For two centuries, whale oil lit the world – powering the industrial revolution and launching the global economy.

Into the Deep traces the history of the vast American whaling industry and its spectacular demise in the mid- 19th century. While the species most keenly hunted was the appropriately named right whale, anyone familiar with Moby Dick can tell you the leviathan most feared was the sperm whale – and with just cause. It was an enraged sperm whale that rammed the whaling ship Essex in the south Pacific, sinking the vessel with the loss of all but eight hands.

This dramatic story inspired the young Herman Melville, who joined a whaling crew and met one of the survivors of the Essex, to write Moby Dick. But when the book was finally published it met with indifference from an audience newly entranced by the glister of the gold rush. And then black gold – oil – finally sealed the fate of the whaling fleet.