Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America - Eric Jay Dolin

Written by Eric Jay Dolin
Format: MP3

Leviathan selected as one of the best nonfiction books of 2007 by The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and The Providence Journal. Leviathan was also chosen by Amazon.com’s editors as one of the 10 best history books of 2007.

“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme,” proclaimed Herman Melville, and the vivid story of whaling is one of the mightiest themes in American history. Indeed, much of America’s culture, economy, and even its spirit were literally and figuratively rendered from the bodies of whales. In Leviathan, the first one-volume history of American whaling in many decades, historian Eric Jay Dolin chronicles the epic battle between man and the sea — and, in this case, between man and beast — an often-violent struggle that animates the imagination and stirs our emotions. Beginning his engrossing narrative with Captain John Smith’s botched whaling expedition to the New World in 1614, Dolin traces the rise of this burgeoning industry-from its rapid expansion in the colonial era and its brutal struggles during and after the Revolutionary War, to its Golden Age in the mid-1800s, when more than 60 ports got into the whaling business and the sails of America’s whaleships whitened the seven seas. American whale oil lit the world and greased the gears of the industrial revolution. Baleen cut from the mouths of whales shaped the course of feminine fashion. Spermaceti, from sperm whales, produced amazingly brilliant and clean-burning candles, while ambergris gave perfumes great staying power and was worth its weight in gold. And the profits from whaling created great fortunes and helped fuel the nation’s growth. Leviathan teems with fascinating vignettes, from the Pilgrims’ frustrating encounters with whales, to the Candle Wars that pitted eighteenth-century New England Industrialists against each other, to the heroic cruise of Captain David Porter and the USS Essex, in which Porter and his men valiantly protected American whaleships during the War of 1812 until they themselves were captured by the British. Then there is the violent tale of Cyrus Plumer, a notorious troublemaker whose mutiny on the whaleship Junior is thrillingly retold. Among the most amazing accounts is that of the Shenandoah, a Confederate raider, which burned 22 of the 26 Union whaleships it captured, most after the Civil War had already ended. In the waning years of the nineteenth century, we witness the agonizingly slow death of an American industry, as the discovery of oil, tragic disasters in the Arctic, and changes in female fashion combine to transform the American whalemen into an historical relic. The final scene comes in 1924, as the whaleship Wanderer, wrecked on the shore of Cuttyhunk Island, provides the last glimpse of a bygone era. Through it all, those “iron men in wooden boats” created a legacy of dramatic, poignant, and at times horrific stories. This sprawling, maritime saga is filled with these tales, as well as rich, lyrical descriptions of whales and the sea. Original, stirring, and authoritative, Leviathan delivers the 300-year history of American whaling in vibrant detail, integrating literary, social, and economic history into an epic account of this once-vital industry.

(W. W. Norton, 480 pp., 90 illustrations. Also available in Audiobook format from Tantor Audiobooks.)(less) Matt rated it 3 of 5 stars

The risk in giving your opinion about a book is that people may think you’re an idiot. Worse than that, people may find out that, indeed, you actually are an idiot. This risk usually only runs with books that are acknowledged classics, or books that are trashy. For instance, you will definitely get concerned looks when you say you really hate The Great Gatsby or really love The DaVinci Code. (No offense to Dan Brown-o-philes).

This was my plight when I said I really disliked Moby Dick. Since these reviews are voluntary on my part, and since I’m no longer an indifferent high school student writing a five-paragraph theme based on borrowed Cliffs Notes since it’s 1998 and my parents only have a dial-up AOL connection, I try very hard to avoid using the descriptor boring. The word doesn’t mean much; if it means anything, it’s usually that the person speaking it doesn’t have much imagination. But with Moby Dick, despite much hemming and hawing, I eventually was left with that conclusion: I was bored. The book bored me. There, I said it.

Whenever I give this opinion, people invariably respond: “You just don’t get it.”

First, thanks for the vote of confidence, you condescending jerk. And second…Well, you’re probably right. I don’t get it. And I’m not going to waste my time trying again.

To quench my lingering thirst for whale blood, I picked up Eric Jay Dolin’s Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America. I have two main things to say about this book. (1) This is a very good book about whaling. (2) This is a very good book about whaling.

Leviathan takes a chronological approach to its sweeping subject. It starts in the 1600s, with a rather pointless discussion about John Smith (yeah, that one) and the whales and ends in the 1920s, when most of the whales have been slaughtered and the human race had turned to raping Mother Earth for its oil. Sorry, I’m just bitter that I have to work on Thanksgiving.

Dolin is an engaging writer, and he is an explainer, so that there are tons of interesting factoids and stories with which to wow your wife/life partner/dinner guests/the guy standing next to you at the bar. Just make sure to space these things out, because no one wants a bunch of whale facts all at once. Dolin is at ease tackling subjects as varied as whale biology (with a side-focus on whale penises), types of harpoons, industry economics, and the gory, step-by-step processing of captured whales.

The book’s scope encompasses many decades. However, because whaling is an industry, rather than a single historical event - or even an series of historical events - the nature of Leviathan is rather anecdotal. Though each time period is discrete and unique - in terms of economic climate (whalers did well in peace, and poor in war) and utilized technologies - the template is always the same: dozens of stories stitched together with background information. There are stories about successful hunts, and unsuccessful hunts; there are stories about rampaging whales and shipwrecks; there are ships stuck in the ice, and mutinies at sea, and attacks by angry natives that seem to leap straight out of a semi-racist Technicolor film from the 40s or 50s.

I’ve always kind of liked anecdotal books. There’s nothing better than a good story, and if you’re drunk while telling that story, or listening to it, then all the better. Of course, one man’s anecdote is another man’s aimless digression, and this makes for a read that is hit and miss. When the stories are lame, or seem off topic, the book is a drag. But when the stories are crisp, and exciting, and involve mutineers taking their whaleboats and attempting to escape into the Australian Outback, the pages just fly.

For instance, there is a section on whaling during the Civil War. The entire chapter is devoted to two Confederate Raiders wreaking havoc on the American whaling fleet. Now, I know - because I checked - that a lot of folks who read this book loved this section. I thought it was pointless. It has absolutely nothing to do with whaling, other than the victims were whalers. Obviously, the whaling industry was effected by these events, but Dolin tells the story from the point of view of the predators (the Confederates), not the victims (the whalers). Really, what Dolin is doing is filling pages with something he hopes will hold the reader’s attention. It’s the literary equivalent of Roland Joffre adding an Indian attack (!) to the end of his film version of The Scarlet Letter. In this case, the story didn’t work for me. But it could work for you.

One major problem I often have with books like this - that is, micro-histories - is that they try to prove too much, or overstate the importance of its subject. Fortunately, Dolin mostly avoids this pitfall. He sticks to the vicarious, exciting, man-against-nature aspects, rather than trying to prove to us that “stabbing whales to drain their precious oils to make brighter-burning candles for rich people” actually changed the course of human events.

The big surprise is that there is very little critical analysis of yesterday’s whaling industry - or today’s. Reading Dolin’s bio, with all his fancy, Ivy League degrees, I figured he’d at least touch on the fact that poorly-paid whalemen, at the behest of giant corporate trusts, practically denuded the seas of an entire species in order to reap a fantastic profit. Alas, there is no such preaching in Leviathan. So I added that little sermon for your edification.

One of the best things about Leviathan is that it isn’t Moby Dick. If you want a good whale yarn, here it is! And in modern English! Then again, if you want to push forward with your plans to read Moby Dick over the holidays, this makes a good companion. Finally, if you read Moby Dick, and loved it, you coud read this book and scoff at its simplistic syntax, and its lack of Biblical allusions. Then you can leave a comment on my Moby Dick review telling me what a simple soul I am.
Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars

The sperm whale, what an amazing animal! And man’s interaction with it even more so. Colonial American whaling seems to have been overshadowed by the more popular whaling era in the mid 1800’s. I am amazed at the whole proposition of chasing a leviathan in a tiny boat (no matter what decade) and have read many books, fiction and non fiction, on the subject. In other books I found no or little mention of the importance of whaling during our country’s beginnings but this one has a lot of good info…more

Feb 27, 2014 Mike rated it 5 of 5 stars

This ambitious chronicle of a hugely significant industry succeeds on all fronts. It’s no fluke: Dolin trolled an enormous body of sources to reveal significant trends, punctuated with dramatic stories that humanize the whole venture. (I will never again walk the decks of the Charles W. Morgan at Mystic Seaport without thinking of the harrowing attack on the ship and its crew by Pacific islanders.) Dolin places whaling- rightfully- in a place of prominence in early American history. Whales and t…more

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