<Tr> <Th> ISBN </Th> <Td> 0 - 670 - 89157 - 6 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> OCLC </Th> <Td> 608132810 </Td> </Tr> <P> In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex is a book by American writer Nathaniel Philbrick about the loss of the whaler Essex in the Pacific Ocean in 1820 . The book was published by Viking Press on May 8, 2000, and won the 2000 National Book Award for Nonfiction . It was adapted into a film of the same name, which came out in late 2015 . </P> <P> The Essex, an American whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, sank after a sperm whale attacked it in the Pacific Ocean in November 1820 . Having lost their ship, the crew of the Essex attempted to sail to South America in whaleboats . After suffering from starvation and dehydration, most of the crew died before the survivors were rescued in February 1821 . </P>

The heart of the sea is it a true story