Whales and Nations

"Written with elegant prose and a wry wit, the book illuminates the many twists and turns of global whaling regulation. . . This title is an excellent resource for those desiring detailed insight."

"This interesting and well researched [book] . . . sheds new light on how the International Whaling Commission developed, and on how it struggled."

"I am delighted that a book like Whales and Nations exists and that Kurkpatrick Dorsey has written it. He offers us a detailed history of the regulation of whaling from the pre–World War I era up to the present. . . . He is certainly one of the best writers of diplomatic history around."

"Dorsey negotiates a daunting set of complex political, scientific, social, and cultural relationships with enough detail to sustain his points yet still have the narrative move along without too many distractions. . . . Sets a new standard for environmental historians by looking at the diplomatic interactions that tried—and failed—to conserve whale populations."

"Dorsey’s prose is careful and meticulous, and facilitates a nuanced understanding of whaling politics . . . effectively narrat[ing] the history and background of whale diplomacy in a way that should appeal to environmental historians, environmental policy researchers, diplomacy scholars, students, and even active diplomats and policymakers who are concerned with the health of the ocean and global environmental problems."

"Whales and Nations is a dazzling accomplishment."

"The geographic scale of the cooperation required to ‘save the whales’ can be hard to fathom. Kurkpatrick Dorsey understands it experientially through his exhaustive archival work; his book gives its reader the opportunity to experience it, too. . . . Whales and Nations lays the foundation of international whaling and whale conservation at its proper historical and geographic scale."

"The international politics of whaling underwent seismic shifts over the course of the twentieth century, reflecting complex changes in attitudes toward marine mammals and environmental protection worldwide. This important story has never been better told than in Kurkpatrick Dorsey's new book, which is likely to be the standard work on this subject for a long time to come."

"This important book is essential for understanding the formation of the first global environmental agreements. It is valuable both as an argument about the failures of sustainability and as an authoritative guide to the people and issues behind the rise of global environmental awareness in the twentieth century."

"Whales and Nations offers a fresh and timely look at the intersection of the twentieth—century whaling industry, international diplomacy, and science and is an important contribution to a topic that loomed very large in the environmental movement at a critical point in its development. It’s also a great read."