The Two-Headed Whale: Life, Loss, and the Tangled Legacy of Whaling in the Antarctic

The title The Two-Headed Whale comes from a story one of the whalers told Sandy about a whale they once caught with one tail and two heads (such twinning is rare but does happen). The idea of two separate beings with one shared body, one shared life, is a metaphor for the two stories of whaling in the Antarctic. Fathoms meets Madhouse at the End of the Earth:deftly combines British maritime and industrial history with stunning facts and stories about whales and why we must protect them. The lasting impacts of colonialism and capitalism on a precious place: the book explores the lives of Indigenous people and Scottish workers who suffered at the hands of colonists in the post-War period in Antarctica. It also connects this period to today's climate crisis. Excellent travel writing and research: the author grounds her historical research with her own story of sailing the Antarctic in a tall ship during the present day. An unputdownable true crime mystery: when the author discovers the old grave of a whaler who died at 18, she researches his backstory and learns that life aboard a whaling boat was more dismal, the conditions more grave, than she could have ever imagined. Challenges our preconceptions of the Antarctic, weaving in themes of colonialism, capitalism and its link to both environmental and human exploitation.