A Furnace Afloat

the wreck of the Hornet and the 4,300-mile voyage of its survivors

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Last edited by ImportBot
June 17, 2023 | History

A Furnace Afloat

the wreck of the Hornet and the 4,300-mile voyage of its survivors

  • 1 Want to read

When an accident with an open oil lantern set the American clipper Hornet alight in 1866, the 31 passengers and crew were forced to abandon ship. Cast adrift in three small lifeboats, they had less than 10 days' rations to share between them. They were over 1,000 miles from the nearest island. Over the next six weeks they were to encounter every danger the Pacific could throw at them. They were attacked by sharks and swordfish. They endured storms, and even tornadoes. Their hunger became so intense that they resorted to eating their clothes, and later, half-mad from the effects of drinking sea water, were driven to the edge of cannibalism. Of the 31 men who abandoned ship, only 15 ever saw land again. The newspapers of the time were quick to hail the survivors as heroes; however, as Joe Jackson shows, there was much about the behavior of the castaways that was far from heroic. In the confined space of the open boats tensions between the men ran so high that the threat of violence was constantly present. There was open talk of mutiny, even of murder, and gradually the normal rules of society began to break down. Here, for the first time, is the true story of the men who survived the wreck of the Hornet. Written by Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Joe Jackson, it is one of the rare great historical survival tales from the dying days of the age of sail. - Jacket flap.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
296

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: A Furnace Afloat
A Furnace Afloat: the wreck of the Hornet and the 4,300-mile voyage of its survivors
February 12, 2004, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Orion Publishing Group, Limited
Hardcover in English
Cover of: A Furnace Afloat
A Furnace Afloat: The Wreck of the Hornet and the Harrowing 4,300-mile Voyage of Its Survivors
September 30, 2003, Free Press
Hardcover in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Prologue : A fire at sea
The picnic cruise
Dead reckoning
The doldrums
Chimeras
The stalking sea
The first parting
The second parting
Alone
The theft
The American group
Delirium
The lottery
The island
Epilogue : The floating world
Appendix 1 : Daily position of the Hornet's longboat
Appendix 2 : The Hornet's crew list
Appendix 3 : Glossary

Edition Notes

Published in
London

Classifications

Library of Congress
G530.H67

The Physical Object

Format
Hardcover
Pagination
xiv, 269 p.
Number of pages
296
Dimensions
9.2 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
Weight
1.5 pounds

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL9708385M
ISBN 10
0297846183
ISBN 13
9780297846185
Library Thing
666914
Goodreads
1908262

Source records

Better World Books record

Excerpts

LATER, WHEN THE HEAT and thirst grew so torturous that his tongue swelled in his mouth; when his skin shriveled black and salt-water boils dotted it like smallpox; when Captain Mitchell complained of hearing strange music and the men in the bow stared at him in hunger; then and only then did Henry Ferguson recall his first glimpse of the Hornet and the drift ice crunching against her sides.
added anonymously.

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
June 17, 2023 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 18, 2014 Edited by Bryan Tyson Edited without comment.
August 12, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 24, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs.
April 30, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from amazon.com record