Oil and Ice: A Story of Arctic Disaster and the Rise and Fall of America's Last Whaling Dynasty

By Peter Nichols

Book Overview

"Peter Nichols has crafted a terrifyingly relevant historical narrative...A terrific read."
-Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In The Heart of the Sea

In 1871, America's last fleet of whaling ships was destroyed in an arctic ice storm. Miraculously, 1,218 men, women and children survived, but the disaster was catastrophic at home.

Oil and Ice is the story of one fateful whaling season that illuminates the unprecedented rise and devastating fall of America's first oil economy, and the fate of today's petroleum industry.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0143118366
• ISBN13: 9780143118367
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Previously published as "Final Voyage"

I had greatly enjoyed Peter Nichols' 2009 Putnam book 'Final Voyage' about the 1871 destruction of the entire New Bedford Whaling fleet in the Bering Sea. Living in New Bedford, when I saw another book about the same incident 'Oil & Ice', I had to buy it. But it was a ripoff! It's the same book by Peter Nichols with the publisher (Penguin). At the base of the cover, it says "Previously published as 'Final Voyage'." On the copyright page it says previously published as 'Final Voyage' by Putnam, a member of Penguin Group (USA).