"Captain's Dinner: A Shipwreck, An Act of Cannibalism, and a Murder Trial That Changed Legal History" by Adam Cohen
A Barnes & Noble Best History Book of 2025
Four men in a lifeboat. Two weeks without food. One impossible choice that would reshape the boundaries between survival and murder. 鈥淎 perfect enunciation of the classic philosophical conundrum: can you sacrifice one innocent life to save many?" (Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi)
On May 19, 1884, the yacht Mignonette set sail from England on what should have been an uneventful voyage. When their vessel sank in the Atlantic, Captain Thomas Dudley and his crew found themselves adrift in a tiny lifeboat. As days turned to weeks, they faced an unthinkable choice: starve to death or resort to cannibalism.
Their decision to sacrifice the youngest鈥�17-year-old cabin boy Richard Parker鈥攊gnited 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 Regina v. Dudley and Stephens, a landmark murder trial that would establish the legal precedent that necessity cannot justify murder鈥攁 principle that continues to shape Anglo-American law today.
In Captain's Dinner, acclaimed journalist, Pulitzer Prize juror, and New York Times bestselling author Adam Cohen masterfully depicts both the harrowing weeks at sea and the sensational trial that followed. "Is killing one innocent person justified if it saves the lives of three others? Cohen's answer鈥攊n this riveting account鈥攔eads like a thriller" (former U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken). Through this Victorian tragedy, Cohen reveals an enduring conflict between primal instincts and moral principles. This book will 鈥渕ake you think long and hard about what you might do to survive鈥� (Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania).
Perfect for readers of David Grann's The Wager and Nathaniel Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea, this pulse-pounding true story has become a real-life example of one of life's greatest moral dilemmas. 鈥淭horoughly researched and impeccably argued鈥� (Martel). Rich with narrative detail and real-life courtroom twists, 鈥渂rilliant and profound,鈥� (bestselling author Amy Chua), Captain's Dinner strikes at the heart of a question that haunts us all: When does survival justify murder?
Book Club Dates:
Wednesday, September 23 at 12-1 pm
Thursday, September 24 at 3-4 pm
Tuesday, September 29 at 12-1 pm on Zoom
