Dolin - Leviathan: the history of whaling in America

Eric Jay Dolin was awarded the 2007 J. Byrne Waterman Award, by the New Bedford Whaling Museum, in recognition of outstanding contributions to research and pedagogy in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

I thought I learned everything I needed to know about whaling from Melville, but I was wrong. Eric Jay Dolins Leviathan exposes the rise and fall of the industry inspired by the great beasts of the deep. The excitement of the stories in this magnificently researched saga build and build. I read every word.

Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileos Daughter

The whaling business left behind a singularly rich historyone abrim with adventure, danger and profitof men who went down to the sea in ships to hunt the mightiest creatures who ever lived. That story is told, and told very well indeed, by Eric Jay Dolin. Mr. Dolin handles this long, complex tale with great skill, both as a historian and as a writer (the bibliography and illustrations are splendid too). Thanks to his firm command of the tales narrative drive, Leviathan is thoroughly engaging.

John Steele Gordon, Wall Street Journal

Engrossing accountat once grand and quirky, entertaining and informative.

Publishers Weekly , starred review

Anyone whose knowledge of whaling begins and ends with Moby-Dick will get a solid education from Mr. Dolin.

William Grimes, New York Times

Eric Jay Dolins lively and thorough history spans the rise, golden age, and decline of what was once one of New Englands distinctive industries. Dolin chose to take on the subject in its broadest form, and if he leaves us wanting more, that is what good history does.

David Waldstreicher, Boston Globe

His account of the complex history of the whaling industry is exceptional and highly recommended. Leviathan is an excellent one-volume history of the age of whaling in America.

Mark J. Palmer, Earth Island Journal

It is rare that a factual book can answer pretty much every question one could pose about its subject and still leave the reader keenly aware of its abiding mystery. Dolins book is the first readable modern account of one of American historys great themes.

Sarah Burton, The Spectator (UK)

An excellent overview of the history of whaling. The book is thoroughly researched and loaded with footnotes that consistently deliver just the kind of supplementation for which the reader yearns. The quality of the writing, copy editing, and organizational coherence of the book are excellent.

Randall R. Reeves, Marine Mammal Science

A rollicking and comprehensive readhas all the ingredients of a good yarn.

Ethan Rutherford, Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St Paul, MN)

Eric Jay Dolin has done a superb job of chronicling the rise and fall of the American whaling industry. This is a thorough, thoughtful and well-written story.

Ben McC. Moise, Charleston Post and Courier

Dolin provides wonderful, exhilarating accounts of whaling expeditions and illustrates just how dangerous the profession could be. Even those adamantly opposed to the industry will find this to be a finely written account of a once-burgeoning industry.

Jay Freeman, Booklist

A densely researched and comprehensive portrait, enhanced by fascinating archival paintings and photos.

Kirkus Reviews

Leviathan is a tale as epic as its subject, chronicling the heroic, tragic, and largely untold role of the whaling industry in Americas history.

Dick Russell, author of Eye of the Whale and Striper Wars

This volume reads like a history of America through whalingwith a historians diligence and a trivia nuts eye for oddities. He reels in the big one.

Troy Patterson, Entertainment Weekly

Eric Jay Dolin has written a remarkable book, broad in its scope but sharp in focus. Numerous attempts have been made in the past one hundred years to cover the subject all at once, however, only Dolin has managed to synthesize the enormous array of historical sources into one cohesive narrative.

Michael P. Dyer, librarian and maritime historian, New Bedford Whaling Museum

Captivatingwhat ultimately distinguishes Leviathan is Dolins ability to show that, for generations, whaling was far less the romantic adventure of popular imagining (both past and present) than a purely, unapologetically economic engine helping to drive a young country from ambitious, increasingly aggrieved colony to world power. Dolins book, filled with killing and death, bravery and ingenuity, greed and hubris, brings a murky, myth-shrouded past to vivid, messy life.

Ben Cosgrove, Salon

This books achievement is a comforting completeness on a subject that remains uncomfortably resistant to closure.

Neal Mathews, San Diego Union-Tribune

Fascinating. Terrific. Wonderful study.

Tony Lewis, Standard Times (New Bedford, MA)

Unputdownable encyclopedic account. Its a ripping yarn.

Mark Austin, Daily Yomiuri (Japan)

A riveting story and one that invites discussion of the history of human predation in the worlds oceans.

Timothy J. Runyan, Sea History