Cape Cod Shore Whaling: America's First Whalemen

by John Braginton-smith, Duncan Oliver

While Nantucket has long enjoyed an illustrious position in America's whaling history, Cape Cod's contribution to the industry is relatively unknown. Yet, it was a Cape Codder who taught the Nantucketers how to hunt whales. In Cape Cod Shore Whaling, authors Duncan Oliver and John Braginton-Smith uncover Cape Cod's integral role in shaping whalefishery, which began along the Cape's sandy shores and evolved into the far-flung whaling expeditions that drove Nantucket's economy into the nineteenth century. Drawing on rare documents never before published, whaling journals, and diaries, Oliver and Braginton-Smith recreate a bygone age when men fought one another for rights to the sea.

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2008

Reviews

[Gig Wailgum]

A great new look at Cape Cod's Shore Whaling industry. Factual and anecdotal - a quick read.