Andrew Benesh’s Reviews > Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America > Status Update

Done! The rest is footnotes. The final sections on the death of American whaling were surprisingly poignant. At the same time, I'd like to see an extension into those countries and practices that did continue, especially Norway and Japan. The very notion of hunting Blue Whales is insane.

In 1871 33 whale ships (1200+ sailors) were list to the arctic ice without a casualty. That's nuts.

Also, the walrus hunting and it's impact on Canadian natives is an interesting untold story that reeks of British colonialism.

It's crazy to think that people were expecting petroleum to define political platforms as early as 1860. Also, wild hogs as "land whales" is delightful and smelly.

It's interesting to think of the US Civil War as a worldwide naval conflict. The use of fleets to blockade ports and terrorize industries isn't part of the normal narrative. In honestly amazed the captain of the Shenandoah want or to death after continuing his attacks for months after the war's end reached him.

So. Much. Mutiny.

So. Many. Angry. Whales.

I love that there's an entire chapter to remind you that whaling isn't glamorous and it's, in fact, quite horrible work.

That was a surprisingly long chapter on the Golden Age of American Whaling. I enjoyed the historical vignettes of famous and important whalers and artists. Down with Nantucket!

The section on Porter and the war of 1812 was pretty cool! That said, the observations about the benefits of burning rather than capturing boats had merit.

The importance of whale boats sitting the Revolutionary War, and the duplicity of Nantucket were new to me. The colonial dependence on whaling, and the British denial of the Golf Stream were neat.

Basically, everything in the 1700s & 1800s was made of whale oil.