The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Man Against the Sea - Softcover

The worst storm in history seem from the wheelhouse of a doomed fishing trawler; a mesmerisingly vivid account of a natural hell from a perspective that offers no escape.

The ‘perfect storm’ is a once-in-a-hundred-years combination: a high pressure system from the Great Lakes, running into storm winds over an Atlantic island – Sable Island – and colliding with a weather system from the Caribbean: Hurricane Grace. This is the story of that storm, told through the accounts of individual fishing boats caught up in the maelstrom, their families waiting anxiously for news of their return, the rescue services scrambled to save them. It is the story of the old battle between the fisherman and the sea, between man and Nature, but here Nature is an awesome and capricious power that transforms the surface of the Atlantic into an impossible tumult of water walls and gaping voids, with the capacity to break an oil tanker in two, let alone the 72ft swordfishing boat Andrea Gail with her crew of eight. A typical Hurricane encompasses a million cubic miles of atmosphere and can contain enough energy to, in theory, meet the electric power needs of the UK for a decade. Except that a hurricane will not be controlled. In spare, lyrical prose The Perfect Storm describes what happened when the Andrea Gail looked into the wrathful face of the perfect storm.

In meteorological jargon, a ‘perfect’ storm is one of undisputed ferocity and duration – a description that fits the so-called Halloween Gale of 1991, a once-in-a-hundred-years event. This story is of those – the fishermen, cargo crew, leisure sailors and rescuers – caught in the middle of the awesome natural power of the ocean in a rare fury.

”Junger moves seamlessly between the wrenching human dramas and the awesome details of the storm. 'The Perfect Storm' is terrifying, sad, exhilarating, humbling and unforgettable.”
'Daily Telegraph'

”Junger has found a language to match the stature of the sea at its worst, and to capture its mysteries...It’s a chilling account that registers 12 on the Beaufort Scale.”
'Sunday Times'

”Cuts every facet of raw material to flashing brilliance...It amounts to a Homeric epic in its control of overwhelming natural forces and the grim demands they make of human life and effort.”
'Scotland on Sunday'

”Sometimes a story comes along that’s almost too good to be believable. 'The Perfect Storm' may read like a novel but it isn’t one. It’s chillingly true...more fabulous than fiction, it will become a classic for a jaded modern world.”
DEA BIRKETT, 'Independant'

”Masterly, an essay in fear...He writes like a poet who has been to meteorology school.”
RUTH RENDALL, 'Daily Telegraph'