The Two-Headed Whale
Life and Loss in the Deepest Oceans
by Sandy Winterbottom
£14.99
- Hardback
- E-Book
2516 in stock
Nothing Found
No Gift Card Category Found.
Reviews
The Two-Headed Whale challenges preconceptions of the Antarctic, splicing in themes of colonialism and capitalism and their links to both environmental and human exploitation. But it is also a call to conflicting voices in the climate debate to strive for mutual understanding and better communication in the hope of a concerted, cohesive and effective approach to the crisis
Sunday Post
Winterbottom has combined the story of a teenage whaler's death with her shock at the state of the Antarctic today... the book cleverly weaves these two tales together
Sunday Times
An alluring-sounding blend of travel and nature writing
The Bookseller
A triumph of research... a moving and compassionate eulogy for a young man who, without Winterbottom, would have remained anonymous and unremembered
The Herald
Compassionate and clear sighted, The Two-Headed Whale brings vividly to life a little-known part of the world, and a little-known part of British history
Malachy Tallack
A poised, clear-eyed and nuanced exploration of large themes, this book faces up squarely to concerns that are both personal and global. The writing - impassioned, resolute, restrained - is affecting and will endure
Kevin MacNeil
Sandy Winterbottom has written a book that succeeds beautifully in combining a personal travelogue, a historical biography, [and] an environmental call to arms
Undiscovered Scotland
Preconceptions about the Antarctic and commercial whaling are challenged in The Two-headed Whale
Dundee Courier
one of the virtues of his book is that as much empathy is extended to the human workers as to the cetacean mysteries
The Scotsman
A majestic look at the barbaric heyday of commercial whaling in the Antarctic Ocean and the lingering consequences for its practitioners and the planet
The Boston Globe
The story of Anthony Ford is unlike the heroism of Shackleton, but it's a real story, a gem hidden in the history of Antarctica that deserves to be told ... it's as close to history as one can get. Recommended!
Lex van Gronigen
As accessible as it is intriguing... We are left with a powerful sense of loss and love for our planet and our home
Farming Scotland
A majestic look at the barbaric heyday of commercial whaling in the Antarctic Ocean and the lingering consequences for its practitioners and the planet
The Boston Globe
About the Book
Shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award
In 2016, 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 dark 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 the vast Southern Oceans, 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. In this compelling account, Sandy challenges our preconceptions of the Antarctic, weaving in themes of colonialism, capitalism and its link to both environmental and human exploitation. 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.
The Author
Sandy Winterbottom
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. This is her first book.
You may also like…
-
Hardback | Pub: 21 Jul 2022£16.99
‘Peppered with humour, empathy and kindness’ – Sunday Post Ever since her pet sheep Lulu accompanied her to school at the age of seven, animals and nature have been at the heart of Polly Pullar’s world. Growing up in a remote...
