Reviews
Library Journal Provides an excellent portrait of the whales themselves, historical whaling procedures, the current high-tech methods of the "scientific" factory-ship whalers, and the efforts of groups such as Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Society to interfere with the hunt. Readers of Peter Heller'sThe Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World To Save the Planet's Largest Mammalswould be well advised to readHarpoonto get a broader perspective on the issues. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries, especially those that boughtLeviathan." The Economist5/08/08 "[An] entertaining and interesting book…Throughout the book, Mr Darby sketches the extraordinary characters he encounters with humour as dry as his native outback…Mr Darby takes the reader deep into the whaling issue." , Science Books & Films , October 2008 "A very thorough study…Its style is very readable, and it makes a good story." Choice , December 08 "[A] disturbing, dramatic, richly researched book…Darby describes in sharp detail the story of this ongoing conflict…Highly recommended. All readers, especially students of international law, whale watchers, and concerned citizens." Earth Island Journal , April 2010 "Andrew Darby is one of the world's best-informed journalists when it comes to whaling issues…[He] has created a niche for himself by following the meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) year after year. In his new(ish) book, Harpoon , he shows off his expertise as he uncovers the full dysfunction of this odd global institution…Darby tells his tale with passion and verve.", PublishersWeekly.com "Web Pick of the Week", 6/16/08 "A definitive work on the past and the present of whaling…Heartbreaking accounts of the killing make this excellent book a difficult read…One hopes his exceptional history will act as a bulwark.", Bloomberg News, 5/29/08 "Shows how modern technology has stripped every trace of heroism from the business of hunting the world's largest mammals…Shows that the debate over hunting the leviathans of the deep is far from over." Blogcritics.org, 5/29/08 "Enlightening and entertaining…Darby's book is important because, along with its mother-lode of information on various kinds of whales, it is both lament and warning…IsHarpoonyet another cautionary tale of man's abuse and cruelty to animals? Yes, it is. Do we need yet another one of those? Yes, we do. Andrew Darby, free of polemic, has done us all a great service, and it's best we listen now before it's too late…I urge you to read Darby's book. It will tell you a lot about whales but-and this may be what makes it stand out-also a lot about you and your international neighbors and how we've allowed our collective hubris to attempt to diminish the great whales of the world's great oceans…[Darby] offers up a significant contribution to the whale as mystery and marvel, while sounding a measured, but plaintive, alarm for dangers that may lie in the path of so magisterial an animal.", Science Books & Films, October 2008 "A very thorough study…Its style is very readable, and it makes a good story."Choice, December 08 "[A] disturbing, dramatic, richly researched book…Darby describes in sharp detail the story of this ongoing conflict…Highly recommended. All readers, especially students of international law, whale watchers, and concerned citizens.", Science Books & Films, October 2008 "A very thorough study…Its style is very readable, and it makes a good story." Choice, December 08 "[A] disturbing, dramatic, richly researched book…Darby describes in sharp detail the story of this ongoing conflict…Highly recommended. All readers, especially students of international law, whale watchers, and concerned citizens."Earth Island Journal, April 2010 "Andrew Darby is one of the world's best-informed journalists when it comes to whaling issues…[He] has created a niche for himself by following the meetings of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) year after year. In his new(ish) book,Harpoon, he shows off his expertise as he uncovers the full dysfunction of this odd global institution…Darby tells his tale with passion and verve.", Provides an excellent portrait of the whales themselves, historical whaling procedures, the current high-tech methods of the "scientific" factory-ship whalers, and the efforts of groups such as Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Society to interfere with the hunt. Readers of Peter Heller's The Whale Warriors: The Battle at the Bottom of the World To Save the Planet's Largest Mammals would be well advised to read Harpoon to get a broader perspective on the issues. Highly recommended for academic and public libraries, especially those that bought Leviathan."-Library Journal
