Leviathan

The History of Whaling in America

By: Eric Jay Dolin

Narrated by: James Boles

Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

This is the epic history of the "iron men in wooden boats" who built an industrial empire through the pursuit of whales.

"To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme," Herman Melville proclaimed, and this absorbing history demonstrates that few things can capture the sheer danger and desperation of men on the deep sea as dramatically as whaling.

Eric Jay Dolin begins his vivid narrative with Captain John Smith's botched whaling expedition to the New World in 1614. He then chronicles the rise of a burgeoning industry, from its brutal struggles during the Revolutionary period to its golden age in the mid-1800s, when a fleet of more than 700 ships hunted the seas and American whale oil lit the world, to its decline as the 20th century dawned. This sweeping social and economic history provides rich and often fantastic accounts of the men themselves, who mutinied, murdered, rioted, deserted, drank, scrimshawed, and recorded their experiences in journals and memoirs. Containing a wealth of naturalistic detail on whales, Leviathan is the most original and stirring history of American whaling in many decades.

©2007 Eric Jay Dolin (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Engrossing....This account is at once grand and quirky, entertaining and informative." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Eric Jay Dolin's Leviathan is the best history of American whaling to come along in a generation." (Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex)

good read

a thorough and well written history of whaling. i appreciate the Colonial historical perspective of the United states

Informative history of worldwide whaling industry

well written and read, covers the history of whaling from the earliest Basque onshore whalers to the ultimate decline. Some distracting editing if you are listening closely

Imapct of American Whaling on the Global Economy

This is an concise history of one of the most important industries in our brief history as a nation. The author does a great job of staying on track. He does NOT chase rabbits during the telling which makes it easier to keep in mind the theme of the book. The telling of it also illustrates the transcient nature of things we consider essential to our lives. A story repeated over and over in the advancement of our scientific and technological times. The story successfully weaves history, invention and human desires into a story easy to follow and enjoy. A once important part of our nations' backbone has become irrelevant and its era has gradually dropped out of our history books. It is a good length and leaves the listener wanting more...but then again, the whaling industry is gone forever so there is not more to tell.

loved it

This author has the ability to history flow together, and I feel like am watching it with a bird eye view

Excellent Text, Horrendous Narration

This book is an amazing piece of work, Well researched, detailed and still incredibly entertaining even when detailing mundane actions and events. I can't think of any other book with so much information all brought together so well. I picked up the printed book so as to have a reference handy.

The naration was awful, If the text had not been so incredible I would have given up within 20 mins, "William Shakespeare's Henry IV" was being quoted and was read by the narator as "William Shakespeare's Henry Four"...I mean any 3rd Grader knows to add the "th" to a title...This and many other weird actions throughout the reading made me want to fling my MP3 player aganst a wall, He repeatedly dragged me out of the story.

This is the kind of audiobook that would win awards if given a competent Narator.

I would gladly give the book 100% but this is an audiobook website and the narration drags it down hard...

Please let a decent narrator try again, Ill buy it again with a good narrator

Fascinating piece of history

This is a well organized and interestingly presented history of whaling in America. I love watching whales so have always avoided this topic. But as the author points out, whaling is a far too important part of our history to be ignored. The book leaves you with an understanding of why the industry was so important and a great respect for whalers. Well read and worth every minute of time.

The story

A amazing story of America’s history and the very important role whaling played in it.

nothing fishy

Great book, easy listen. If you like history, New England, whales, or anyone from Nantucket; this is for you.

Thare she blows...!!

I listened to this after Heart of the Sea, which I think is a prerequisite to this story. There is also a decent PBS documentary on the history of American whaling which seems to draw a lot from this book and interviews not only the author of this book, Eric Dolin, but also Nathaniel Philbrick and a few historians.
This book does have some flaws but they do not detract from this history. This is a broad view and a great starting point for non scholars to get an idea of American whaling. he gets some minute sailing facts incorrect and refers to Philbrick as a 'historian', he is not. He is a writer. However, I think that's being a little pedantic. I enjoyed this book and along with some other supplements, I learned a tremendous amount about American whaling and the history of the United States.

Better than expected

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the history of whaling and it’s connections to the rest of Americas history. At first I thought the narrator was too dry but quickly changed my mind and ended up enjoying not only the information but the way it was delivered. I picked this book after a recent visit to Nantucket sparked my interest in whaling and was not disappointed. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the history of whaling.