Fourth Estate have done a fantastic job publishing LEVIATHAN, OR THE WHALE by Philip Hoare.
Hoare presented a series of fascinating documentaries on the BBC to conincide with publication, not least 'The Hunt for Moby-Dick', a fascinating history of whaling, Herman Melville's life and the book that Hoare's title references.
He argues that Captain Ahab introduced a new type of character into the nineteenth century mindset: the psychotic despot. Ahab's violent monomania presaged Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe and the twentieth century's legacy of bloodthirsty tyrants.
This is a fascinating thesis, although intercutting whaling with shots of 9/11 was too heavy-handed for me.
Buy Hoare's book on Amazon.
