The Custom of the Sea: A Shocking True Tale of Shipwreck, Murder, and the Last Taboo

In the late 1800s, the Essex coast of England was known for producing the toughest, most skilled seamen. Tom Dudley was one of them. Though a well-known and respected figure among the local yacht-racing community, he had little experience of deep-sea sailing. Still, Tom agreed to sail more than ten thousand miles to deliver a yacht to its new owner in Sydney, Australia.

Almost immediately, the twenty-year-old Mignonette starts taking on water--a harbinger for events to come. Tom stops for repairs at Southampton, where his crew abandons him. After recruiting three new men--including a teenage boy who lies about his age--Tom sets off, filled with optimism and dreams of new opportunities in a new land. But then a savage storm sinks the Mignonette, leaving Tom and his crew in a thirteen-foot-long dinghy a thousand miles from land. In a shark-filled sea, with no water and little food, the men face a horrific fate--and must sacrifice their very humanity to survive . . .

Four men set out on the Mignonette, but only three will make it back alive.

"The nightmarish events of the shipwreck are reported with real power." --The New York Times Book Review

"Makes astonishing reading . . . extraordinary." --The Times Literary Supplement

"A gripping tale of four sailors adrift at sea . . . Gruesome and completely fascinating." --Kirkus Reviews

"A terrific story . . . a riveting read." --The Spectator