The Lost Fleet A Yankee Whaler's Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster

It's the mid-ninteenth century and the American whaling fleet is struck by one hammer blow after the other. Yankee whalersare contendingwith 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 daringescape from the Confederate cruiser Alabama anda daring rescue and salvage of lost ships off Alaska's coast. Songini has crafted a historical masterpiece in recordinga 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.

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