Rating: 
Summary: To many comparisons for a real story
Review: You can't tell is a great story when the story is real, here the writer tells us a real story and he writes things to compare the reality of that story with other stories, if you are writing a real story you don't have to compare it with anything, just tell the story and that's it.
In the other hand your will read many times that it was a sunny day, then a rainy day, the a storm day, you just get tired of reading the same in all the chapters.
In the main story you will learn that when happened a human tragedy, this tragedy is because were made several errors, not just one, and that was what happened to this crew.
For ME, the last chapter is the epilogue and the epilogue doesn't have to be written.
Rating: 
Summary: great, great book!
Review: This is one of the most exciting books I have ever read. I have liked stories about the sea and sailors since I was a little girl. So, when I happened to see an article in the Mobile Press Register about Nathaniel Philbrick and the book "In The Heart Of The Sea, The Tragedy Of The Whaleship Essex", I had to head to the nearest bookstore. As soon as I started reading it, I knew it would be one that would be hard to put down. I was right, I read it and read it the second time. Philbrick's writing is excellent. He has a way of making your imagination wander and before you know it, you are feeling as part of the crew. It is sad that the crew had to suffer the cruelty of the sea. It definitely had no mercy on these men. I encourage anyone that likes a true, exciting story to read this book and if possible to listen to the audio tape. They are both great. I now have intentions of vacationing in Nantucket next year. I want to visit the town that once was home to these men that I have grown so close to in this book. As I said before, I encourage you to read this book, it is awesome!
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Summary: Saga of ecologically reckless men
Review: This is a very captivating story, well-written and researched. I found the history of the Nantucket whalers to be interesting, but it seems that the ecological impact caused by these men is not examined in detail. I'm not talking of "whaling is bad and whalers are evil"; I think this has already been examined exhaustively. Rather, the impact that whaling had on many island and ocean ecosystems. I realize that men were not as savvy about the environment and their impact on it in the early 1800s, but surely one thinks they would have realized something was going awry when the Nantucket whaling industry started out around the home island, then the whales there disappeared and they had to venture farther out into the Atlantic; eventually exhausting that supply of whales and having to round the Horn and hunt in the forbidding, and largely unknown, Pacific Ocean.
There are two vignettes worth mentioning: One is a stop on the Galapagos Islands, for food and fresh water. They gather up as many Galapagos tortoises as they can find, for use as fresh meat at sea since the creatures supposedly required no food or water for months. Some of these tortoises were decades, possibly a hundred years old, and the men think of nothing of taking them as a quick and easy food supply. Even though they supposedly need no food, some of the men comment on them trying to eat any and everything aboard the ship. All the survivors of these tortoises went down with the ship; some were floating about in the water as the ship went down. Then one crewman, as a prank, starts a fire on the Galapagos island they're on, and pretty much reduces the island to a charred cinder. They watch it burn behind them for days. One wonders what subspecies were rendered extinct in this conflagration. Another example is when the men, after the sinking, wash up on remote Henderson Island. Within weeks, they have eaten every small bird and edible creature on the island, undoubtedly changing the ecosystem forever.The adventure in this book, however, is first-class. The whale sank the Essex roughly halfway between Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands--pretty much as far away from land as anyone could be. I'll never forget the stunned sensation the whalers had when they look from their whaleboats and see their ship going down--and they're literally in the middle of nowhere. What they go through from this point defies human comprehension.
Rating: 
Summary: Judgemental and Critical, JUST TELL THE STORY
Review: I would have enjoyed this book much better if the author did not feel compelled to bring his "politically correct" comemntary along with him. The story iteself is a remarkable one, but the injections of politically correct judgemental commentary damages it for me. I really felt that this author would not have liked the subjects of his work. He would have considered them dumb hypocritical christians, whale murderers to be despised, and ignorant, incompetent persons. I do not expect an author to make the subjects of his work into greater than they were, but comments and insights were often interjected that just did not seem appropriate to this type of work. The comemntary begins in Nantucket where supposedly "peaceful" Quakers murder sea mammals, women were drug addicts and used ceramic dildos (its in the book), racist men who may have murdered the blacks of the crew first for food though no evidence supports this, and finally portrays the men as ignorant xenophobes. Maybe some people like reading a book where the author has nothing good to say about any of its main characters, thinks it is fair to judge them by today's morals, looks for the worst in everything, and speculates to try and create atrocities(for which there is apparently no good evidence) to drag the characters down further. The sinking of the Essex and the tale of its survivors is amazing, and could have been done in a much more dignified and respectful manner. I would recommend instead reading Alfred Lansing's "Endurance: Shackeltopn's Incredible Voyage" or Doug Stanton's "In Harms Way" as great examples of maritime tragedies and survival stories. They are fine examples where you get to know the characters, for better or worse, in a fair and on-judgemental manner.
Rating: 
Summary: A true tragedy, well-told.
Review: "In the Heart of the Sea" is the story of the Nantucket whaleship Essex, which was sunk in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after having been rammed by an enormous sperm whale, leaving its crew to fend for themselves for three months in open boats. Most of them die. It's a famous story, having inspired Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. Nathaniel Philbrick relates the events of the ill-fated voyage through the accounts of some of its survivors. Hindsight is 20-20, and it seems easy to see how much of this disaster could have been averted. Culture, personalities, and dumb luck dictated otherwise, and the Essex story is truly a tragedy. Although it's hard to read of the unrelenting sufferings of the men in their boats and what happens physically and psychologically on the way to death of thirst or starvation, this book adds a lot of information about 19th century Nantucket culture and the whaling world of the time. It also tells the stories of the survivors' lives after the tragedy, such as they are known. All in all, it's a very interesting read, highly recommended. The (unabridged -- never skimp!) audiocassette version is well-narrated, a recommended alternative to sitting down with the work in print. However, if you're in it for historical research, you'll probably want access to the footnotes/citations on paper.
Rating:
Summary: A suggestion.
Review: This account of an epic adventure suffered from what I'd call 'reportage'. As I read this exciting book I found myself longing for the enthralling descriptive power of Patrick O'Brian marvelous prose. So imagine my joy in discovering -The Unknown Shore- by O'Brian! The final part of that book is strikingly similar to - In the Heart of the Sea-. O'Brian's masterful capacity to evoke the verisimilitude of his sailor's plight wonderfully enhanced my memory the Essex book. I was so pleased!
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Summary: Very short review: FANTASTIC !!
Review: It will be short review because there have been 160 good reviews created before.
I do not have enough positive words to describe how fantastic this book is and I do not want to repeat what has been entered below about the Essex and his crew.
So why do I attempt to write something here anyway?
I came to conclusion, that by expressing myself in such a place like Amazon, I will show respect and admiration to Nathaniel Philbrick, his great research and writing.
If you happen to come across this book anywhere during your lifetime, make sure not to walk away without it. I promise you will not regret.
Rating:
Summary: If you have seen the movie, still read the book
Review: This well written book is not only a harrowing true story of men against the sea, but also taught me many interesting things about the dangers of commercial fishing which I found fascinating. I was not only gripped by the main events of the storm itself, but I was also interested in the human side of the relationships between wives, parents, girlfriends and the fisherman who would go to sea, maybe never to return. I was amazed at the risks that the rescue teams took, the National Guardsmen Swimmers, and Pararescue Jumpers are truely heros. As you read you understand the construction of the boat, the elements of the storm, decisions made, and how all of these may have contributed to the final outcome. The book goes much farther than the movie, and is a learning experience, as well as a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The movie, which showed unknown events as fact, and left out much of fascinating information found in the book, does not do justice to The Perfect Storm.
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Summary: an unforgettable tale
Review: "Just as the skinned corpses of buffaloes would soon dot the prairies of the American West, so did the headless grey remains of sperm whales litter the Pacific Ocean in the early nineteenth century" writes Nathaniel Philbrick in this superbly researched true story...a tale that was the inspiration for Melville's "Moby Dick". Being an animal rights person, I found the depictions of the whale killings, as well as the treatment of the tortoises, harrowing, but always keeping in mind that the cruelty goes on, and is now called "factory farming"...it doesn't lessen the horror of what was done for either greed or survival, but puts it into perspective. The book took me back to the 1820's, with vivid, but not overly worded descriptions, and one is much aided by 2 maps, 3 diagrams of the ship, a list of the crew, as well as many photos and illustrations.
There are also copious notes, an extensive bibliography, and index. The first chapter tells us about early 19th century Nantucket, its history, booming economy, and its people, who "shared in a common, spiritually infused mission-to maintain a peaceful life on land, while raising bloody havoc at sea".
With chapter 2, the voyage begins...with every page so compelling that I wasn't able to put the book down. A lot of the information was gleaned from a book written by the First Mate, Owen Chase, and from a notebook (not found until 1960), belonging to Thomas Nickerson, who was all of 14 when he became cabin boy on the Essex. The final chapter tells what happened to the survivors, and how the whaling industry, and life on Nantucket, changed in the following years...there is also an epilogue, that takes place in present day Nantucket. This is one of the most riveting books I've read. An unforgettable true adventure, stranger and more exciting than any fiction.
Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC!!!
Review: Nat Philbirck's In The Heart Of The Sea is an amazing story of courage and survival at sea. Having read numerous survival stories, as well as Melville's classic Moby Dick (which was partly based on the Essex tragedy) I can say this tale is unmatched by any other. Philbrick's easy style and immense knowledge of the Nantucket Whaling Industy make this one of the easiest and most enjoyable books I've ever come across. After reading this the reader will probably know more about Sperm Whales then he/she ever wanted to know. This isn't a bad thing. The tale takes place in 1819-20, during which the Essex sailed from Nantucket to the Pacific in search of whales. The best part, of course, is the tale of what happens after the ship is sunk and the survivors, hundreds of miles away from any land, embark on a 93 day journey which will lead through storms, delerium, and finally, canibalism. The decisions and actions they are forced to take are so horrible no man should ever have to go through this ordeal. The author even details what it is like not only to slowly die of starvation, but of dehydration and exposure to the elements. If you enjoyed The Perfect Storm, you will certainly enjoy this book. It's a Classic!
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