by Tim Blue

For half a century in colonial days, West Australians vied with vast sailing fleets from the United States and France in the global hunt for whales. Seas offshore from the southern and western coasts were scoured for right, humpback and sperm whales, for oil to illuminate homes and lubricate machinery.

Over 240 pages, with charts, paintings, drawings and historical and modern photographs, Whale Hunters of the West collects the logbooks, letters and early newspapers from almost 200 years ago to reveal a brutal yet vital trade for early settlers.