Leviathan

Killing whales is anathema now, but the whaling industry played a big part in the economic development of the U.S. It affected, and was affected by, Indian-settler relations, fugitive slaves, the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. James Boles reads this well-organized history with a steadiness and clarity that keeps you listening. Its long narrative sections are broken by quotes, journal entries, and rhymes, all enlivened as much as possible. Life on a whaler was hard and usually rewarding only for the officers and owners. Though Boles's reading is pretty evenhanded emotionally, you sense a sympathy for the sailors, if not for the whales. Discovery of oil in Pennsylvania and the corsetless (whalebone) fashion of the early twentieth century rendered the U.S. whaling business obsolete. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Starred review from April 16, 2007
In this engrossing account, Dolin (Political Waters
) chronicles the epic history of the American whaling industry, which peaked in the mid-18th century as "American whale oil lit the world." Temporarily dealt a blow by the Revolutionary War, whaling grew tremendously in the first half of the 19th century, and then diminished after the 1870s, in part because of the rise of petroleum. Many of America's pivotal moments were bound up with whaling: the ships raided during the Boston Tea Party, for example, carried whale oil from Nantucket to London before loading up with tea. Dolin also shows the ways whaling intersected with colonial conquest of Native Americans—had Indians not sold white settlers crucial coastal land, for example, Nantucket's whaling industry wouldn't have gotten off the ground. He sketches the complex relationship between whaling and slavery: service on a whaler served as a means of escape for some slaves, and whalers were occasionally converted into slave ships. This account is at once grand and quirky, entertaining and informative. 32 pages of illus.

February 1, 2008
In the introduction to his sprawling account of America's whaling legacy, Dolin explicitly warns that his text is not concerned with the modern ethical implications of the whaling industry. Nor is it a revisionist exploration of the industry's heyday in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, with contemporary debate about the fate of whaling increasingly at the forefront, the historical events related here are all the more poignant. The Basques were most likely the first Europeans to centralize their economy around whaling; later, the industry helped enable the Dutch, Germans, and English to establish sea supremacy. Dolin devotes significant space to the importance of whaling in the relationshipand the dissolution thereofbetween England and its American Colonies. He thoroughly discusses the pervasive influence of the whaling industry on American society, from the everyday drama of the seamen in search of commodity to the myriad items made of whale by-products available in the marketplace, including Spermaceti candles and ambergris. As its name suggests, "Leviathan" is a monumental treatise on a formative American institution, and Dolin admirably creates a cohesive story. Narrator James Boles is engaging, though at times his vocal inflections overdramatize what is historical nonfiction. Recommended for most libraries, especially those with strong historical or natural science collections.Christopher Rager, Pasadena, CA

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