... but it is nevertheless the approach I prefer. That is why I gave it a 3.
Rating:
Summary: Pass the salt , please.
Review: I'm sure if you're reading this review, you already know the tragic story of the whaleship Essex just like I did when I bought this book. However what I didn't know was the history of Nantucket, the birth of the whaling industry and the many other shipwreck stories that ended in cannabilism.This book is extensively researched from every aspect with an impressive bibliography that led me to read other books by the time I was finished with this one. It is impossible NOT to read this book in one sitting. It's up to you now if you want to read it or not. 'Nuff said!
Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Tale
Review: This is one of the best accounts of suvivorship that I have read. Philbrick not only tells the story of the Essex, but he also tells the story of what made the men of the Essex the men that they were. Only Shakelton's story compares with this story as far as I am concerned, but even Shakelton had an easier time than the survivors of the Essex. I would suggest it to anyone who likes suspense and adventure.
Rating:
Summary: 4 wives and 6 children in 5 months
Review: Owen Chase, the first mate on the whaleship Essex that shipped from Nantucket in 1820, to be visciously attacked and sunk by a sperm whale over 2,000 miles from the South American coast, survived at sea on a whale boat for two months. Cannabalism of a dead crewman was his key to survival. Chase subsequently became a whale boat captain and authored a tome on his experiences. In 21 years at sea, Chase only spent 5 months on land but managed to have 6 children by 4 wives (2 died in childbirth, 1 was divorced for infidelity while he was at sea). This history book, though highly entertaining, is an eye-opener about 19th century America, Natucket Quaker culture, the whaling industry, race (when the survivors resorted to cannabalism, the first four crew members eaten were Americans of African descent, a face that the Quaker abolitionist whalers of Nantucket tried to keep silent). The literature that came out of the Essex tragedy, from Melville's Moby Dick to works by Edgar Allen Poe, is also well reviewed. To combine entertainment with the acquisition of knowlege, this book cannot be beat.
Rating:
Summary: Echoes of the American experience
Review: In the Heart of the Sea author Nathaniel Philbrick has managed to write not only an engrossing account of 19th century maritime tragedy, but he also reminds us of the roots of our culture and its ancient connections. Here we see the hunter gatherer male in archetype, drawing on his reserves of cunning and stamina, eerily reminiscent of his cave dwelling ancestors. Women left for two years at a time, empowered socially, economically and sexually, as only their American daughter's nearly two centuries later will be. Raw American capitalism, with its emphasis on risk and reward, where the wealthy minimize their risk, and human labor is merely a commodity to be managed. Christian faith distorted into a communal ethos, based on mans greed versus the Almighty's creed. A caste system of class, race and birthplace, whose fates conspire to determine those who would live and who would perish. Man's arrogance and abrogation of nature, his sense of dominion and omnipotence overturned by the leviathan he pursues. More than a page turning epic, this book casts long shadows into who we are as an American people. We see our modern age, playing out in many of the themes that echo in the chapters of Philbrick's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping, Nail-biting, Page-Turner of a Book!
Review: Nathaniel Philbrick has created a carefully researched and highly-detailed account of this great tragedy on the high sea for the modern day reader. Being one of the few persons I suppose who had never read or heard about the tragedy of the Essex and having not read Moby Dick either, I was captivated not by the style of writing here, but by the positively compelling events of this voyage which grew increasingly more horrific with each new chapter. It is without a doubt a gripping, nail-biting, page-turner of a book which always brings the reader back to the same gnawing question..."If I was in this situation, would have done the same things these men did?" The answer which each reader must supply to that question is what makes the book so effective.
Rating:
Summary: I wonder what wine goes with that?
Review: Like many other reviewers, I couldn't put this one down. This is a gripping tale of survival in the face of terrible circumstances, and also an interesting history lesson on the whaling port of Nantucket. I really felt sorry for the crew lost at sea in those tiny boats, dealing eventually with cannabalism, the very fate they sought to avoid by the Captain's poor navigational decision. As moved as I was by this particular crew's fate, I was even more moved by Philbrick's description of life on a whaling ship. How miserable! And doing that for two years at a time for miserable wages!! When I think my job sucks, I think of those poor sailors trying out a whale on the deck of that small ship in the dark, and I immediately feel better.
Rating:
Summary: Fiction follows true life!
Review: True life experiences can be even more fantastic than any fiction available. This is certainly the case with In the Heart of the Sea. I am in agreement with the other reviewers who just could not put this book down for a minute. At times this book is fascinating and at times horrifying! This is more than an exciting true-life adventure, it is a great history lesson about the Nantucket culture. What is also really interesting can be found in the epilogue which relates the experience of a sperm whale that had washed ashore. Heartbreaking as it was, it was truly an amazing lesson of the strength of the whalemen on those small ships when modern man took a leap back in time! It also pointed to the amazing, and complicated make-up of the sperm whale, a creature that is to be respected for it's power and grace. On another note, for pure light-reading and for entertainment value only, I recommend reading Savages, by Shirley Conran. It is about several women fighting for survival on an island with cannibal tribes and guerilla warfare. It also depicts survival at sea with some accuracy. Read In the Heart of the Sea for yourself and learn something about the character of the Nantucket whalemen. You certainly won't be disappointed with this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I found this to be one of the most engaging books I have read in a long time. I read it in three nights and was sad when it was over. The author appears to have done a LOT of research on this subject, amply illustrated by his extensive notes at the end of the book. It's great to read a book that is both well-researched and well-written. My only complaint, a small one, is that I wish he had spent more time discussing the racial dynamics of the crew. Unlike some authors, Philbrick definitely didn't ignore this topic. But when the African-American members of the boats die off and are eaten, one by one, I was totally incredulous. How could this have happened? I thought Philbrick could have spent more time discussing other historic shipwrecks where there were racial issues involved. Perhaps, however, there really wasn't enough data to go on. Anyway, as I said, I greatly enjoyed this book.
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