{"product_id":"the-wreck-of-the-medusa-jonathan-miles-9780802143921","title":"The Wreck of the Medusa: The Most Famous Sea Disaster of the Nineteenth Century","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \"thrilling . . . captivating\" account of the most famous shipwreck before the Titanic--a tragedy that inspired an unforgettable masterpiece of Western art (\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn June 1816, the Medusa set sail. Commanded by an incompetent captain, the frigate ran aground off the desolate West African coast. During the chaotic evacuation a privileged few claimed the lifeboats, while 147 men and one woman were herded aboard a makeshift raft that was soon cut loose by the boats that had pledged to tow it to safety.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThose on the boats made it ashore and undertook a two-hundred-mile trek through the sweltering Sahara, but conditions were far worse on the drifting raft. Crazed, parched, and starving, the diminishing band fell into mayhem. When rescue arrived thirteen days later, only fifteen were alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAmong the handful of survivors were two men whose bestselling account of the maritime disaster scandalized Europe and inspired promising artist Théodore Géricault, who threw himself into a study of the Medusa tragedy, turning it into a vast canvas in his painting, \u003ci\u003eThe Raft of the Medusa\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing on contemporaneously published accounts and journals of survivors, \u003ci\u003eThe Wreck of the Medusa\u003c\/i\u003e is \"a captivating gem about art's relation to history\" (\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e) and ultimately \"a thrilling read\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jonathan Miles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 080214392X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802143921\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.90w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/16\/2008 pg. 24","brand":"Jonathan Miles","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48440837341439,"sku":"9780802143921","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_72844858-86ff-452a-b6fa-51fc8d53f3ea.jpg?v=1777186996","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-wreck-of-the-medusa-jonathan-miles-9780802143921","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}