The Lost Fleet - by Marc Songini (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Arctic disasters, rogue whales, ambush by Confederate ships--the true saga of one captain's struggle to survive the demise of the Yankee whaling fleet

It's the mid-ninteenth century and the American whaling fleet is struck by one hammer blow after the other. Yankee whalers are contending with icebergs, storms, rogue whales, sharks, hostile natives, and disease. Many whalers give up the life--but some carry on the vocation. One such man is a captain from Connecticut, Thomas William Williams. Not only does he go out on voyage after voyage, he even takes on board with him his tiny wife, Eliza, and his infant son and daughter.

The Lost Fleet's thrilling narrative recounts Williams' remarkable career, including a daring escape from the Confederate cruiser Alabama and a daring rescue and salvage of lost ships off Alaska's coast. Songini has crafted a historical masterpiece in recording a family saga, a true narrative of adventure and death on the high seas, and a detailed and well-researched look at the demise of Yankee whaling.

Review Quotes

"A Nantucket sleigh ride of a read, guaranteed to thrill and amaze." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Marc Songini has crafted a magnificent tale of perseverance in the face of the declining whaling industry in the mid-1800s....The Lost Fleet is a narrative tour-de-force." --Linda Rosencrance, author of Murder at Morses Pond, and An Act of Murder

"The Lost Fleet is rich in detail, broad in scope and brilliant in its ability to capture a lost era that eerily parallels some of the military misadventures of today. Simply stated, this is the best book of its kind since A Perfect Storm." --Jon Land, author of The Fires of Midnight and The Walls of Jericho

About the Author

MARC SONGINI is a Boston-area journalist whose work has appeared in the Boston Book Review, the Boston Herald, and the Boston Globe.