The Mortal Sea
Book description
Since the Viking ascendancy in the Middle Ages, the Atlantic has shaped the lives of people who depend upon it for survival. And just as surely, people have shaped the Atlantic. In his innovative account of this interdependency, W. Jeffrey Bolster, a historian and professional seafarer, takes us through a…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Mortal Sea as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
It would have been impossible to write my book without Jeff Boslter’s The Mortal Sea.
With evocative prose and argumentative verve, Bolster’s book relates the deep, centuries-long history of overfishing while probing the depths of the interdependent relationship between humanity and the ocean. The Mortal Sea is one of the finest exemplars of environmental history by bringing together the narrative skill and argumentation of the historian with the insights of the ecologist and marine biologist.
Bolster reminds us that some of the most important connections existed not just across the sea, but with it.
From Thomas' list on why the history of the ocean matters.
Since the sea covers more than 70% of the globe, environmental historians ought to pay attention to it too, and Bolster does so like no other. He is himself a sailor and writes with an easy familiarity about storms and swells, codfish, and currents. The story here is about overfishing in the North Atlantic, beginning in European waters in medieval times, but moving quickly to the seas between Cape Cod and Newfoundland in the 17th to early 20th centuries. A wonderful blend of conventional historians’ sources with insights from marine biology.
From John's list on environmental history.
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