The Two-Headed Whale
Life, Loss, and the Tangled Legacy of Whaling in the Antarctic
Published on 31. January 2024
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-77840-090-2 (ISBN)
Description
Following one woman's voyage across the Antarctic, this elegant debut confronts the dark history of the whaling industry and the mystery of one young whaler's death against the backdrop of the vast Southern Oceans.
"Urgent and moving."-Publishers Weekly STARRED review
Tracing the footsteps of Shackleton, Sandy Winterbottom embarked on an epic six-week tall-ship voyage from Uruguay to Antarctica. At the mid-way stop in South Georgia, her pristine image of the Antarctic was shattered when she discovered the tragic legacy of twentieth century industrial-scale whaling. Enraged by what she found, she was quick to blame the men who undertook this wholescale slaughter, but then she stumbled upon the grave of an eighteen-year-old whaler from Edinburgh who she could not allow to bear the brunt of blame. There are two sides to every story.
The Two-Headed Whale vividly brings to life the spectacular scenery and wildlife of Antarctica, set alongside the true-life story of Anthony Ford, the boy in the grave, as he sailed the same seas and toiled in an industry where profits outranked human life. Drawing together threads of nature and travel writing with an unflinching narrative of life onboard a whaling factory ship and the legacy it left behind, The Two-Headed Whale leaves us questioning our troubled relationship with the extraordinary abundance of this planet.
Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.
"Urgent and moving."-Publishers Weekly STARRED review
Tracing the footsteps of Shackleton, Sandy Winterbottom embarked on an epic six-week tall-ship voyage from Uruguay to Antarctica. At the mid-way stop in South Georgia, her pristine image of the Antarctic was shattered when she discovered the tragic legacy of twentieth century industrial-scale whaling. Enraged by what she found, she was quick to blame the men who undertook this wholescale slaughter, but then she stumbled upon the grave of an eighteen-year-old whaler from Edinburgh who she could not allow to bear the brunt of blame. There are two sides to every story.
The Two-Headed Whale vividly brings to life the spectacular scenery and wildlife of Antarctica, set alongside the true-life story of Anthony Ford, the boy in the grave, as he sailed the same seas and toiled in an industry where profits outranked human life. Drawing together threads of nature and travel writing with an unflinching narrative of life onboard a whaling factory ship and the legacy it left behind, The Two-Headed Whale leaves us questioning our troubled relationship with the extraordinary abundance of this planet.
Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Canada
Product notice
With printed dust jacket
Illustrations
B&W map
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 149 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
410 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-77840-090-2 (9781778400902)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Sandy Winterbottom
The Two-Headed Whale
Life, Loss, and the Tangled Legacy of Whaling in the Antarctic
E-Book
10/2023
Greystone Books
€27.49
Available for download
Person
Sandy Winterbottom spent most of her career as an academic teaching and researching in the Environmental Sciences at Stirling University. In 2010, she left to work in the renewables industry but following a life-changing trip to South Georgia and the Antarctic in 2016, she returned to study and completed the Creative Writing Masters Programme at Stirling University, tutored by Kathleen Jamie. She lives near Muckhart in Central Scotland.