Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America

by Eric Jay Dolin

Book Overview

The epic history of the "iron men in wooden boats" who built an industrial empire through the pursuit of whales. "To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme," Herman Melville proclaimed, and this absorbing history demonstrates that few things can capture the sheer danger and desperation of men on the deep sea as dramatically as whaling. Eric Jay Dolin begins his vivid narrative with Captain John Smith's botched whaling expedition to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393331571
• ISBN13: 9780393331578
• Release Date: July 2008
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.7" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A wonderful book!

Broad in scope, full of detail, and beautifully written. I learned an incredible amount from this book and enjoyed every minute of doing it. I promise you will not regret buying it and reading it yourself.

An Education in Both Whaling History and General History

Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely -- having nothing in particular to interest me in current fiction, I thought I would embark on a quest to re-read (or, read for the first time) some of the classic literature I had neither understood nor appreciated in high school and college. My first effort was Melville's Moby Dick -- I daresay I was the only person reading it on the beach that summer. I fell in love with it and wished to master it. So, among the other works I've tackled, I re-read Melville's symbolic adventure yearly...whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul. A dear friend, learning of my affinity for the tale of the white whale, recommended Eric Jay Dolin's Leviathan. This book is more than deserving of all the kudos and awards it's garnered so far. Mr. Dolin makes what could be dry, dusty subject matter vibrant and relevant; the historical figures are alive and the depth of detail he uncovered in his research is astonishing. Everything about whaling is explained in the context of the times (Colonial America, the Civil War, Quasi War) and everyday life -- both on whaling voyages and for families at home -- is an important part of the story. When I pick up Moby Dick again this fall, it will be with a new appreciation and perspective for Ishmael, Ahab and the Pequod. I recommend this book without reservation for anyone interested in Moby Dick or American history.

Leviathan will delight you

Leviathan is not only a well researched and beautifully written book but also one of the most satisfying, non-fiction "page turners" that I've read in many years. While many whale and whaling books speak to the hazardous life of the whalers and the immense profits of the owners, Dolan's gives us a complete and englightened history of the economic, political and historical background of an industry that led to the near biological extinction of some cetacean species. It's revealing to read of the extent to which whaling interests went to protect their fleets from regulations, competition and conflicts between warring countries. While Leviathan is an academic account of whaling in America, it's so much more. The author is highly skilled in bringing the reader visual images of the encounters with these most awsome mammals. I enthusiastically recommend Leviathan to both the serious student of marine history and the discriminating reader of significant non-fiction.

A comprehensive and vivid history

Growing up as I did in southeastern New England - a childhood that included well-remembered trips to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and the Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts - whaling has long been part of my personal fabric of the historical past. Eric Jay Dolin's "Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America" meticulously details that part of the past. In his preface to the book, Dolin (trained in environmental studies) sets out his purpose as being to "re-create what whaling was, not to address what it should be now." And similarly he warns that "this book does not pass judgment on American whalemen by applying the moral, ethical, and cultural sensitivities of modern times to the actions of those who existed in a bygone era." Dolin succeeds admirably in re-creating historical whaling, going back to early English and Dutch whaling efforts and discussing whether coastal American Indians actually engaged in anything beyond "drift whaling" (i.e., opportunistically making use of the carcasses of whales washed ashore). Allthough Basques had crossed the Atlantic as early as the mid-Sixteenth century to pursue "shore whaling" (rowing out from shore installations to hunt and kill whales), it was in particular the English colonists of northeastern American in the Eighteenth century who particularly made an art of deep-sea whaling, sailing out into the Atlantic on long voyages to pursue their prey. Whaling became a major source of economic tension in the decades leading to the American Revolution. Although the years of war (and the War of 1812 a few decades later) for a time diminished the strength of the American whaling industry, it grew dramatically by the time of its "Golden Age" in the 1840s, although various factors including the ready availability of petroleum from newly discovered oil wells soon thereafter sent whaling into a severe decline from which it never recovered. "Leviathan" is well-written, both comprehensive in scope and yet at the same time vividly detailed, examining the romance of whaling in the South Seas (a romance particularly enjoyed by those who were safe and dry on land) and the dirty, harsh reality of spending months and even years at sea hunting the great creatures. Whaling was not a good way for the typical seaman to earn a fortune; indeed, at the end of a long voyage a man aboard a whaler was likely to make barely enough money to get riotously drunk before shipping out again. Dolin carefully examines the bleak economics of whaling and the political complications that sometimes accompanied it (such as the precarious and uncomfortable position occupied by the great whaling center of Nantucket during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, faced with the overwhelming might of the Royal Navy and the necessity to make a living almost exclusively through an industry that inevitably exposed its ships and men to capture or death at the hands of the Royal Navy. And Dolin explores life on whaling ships

Nothing was omitted

Reading Leviathan by Eric Jay Dolin was indeed a treat. This book tells the tale of the History of Whaling in America with precise details and in such a narrative form that one is intrigued by reading the volume. I truly did not want the chapters to end-as the writing was so well done. The comprehensive foot notes for each chapter, were in themselves a treat to read and the knowledge that they contained was indeed valuable and enhanced the reading of the book. I grew up in New Bedford, MA, once the whaling capital of the world, and took a course in the History of Whaling many years ago--and much of what Dolin tells I had never heard. Kudos to Mr. Dolin. I cannot wait for his next book to appear