Revenge of the Whale: The True Story of the Whaleship Essex

by Nathaniel Philbrick

Book Overview

In 1820, the Essex was rammed by an enraged sperm whale and sunk in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As the ship went down, the twenty-man crew, many of whom were teenagers, piled into three leaky... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039923795X
• ISBN13: 9780399237959
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

The Revenge of The Whale

I recommend this book because I learned something from it. Like never messing with a wild animal because it can turn on you. Like the sperm whale in the book, it sunk the whale ship Essex. Also there is a big surprise in the book. The crewman of the Essex survived for 94 days! I think my grandfather would enjoy this book because he is into true tales like the whale ship Essex.

Revenge Of The Whale

The revenge of the whale is a great book for readers that like intense and grousome detail involving the fight for survival. Owen Chase is first mate on board the whale ship Essex. He is a fierce whaler that does not take slack lightly. George Pollard is captain of the Essex and had great luck in the past as first mate on board the Essex. As captain he may not be so lucky. Thomas Nickerson is cabin boy on board the Essex and has had little experience with whaling. While fishiung in the offshore grounds in the Pacific, the Essex faces a problem that causes a little more damage than a broken whale boat. The crew of the Essex faces enormous challenges that causes madness, grief and hope, that they will survive the crulety of nature. I thought this book was suspenseful but very good. People that like descirptive but exciting books would enjoy this. It's kind of like the Divinci Code in being very descriptive.

Great Book for middle school students

I had to read this book for a children's literature course, and I absolutely loved it! It is a wonderful book to teach children about real life struggles. I also think it is a great story to teach about conservation. The book is based on a true story and does contain cannabilism, but I think older students can handle the content. I was completly intrigued with the story, a young boy was only one a handful to live through the books ordeal. I think older students would like to learn about a boy their age going on this adventure. It goes great with Gone A-Whaling, a book on whaling and conservation. The whaling industry almost made whales extinct, something that is going on today with many animals. This book is great springboard to discuss real world issues.

Richie's Picks: REVENGE OF THE WHALE

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea,Swim so wild and you swim so free.Heaven above and the sea below,And a little white whale on the go.--Raffi REVENGE OF THE WHALE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX is Nathaniel Philbrick's adaptation for young people of his National Book Award-winning bestseller, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA. While I have not read the adult version, I can tell you that this edition of the author's compelling account of the real-life catastrophe of 1820-21, in which a whale attacks a whaleship in the middle of the Pacific, was detailed and gory enough to keep me horrified for hours, to the extent that it caused me to forget all about my initial delight that at least one whale had apparently gotten even with humankind for what our forefathers had done for the sake of lamp oil and ambergris. Your mama told you neverto eat your friendswith your fingers andhands, but I say youought to eat whatyou will - shove itin your mouth any waythat you can. --Silver Spoon by Grace Slick Utilizing primary source material, including two accounts written by survivors of the wreck about their nightmarish journey across thousands of miles of the Pacific from the middle of nowhere to their rescue off the coast of Chile, the author has crafted a first-rate adventure story that is also a tale of unbearable tragedy. "Like a giant bird of prey, the whaleship moved lazily up the western coast of South America, zigging and zagging across a living sea of oil. For that was the Pacific Ocean in 1821, a vast field of warm-blooded oil deposits known as sperm whales." From the early portions of this saga, which take place before an obstinate, eighty-five foot long sperm whale decides that enough is enough, we learn a vast array of information about the port of Nantucket and the whaleships. The author clearly describes and provides illustrations of the ship's layout, including the names of the masts and individual sails, the crews makeup, including their respective duties and the system of remuneration, their navigational tools, and the graphic details of converting those floating oil deposits into big bucks for the shipowners. I was amazed to discover that the wind patterns dictate that in order to sail from New England around the 'Horn to the Pacific, the whalers would nearly scrape the west coast of Africa! And the fact that ambergris--literally worth more than its weight in gold to perfume manufacturers--was generated as the result of whale constipation. But it's also fascinating to learn at the end about the later lives of those eight men who somehow survived for three months on the ocean in the worst of circumstances--and how the son of one of those survivors grew up to become a whaler, lent a shipmate his father's account of the Essex disaster, and thus became indirectly responsible for that shipmate, Herman Melville, being inspired to write MOBY DICK...