A Whaler at Twilight

A True Account of Whaling and Redemption in the South Pacific

by Alexander R. Brash and Robert W. Armstrong - Foreword by Tom Kiernan

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org

*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Pub Date Sep 05 2023 | Archive Date Sep 01 2023

Globe Pequot | Lyons Press

Biographies & Memoirs | History

Talking about this book? Use #AWhaleratTwilight #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!

Description

Nestled at the bottom of an old leather trunk for well over a century lay a forgotten manuscript—a long-lost story the author's great-great-grandson has now brought to life. At the heart of A Whaler at Twilight is the true account of an American whaler who embarked on a harrowing adventure in the South Pacific during the mid-nineteenth century in search of absolution and redemption. After the deaths of his parents, young Robert Armstrong lived with a successful uncle—a well-respected Methodist shopkeeper in bustling 1840s Baltimore—and attended the nation’s first dental school. But Armstrong threw his future away, drinking himself into oblivion. Devoured by guilt and shame, in December 1849 he sold his dental instruments, his watch, and all other possessions and signed on for a whaling voyage departing from New Bedford.

Decades later, Armstrong wrote an autobiographical account based on his travel logs, chronicling his thrilling, gritty experiences during his ten years overseas. His memoirs describe his encounters with other whalers, beachcombers, Peruvian villagers, Pacific Islanders, Maori warriors in New Zealand, cannibals on Fiji, and the impacts of American expansionism. He also recounted his struggles with drink, his quest for God, and his own redemption.

Armstrong’s gripping personal account is bookended by thoroughly researched contextual background compiled by Alexander Brash, a noted professional conservationist. Brash fills out Armstrong’s intimate and timeless tale by shedding further light on whaling and its impacts, his ancestor’s religious milieu, and the importance of marine conservation today. A Whaler at Twilight is a fascinating dive into both human morality and American history.

Advance Praise

"This previously unpublished narrative of nineteenth-century whaler and lumberman Robert W. Armstrong is so full of compelling and shocking stories about life at sea and the impact that men, whaling, and colonialism had on the people and ecosystems of the South Pacific and Aotearoa New Zealand that it deserves an important place on the same shelf as the narratives of J. Ross Browne, Henry Cheever, and Francis Allyn Olmsted. The layering of Armstrong's grappling with redemption, Brash's historical interpretation, and his own quest of discovery as a descendant who has spent his career in conservation builds A Whaler at Twilight into a unique and deeply personal odyssey." --Richard J. King, visiting professor at the Sea Education Association

"A Whaler at Twilight reads like being invited over to a new friend’s home and hearing all about his family’s sprawling history. It’s a chronicle that reels in a panoply of subjects—ecology, religion, and history—and ultimately serves as a tender reminder that, no matter the era, our relationship with the ever-changing world is just as complex as the relationship we nurture with ourselves." --Brandon Presser, author

"It’s extraordinary, it's very clever, and hauntingly profound on so many levels. I’m in awe, you write fabulously well. I just wish I was back in the Southern Ocean with you." --Nicolas Dillon, New Zealand wildlife artist

"Using his great-great-grandfather's previously undiscovered nineteenth-century account of whaling, logging, and searching for salvation as an anchor, Alexander Brash weaves a fascinating tale in which he not only illuminates his ancestor's compelling journey of discovery, but also his own. Part history, part meditation on the meaning of religion and life, and part plea to better protect the environment, A Whaler at Twilight is a wonderful and thought-provoking read. The colorful characters alone are worth the price of admission." --Eric Jay Dolin, author

"A unique and engrossing duet format. Alex beautifully intertwines his great-great-grandfather Rob’s autobiographical account with reflections and thoroughly researched historical context. Rob’s fascinating account steeps readers in a mid-nineteenth-century whaler’s life and in Rob’s formative ten-year journey wrestling with his inner demons to find himself. Alex’s reflections and research deepen readers’ understanding of Rob, the time period, the South Pacific region and inhabitants Rob came into contact with, the whaling industry, and the cultural milieu.

A Whaler at Twilight is also a compelling bridge between the past and present as Alex shares his own journey retracing his great-great-grandfather’s footsteps in New Zealand and considers his and Rob’s differing paths and circumstances. The book ends with Alex’s reflections as a conservationist on man’s relationship with the natural world and its future. Readers can’t help but parallel and compare the grim realities of whaling in A Whaler at Twilight with man’s relationship with nature today." --Bradley Tusk, founder and CEO of Tusk Ventures