content: The sinking of the Essex by a whale is probably most famous as the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby Dick but in In the Heart of the Sea (The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex) by Nathaniel Philbrick, the reader will be engaged in an adventure more exciting than most works of fiction. The author skillfully combines elements from the accounts of two survivors to locate the truth of the tale. In addition, one will become immeresed in the history of Nantucket, the whaling industry (including graphic accounts of the hunt not for the faint hearted), and other elements of this particular place and time in history. An exciting read and a fine speciman of that popular creature, the true survival story. Highly recommended.