Top ten: whale tales

Social historian and author Philip Hoare named a top ten list of books about whales for the Guardian.

One title on his list:

In The Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick

A gripping account of the whale ship Essex, which was attacked by an enraged bull sperm whale and whose shipwrecked survivors resorted to cannibalism. The story inspired Moby-Dick, although the dialogue from the original 1821 account reads more like an outtake from In Which We Serve: "My God, Mr Chase, what is the matter?" "We have been stove by a whale."

Read about Number One on Hoare's list.

--Marshal Zeringue