Product Description

In Men and Whales, acclaimed marine writer and artist Richard Ellis presents the powerful, fascinating story of one of our most significant and complex relationships with nature. Tracking whaling from neolithic hunts to the world ban on commercial whaling - with fascinating natural and cultural history throughout - Ellis has given us the most comprehensive volume yet written on the subject. (9 X 11, 560 pages, b&w photos, maps, illustrations, charts)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #693762 in Books
• Published on: 1991-11-02
• Released on: 1991-11-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 542 pages

Amazon.com Review
The shadowy figure of Leviathan has haunted the dreams of humans for millennia, figuring in the folklore, literature, and religion of many cultures. Richard Ellis, a noted marine artist and the author of many popular books on oceanographic topics, here offers an in-depth but readily accessible study of the human quest to understand whales--a quest that often found expression in hunting them. The whale road led the ancient Basques, Ellis writes, to cross the Atlantic 500 years before Columbus; it spawned a great New England-based industry that helped the United States to become a seagoing power in the 19th century (and that produced one of America's greatest novels, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick); and it ultimately led to conflicts between nations, as some industrial powers sought to protect the great marine mammals while others continued to hunt them nearly to extinction. Ellis's book is among the finest in the library devoted to cetaceans; he packs an astonishing array of folklore, anthropology, history, and science into these 500 richly illustrated pages (and the photographs and drawings alone are worth the book's price). Noting with regret that "most of the accumulated knowledge of the animals has come from those who have killed them," Ellis overlooks nothing that even remotely touches upon these giants of the deep, and the well-written story that emerges is full of respect and affection for humans and whales alike. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
In a sequel to The Book of Whales , marine writer-artist Ellis explores the relationship between whales and humans from the time of Alexander the Great to the present. Organized whaling began with the Basques in the Bay of Biscay around A.D. 1000; by the end of the 16th century, British and Dutch whalers had worked their way to Spitzbergen and Greenland. Ellis chronicles the spread of commercial whaling by species, country and period, taking note of Sven Foyn's invention of the exploding grenade harpoon in 1868. This grim story is alleviated by "interludes": the narwhal as a source of the unicorn myth, whalebone in fashion, whaling in literature, whales on exhibition and whalewatching. Ellis discusses regulation, the rise of Greenpeace and Project Jonah and the issue of "scientific permit whaling." The smooth, authoritative narrative is enhanced with illustrations.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Ellis, a noted marine artist who has studied and painted whales for the past 20 years, has written a fascinating, authoritative text (interspersed with photographs, paintings, drawings, and maps) on whales and their relationship to humans. He traces the history of men and whales from the first whalers, the Basques of 10th-century France and Spain, to the massive slaughter of whales during the 1960s. Ellis then devotes sections to whale-watching, whale fishing, the effect of Melville's Moby-Dick on our perception of whales, the anti-whaling movement, and whaling regulations. He also discusses the commercial uses of whale products, presenting a balanced approach to the issues involved in the whaling controversy. An important purchase for public libraries.
- Mary J. Nickum, Fish and Wildlife Reference Svce., Bethesda, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Fascinating study of whales and the whaling industry
For nature lovers, the descriptions of whaling practices may be difficult and painful to read. But, if you are intersted in maritime history, this book has a whole lot to offer. Ellis has several 'interludes' throughout the book that describe life aboard a whaling ship in addition to some amazing stories of shipwrecks and mutiny on the high seas. One would think that the whaling industry had hit it's peak in the late 19th and early 20th century. But the sad truth is that it wasn't until the mid 20th century that whaling hit it's peak. The later chapters in the book describe the 'modern' whaling practices. These chapters tell the saddest tales of men and whales. The pictures of 'factory' ships used for whaling clearly illustrate the brutality and butchery of the modern whaling industry. It is profoundly sad to think that the brunt of the human attack on whales occured so recently. Several times, Ellis mentions that certain populations of whales may be depleted to such an extent that they may never recover. But, he leaves us with hope at the end of the book with a good discussion on the international moratorium on whaling.