Final Voyage: A Story of Arctic Disaster and One Fateful Whaling Season

Written by Peter Nichols

Narrated by Norman Dietz

In 1871, an entire fleet of whaling ships was caught in an arctic ice storm and destroyed. Though few lives were lost, the damage would forever shape one of America's most distinctive commodities: oil.

New Bedford, Massachusetts, was fertile ground for this country's first multimillion-dollar industry. Founded by assiduous Quaker merchants seeking refuge for their austere religion, the town also lent unparalleled access to the high seas. The combination would lead to what would become the most successful whaling industry in America, and with it, the world's first oil hegemony. Oyl, or oil derived from whale blubber, revolutionized New England commerce. And as intrepid New Bedford whalers ventured farther into uncharted waters in search of untapped resources, the town saw incomparable wealth. But with all of the town's resources tethered to this dangerous industry and the fickle sea, success was fragile.

Final Voyage is the story of one fateful whaling season that illuminates the unprecedented rise and devastating fall of America's first oil industry. Peter Nichols deftly captures what New Bedford life was like for its Quaker inhabitants and, using a wealth of primary resources, has created a vivid picture of the evolution of whaling and how its demise was destined even before that devastating voyage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Oct 27, 2009
• ISBN: 9781400182541

Peter Nichols

Peter Nichols is the author of the bestselling novel The Rocks; the nonfiction bestsellers A Voyage for Madmen and Evolution's Captain; and several other books of fiction, nonfiction, and memoir. His novel Voyage to the North Star was nominated for the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award, and his journalism has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has an MFA from Antioch University Los Angeles, and has taught creative writing there and at Georgetown University, Bowdoin College, and New York University in Paris. Before turning to writing full-time, he held a 100-ton USCG Ocean Operator’s license and was a professional yacht delivery captain for ten years. He has also worked in advertising in London, as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, a shepherd in Wales, and has sailed alone in a small boat across the Atlantic. He is a member of The Explorers Club of New York.