In Pursuit of the Essex: Heroism and Hubris on the High Seas in the War of 1812
In Pursuit of the Essex follows the adventures of both the hunters and the hunted, taking into account the host of colorful characters that crossed their paths along the way. Traitorous Nantucket whalers, Chilean revolutionaries, British spies, a Peruvian viceroy and bellicose Polynesian islanders all play a role. The brilliant yet vainglorious Captain Porter of the Essex, his nemesis Captain James Hillyar of the Phoebe, and two young midshipmen, David Farragut and Allen Gardiner, serve as principal narrators.
From giant-tortoise turning expeditions on the Galapagos Islands to the perils of rounding Cape Horn--including desperate skirmishes with spear-toting natives on the Marquesas and a defeated duelist bleeding his life out onto black, volcanic sands--the reader is immersed in the fantastical world of the British and American seamen who struggled for supremacy over the world's oceans in the sunset years of the age of sail.
Related Subjects
HistoryCustomer Reviews
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
