Book excerpt: The modern whaling industry dates from 1881. That year factory ships began working with purpose-built whale catchers equipped with modern harpoon guns. This revolution, together with the increasing demand for whale products, created a boom in whaling. By 1914 there were more than 35 whale factory ships working world-wide. This new book chronicles in depth the development of factory ship whaling, and provides full technical and career details and where possible illustrations of every factory ship to have operated anywhere in the world. The first section tells the story of how factory ship whaling becoming a major global industry. Thanks to technical innovations and entrepreneurship, with a willingness to pursue whales in even the most inhospitable regions, the industry made fortunes for some. However, the late twentieth century saw the demise of the industry, following a catastrophic decline in whale populations due to over-fishing, which had seen a total of three million whales taken. Today there is but one working factory ship, working under the guise of research in the North Pacific. A second section provides full histories of 184 factory ships which are known to have worked in the trade, including both conversions and purpose-built vessels. Appendices also cover supply ships and whale catchers.Flags and funnels in full colour on end papers.