"Nantucketers saw no contradiction between their livelihood and their religion. God Himself had granted them dominion over the fishes of the sea." Chapter 1, pg. 9

"At twenty years of age, the Essex was reaching the point when many vessels began to exhibit serious structural deterioration." Chapter 1, pg. 19

"Like a skier traversing the face of a mountain, a Nantucket whaleship took an indirect route toward Cape Horn, a course determined by the prevailing winds of the Atlantic Ocean." Chapter 2, pg. 37

"Not until the Essex had crossed the equator and reached thirty degrees south latitude-approximately halfway between Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires-did the lookout spot the first whale of the voyage." Chapter 3, pg. 48

"When the lance finally found its mark, the whale would begin to choke on its own blood, its spout transformed into a fifteen-to-twenty foot geyser of gore that prompted the mate to shout, 'Chimney's afire!'" Chapter...