In Captain’s Dinner: A Shipwreck, an Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History, acclaimed legal historian and New York Times bestselling author Adam Cohen masterfully reconstructs the ill-fated 1884 voyage of the yacht Mignonette. On May 19, 1884, the yacht set sail from England to Australia. Soon, Captain Thomas Dudley and his crew found themselves adrift in a tiny lifeboat when their vessel sank in the Atlantic. Unfortunately, no one had thought ahead to stock the lifeboat with fresh water and food, and as days turned to weeks, the men faced an unthinkable choice: starve to death or resort to cannibalism. Their decision to sacrifice the youngest, 17-year-old cabin boy Richard Parker, ignited a firestorm of controversy upon their rescue. Instead of being hailed as heroes and survivors, Dudley and his crew found themselves at the center of a landmark murder trial that would transform law and ethics forever. In CAPTAIN’S DINNER, Cohen brings to life both the harrowing weeks at sea and the subsequent sensational trial. Through this Victorian tragedy, Cohen reveals an enduring conflict between humanity's primal instincts and its highest moral principles, forcing readers to ask how far they would go to stay alive?
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