Death Raft: The human drama of the Medusa shipwreck

McKee focuses on the 1816 wreck of the French frigate Medusa, inspiration for Gericault's famous painting in the Louvre. The ship's captain originally implied it to be a fairly ordinary wreck, until the stories emerged of mutiny, suffering slaughter and eventual cannibalism. McKee dramatically recreates the tragedy, but also spots patterns of human behaviour under stress. To do this he extends his research into related areas, such as the behaviour of British seamen drifting on rafts in the same area in World War II, as well as to the infamous stories of The Donner party and the 1972 Andes crash. In this way, Mckee elevates the topic of the book well above its origin story. A really nice copy. Pages are bright and tidy, possibly unread. No marks, staining or creasing. Cloth boards are tight and clean. DJ is unclipped and unmarked with no real noticeable wear except for sun fade on the spine and the slightest darkening in one or two places but overall really excellent. Now covered in professional clear cover. 288pp with many B&W plates and ! colour illustration, and index