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

by Peter Nichols

"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.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, American History

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 21, 2010

About the author

Peter Nichols is the author of the bestselling novel The Rocks, the nonfiction bestsellers A Voyage for Madmen, Evolution's Captain, and three other books of fiction, memoir, and non-fiction. His novel Voyage to the North Star was nominated for the Dublin IMPAC literary award. His journalism has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has an MFA degree from Antioch University Los Angeles, and has taught creative writing at Georgetown University, Bowdoin College, and New York University in Paris. Before turning to writing full time, he held a 100 ton USCG Ocean Operator’s licence and was a professional yacht delivery skipper for 10 years. He has also worked in advertising in London, as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, a shepherd in Wales. He has sailed alone in a small boat across the Atlantic and is a member of the Explorers Club of New York.

Reviews

[Craige Murdoch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I knew all there was to know about whaling and New England in the 19th century. But now I know more.
Oil and Ice describes the rise of quakers in the region and connects the attributes of this oddball group to their singular dominance of the whale oil global trade. We also get intimate details of a more domestic side to life aboard a whaleship from journal entries of the captains' wives who would not accept a life ashore waiting years at a time for their husband to briefly visit. Instead they chose chaos and adventure.
The whale oil story ends with the discovery and boom of petroleum oil. My reading interest may follow along..

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains some great bits of information (impact of walrus hunting on Eskimo populations, diaries of whaling wives), and the overall focus, on a disaster that, after and along with a series of other events--including the Civil War, the global depletion of whale populations by commercial whaling, and the dawning of the petroleum economy--signaled the decline of the New England whale oil industry.

However, the book is terribly organized. While alternating between chapters on 1) the 1870 and 1871 arctic whaling seasons and 2) the history--social, religious, and economic--of the New England whaling industry, particularly in New Bedford, the chapters skip around terribly, from the 17th century to the 20th century, often with inadequate transitions. Additionally, far too much attention is devoted to the historical set up, which is often too tenuously connected to the story at hand (i.e. Anne Hutchinson).

The author's attempts to connect the hubris and ignorance of the whale oil industry to today's petroleum industry, at their "peaks" and their impending declines, is suggestive, but too little explored in this volume to give it much weight.

If you're looking for a good nonfiction whaling yarn that also is skillfully informative, start with In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.

[Lizzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been fascinated with the whaling industry, especially blown away by the bravery of men to be on a ship 3 years at time. I like how the author ties in the beginning of petroleum with the end of shaking whaling. Disturbing that the increased profitability of petroleum is what prevented the final extinction of whales

[Jock Mcclees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oil and Ice is a fascinating story, if a little disorganized. It alternates chapters. One will be on the story of the whale ship fleet that got trapped in ice in 1871. Then the next will be some history and then back to the 1871 story. The 1871 story flows fine, but the chapters on history jump around a bit chronologically which at times is confusing.

However, both aspects, the history and the 1871 story are fascinating. It talks about the history of how the whaling industry got started, first on Nantucket and then in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It also goes into the history of the Quakers in New England and how the Puritans persecuted them. Ironic that the Puritans came to America to escape persecution and then felt that God had decided theirs was the right way and persecuted everyone else.

The reason for the focus on Quakers is that to escape persecution, they had formed the New Bedford settlement and made up most if not all its inhabitants early on. For a few decades, New Bedford was the Silicon Valley equivalent of the US. Thanks to whaling some of the wealthiest people in the US lived in New Bedford. Because of the rapid expansion and the fact that the whale ships went all over the world, New Bedford pulled in people of all nationalities and religions which changed the dynamics of the town.

Some of the people saw that they needed to diversify and others felt that whaling had been good to them and rode it into the ground. Some of the ones to diversify started the mills making fabric and did quite well until a depression later in the 1800s. Others got involved with the new petroleum industry which was competing with and causing the end of the whaling industry.

The description of what the whalers had to endure made me glad I never had to experience that. Interestingly, according to the book, people signed on willingly. They were not shanghaied to form a crew.

[Rick Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nichols' book traces the huge profit and devastating losses encountered by families who made their fortunes based on the whaling industry. The book particularly focuses on one terrible season in 1871 when a whole fleet of ships were trapped in Arctic ice and had to be abandoned. Over 1200 sailors and passengers were rescued by other ships in the area. (This alone shows how "over-fished" the waters were in pursuit of whales.) Those who made their fortunes from whaling did not (or would not) see the changes occurring in the industry: depletion of whales, a surfeit of whaling vessels, alternative oil sources, to name a few. As a result, when the end came, the devastation was "unexpected" and complete. In addition to the history of whaling, this book also traces the strong presence of Quakers in the industry and how their in-fighting and resistance to change helped to bring about the decline of New Bedford. Except for several bits of repetition, this is an interesting read and gives more information on an industry and location that once "ruled the world."

[Samara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good: interesting bit of history about a long bygone whaling industry that I knew nothing about.
The bad: terrible historical oversights, particularly the part where the author says that one of his whale-ship owning subjects also owned slaves but then says absolutely nothing else about it, such as whether slavery contributed to the whaling industry. I can't even excuse it as a topic tangential to the main story because the author goes off on so many other tangents, such as Quakerism, environmental damage, and the Revolutionary war. He just listed the ownership of human beings along with the ownership of other assets and moved on.
The literary: meh. The author takes too long to get to the point in an attempt to build suspense. But I appreciated that he quoted a lot of historical first person accounts.

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only thing longer than the words the author uses are the sentences he puts them in. He seems to be a master of unnecessary thesaurus use, and he never misses an opportunity to meld 3 or 4 sturdy sentences into one. The story is difficult to read and difficult to follow. Is it a story of a particular whaling season? Or of a captain and his family? Or of a city? Or perhaps a general history of whaling? There's so much going on that nothing gets enough attention. And maps of the locations discussed would be very useful, especially in the Arctic Ocean. But I always complain about the lack of maps.

[Rogue Fern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there's no indication of this in the book or acknowledgements, this book really reads like a long-format magazine article that has been padded out to book length. Is it the story of a single disaster event? A history of whaling? A biography of principal figures in the whaling industry? All of the above, kind of jammed together. It is nevertheless an interesting read but the scattered nature of the different narratives keep it from flowing smoothly (like... oh...... what does that??).

[David Churbuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent breezy history of the Arctic whaling fishery with an emphasis on the events that led to the end of the commercial fishery north of the Bering Straits in the 1870s. Good history of the Howland family as well.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal story, amazing writer. This guy should more well known than he is.

[Aziff · Rating 3 out of 5]

In all honesty, Oil and Ice surprised me. I jumped the few first pages in expecting dry history but as I peeled the pages away, I found myself interested in what history held in the narrative of America's whaling industry of the 19th century. This is probably attributed to P. Nichols strong narrative, who makes good at keeping the story fresh.

Oil and Ice is quintessentially about America's whaling industry but what I found compelling about this book was how P. Nichols extends the narrative to also vignette the bigger picture. Not only limited to the whaling industry - chapters were dedicated to the Eskimo community, whale ecology, the shift to walrus hunting, life of the seamen, the discovery of petroleum and of course, the Quakers community.

While I appreciated the painting of the whaling industry, I felt that P. Nichols' narrative was problematic. The book's chapters frequently shifted its focus back and forth from one subject matter to another. While it wasn't a glaring issue (in my opinion), it can be rather annoying and disconcerting at times, when a book on history isn't told in chronological narrative without good reason.

I found myself falling into slight disinterest when it came to the story of the players of the whaling industry. I can't be too sure why despite these segments being key to the whole point of the tale. That though, is but a small gripe on my part. It did little to disturb the experience of reading this book.

[Sonya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a descendant of New Bedford whalers and a history buff, I found this work very interesting. I wanted to learn about the industry of whaling and Nichols explained it well - the numbers of whales killed, the oil and products it produced, the ordeals the whalers had to endure, and the effect on walruses and Eskimos, etc. I also found it intriguing to learn how the whalers' families dealt with the absence of the head of the house - some could not bear to be apart and went with the captains - wives and children! I also found it interesting to learn what happened to New Bedford economically after the decline of whaling and the reasons why whaling declined in the first place. This book may not be of interest for everyone but I think anyone interested in learning more about the times of Herman Melville would like it.

[Vettius29 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enlightening look at how quickly an industry and its wealthy owners can collapse. Exxon, BP, and others- too big to fail? If diversification of energy creation is not moved from petroleum as the primary source. Fracking shale is delaying peak oil. How long until the impact on fresh water and pollution is finally acknowledged and companies are held to standards of the Clean Air/Clean Water Act?

Look what happened to the financial situation of the families that owned the whaling industry. Over a century of wealth collapsed in a decade or so. Not to mention the horrific impact on the native people of the northern regions of Russia and Alaska with the decimation of the walrus populations as well.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like others have noted there is a really interesting story here and maybe in the hands of a better writer it could have been a great book. As it is I barely made it thorough and thankfully the final 40 pages were quite good. I have trouble recommending it to anyone unless you are very very interest d in the era, arctic misadventures and trivial history and have run out of better books to satisfy your need.

[Christina Dudley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hoped this would be more thrilling than it was. Some parts (disaster, whaling wife's diary entries, walrusing) were very interesting and others dull. Slightly frustrated by the structure, which alternated between history of Quakers/whaling industry and "the crisis."

If this sounds good to you, I would recommend Philbrick's IN THE HEART OF THE SEA.

[Mike Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful telling of both the general history of the whaling industry in the United States and the eventful 1871 whaling season in particular. The chapters of the book alternate between each subject, creating a building feeling of inevitability without losing a kind of suspense. A very good read.

[Michael Dow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about the New England whaling industry, despite its long duration and role in shaping my home state, so this was a fine introduction to the business of murdering whales and the men who did it. Also has a thoughtful consideration of the parallels between whale oil and petroleum, and the transformation of New Bedford from a rich seaport into a milltown.

[Chris Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blending of history and disaster

A blending of history and disaster. The author does a great job on both the history of whaling and the actual disaster in 1871which took place in the Arctic Circle.
As Jonson quipped life aboard a ship is akin to a prison with a chance of drowning. This never far from the truth

[Chris O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've heard about peak oil? This book was about "peak whale." That is, the moment when the whaling industry, which was the source of most fuel and many other products in the 19th century, reached its peak, and then collapsed overnight. A fascinating economic and social history.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Quakers of Massachusetts pretty much controlled the whaling industry in the 18th and 19th centuries. And they also oversaw its demise. My interest stems from the fact that a descendent of one of the families founded my hometown in Ohio. It's a very well written and well researched book.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the rise and fall of the whaling industry of New England (specifically New Bedford MA) in the nineteenth century. It also explains how the petroleum industry surpassed it.

[Joseph Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was born in New Bedford, so it a more interesting to me than it might be to others. Very good book.

[EffinghamPL]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12710495