abiliry of eirher government ro control irs populace throughour rhe war, along the border with Upper Canada, anarchy seemed the law of rhe land. The British supply line was long (as was rhe American) and subj ect ro frequem interruption on rhe Great Lakes. This caused untold hardship, not only for the Brirish regulars, but for the Canadian milirias, their Indian allies, and rhe civilian population (who were ofren stripped of their srores of provisions ro feed rhe army) . On the American side, rhe administrarion, being broke, was crying ro fight the war "on rhe cheap," which creared major shortages and deficiencies for the ground soldier who h ad little choice burro turn to rhe local citizenry for food, firewood, and other necessaries. Taylor's narrative jumps around a fair amoum, shifting years and venues, which makes for some confusion, and h e tends ro reirerare many of his points, causing some tedium in the srory. Bur, on the whole, this is a well-researched and well-written book thar offers a rotally different perspective on the War of 1812. With the bicentennial approaching, I would cerrainly recommend it to anyone wishing ro be better informed about this period, the politics, or the war. WILLIAM
H.
themselves. Thus, we have multiple perspectives and multi-layered contexts-an approach particularly suited ro a complex and controversial hisrory. In 1937, Coast G uard Lieurenant Walsh was assigned ro the whaling ship Ulysses to ensure compliance with American whaling regulations. This was no easy task, and yet his official report wem far beyond mere compliance. Beginning with a short hisrory of American whaling (th in at times: a one-semence transirion from shore- ro pelagic whaling?), rhe author moves quickly ro the advent of the facrory ship, modern killer boats, and the harpoon gun. Short chapters follow on modern vessels, technology, and crew, providing unique material not found in mainstream texts, reminiscent of William W. Warner's Distant Water (Penguin 1984) about the global crawling industry, or pares of John McPhee's work. Walsh provides a direct look imo a little-known world. Phoros, diagrams and sketch es, and appendices are valuable supplemems ro the text. Walsh covers the complex topic of whaling, not as an academic treatise, but as
a firsthand rale. You can smell the salr in the air and the srench of whale meat. Readers musr nore, however: rhis is a reporr, not a smoothly flowing narrative. Repetition is a fact, and transitions between rop ics are rough, or non-existent. Troublesome at first, I have ro admit thar, in hindsight, the reperirion and transition now simply seem part of Walsh's direct and emphatic style. It certainly serves ro deeply embed the main points. Walsh 's description is striking in the extreme, portraying an industry that had evolved step-by-step ro the point of ruthless efficiency from a long hisrory of less efficient, but equally bloody, pursuit. His report came at, and indeed was partially responsible for, the end of our involvement in the extinction of the largest mammals on earth, a pivoral transition from persecution ro preservation. This sea change in behavior provides an excellem example of marine stewardship. Yet, in our near-celebration of Captain A hab, a "proud and enduring American legend," it wou ld behoove us ro remember the even darker side ofwhat came next, the industrial scale of mechanized
WHITE
Rumson, New Jersey
The Whaling Expedition of the Ulysses, 1937-38 by Lt. (j.g.) Quentin R. Walsh, edited by P. J. Capelotti (University of Florida Press, Gai nesville, 2010, 368 pp, illus, appen, biblio, index, ISBN 978-0-81303479-9; $34.95h c) In April of 2000, P.J. Capelotti did something very fortunate-he interviewed Quentin R. Walsh, retired Coast Guard captain and an expert on modern commercial wh aling, just seven weeks before he passed away. As a result, we h ave Walsh's firstha nd srory of the Ulysses and its fleet of killer boats in 1937, and his own later commem on his groundbreaking report, and we have glimpses of Capelotri's experience, this time in the introducrory materials, on the role of whaling in ocean exploration. Furthermore, we have Walsh 's direct insighr inro th e American-flagged Norwegian-ru n Western Operaring Corporation and an understanding of the hunt and rhe prey from the viewpoint of Norwegian gunners SEA HISTORY 135, SUMMER 2011
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