The Sea Inside Hardcover - 2014

Media reviews

"Mr. Hoare's gimlet eye sees the magical in the mundane...'The Sea Inside' embraces the dangers and mysteries of the natural world and in them finds transcendental awe."
—The Wall Street Journal

“This is not a book following the geography of the sea; nor is it a history of sailing. It is an attempt to establish and examine the oneness that the Maori have understood for years: There is no difference between life on land and life in the sea… A beautifully written memoir/travelogue with readable diversions into philosophy.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Hoare’s writing awakens the senses with visions, sounds, and smells of the ocean; his delight and interest in nature will encourage readers to look around with new eyes.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Literary history and natural history entwine so seamlessly in Hoare’s narrative that the barrier between readers and the sea within all of us blurs and disappears.”
—Booklist, starred review

“Here is the distilled essence of Hoare’s work: one part poetry, one part record, and one part a plea for us to pay attention to these oceans, our oceans—and ourselves.”
—Electric Literature

“The Sea Inside offers discoveries in every chapter—Hoare, in addition to being an inherently interesting writer, has a talent for uncovering fascinating historical narratives. This author is a virtuosic storyteller, and The Sea Inside is a welcome opportunity to accompany him on his wanderings—be they geographical, philosophical, or narrative.”
—Daily Beast

“A magnificent book.” 

—Financial Times

“A crammed treasure chest.”
—The London Review of Books

Praise for The Whale

“Philip Hoare’s The Whale is everything you want from a book. It is unpredictable and amusing and informative and original, cavorting between biology, history, travel writing, and memoir with an engaging sense of the subject’s charisma.”    
—Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt and Cod

“Philip Hoare’s writing is quite untrammelled by convention and opens up astonishing views at every turn.”    
—W. G. Sebald

“Genius . . . The Whale [is] a rhapsodic mediation on all things cetacean. Hoare is always on the lookout for the revealing detail. He also has a finely tuned sense of perspective and pacing.”    
—Nathaniel Philbrick, The New York Times Book Review

“This singular, magnificent book inspires both awe and shame—awe of the whales, shame of the human species that has tried to destroy them. In the end, Hoare’s virtuosic sympathy for his subject makes you believe in the better angels of our nature.”
—Alex Ross, bestselling author of The Rest Is Noise

“A love letter to the ‘largest, loudest, oldest’ mammal ever to have existed, Brit biographer Hoare’s book romps through science, history and literature to chronicle his obsession with the mighty whale. Salted with astounding facts (the calls of blue whales were once mistaken for earthquakes), this is an exhilarating valentine.”    
—People