How long does it take to read Revenge of the Whale?
The True Story of the Whaleship Essex
Revenge of the Whale by Nathaniel Philbrick takes about 3 hours to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours
A weekend read
First published 2002. 164 pages, about 45,100 words. Written for children.
6 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 5 hours 1 minute |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 1 hour 53 minutes |
The page count is the median across 9 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Never in the history of whale hunting had a ship been attacked by a whale. But on November 20, 1820, the unthinkable happened: the whaleship Essex was rammed and sunk by an angry whale. In minutes, the twenty-man crew (several of whom were only teenagers) found themselves stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in three leaky boats with minimal supplies and little hope. Three months later, two of the boats were rescued off the coast of South America. The castaways had sailed over 4,500 miles from the site of the disaster, an incredible distance. But of the twenty men, only eight survived. Through first-hand accounts -- including that of fourteen-year-old cabin boy Thomas Nickerson -- as well as archival photos, maps, and artwork, Revenge of the Whale stunningly re-creates the dire circumstances of the ill-fated Essex. How these young men overcame hunger, thirst, fear, and the near loss of their humanity is a story as exciting and shocking as any ever told. - Jacket flap.
Subjects: Whaling, Survival, Essex (Whaleship), Shipwrecks, Naufrages, Ouvrages pour la jeunesse
