This book chronicles the history of commercial whaling, which began in the tenth century and saw stock after stock devastated. The twentieth century has seen mechanical slaughter and factory ships, while technology continues to bring more species under the gun. The author looks at the work of the International Whaling Commission, established after the Second World War to manage whale stocks. In 1982 the Commission declared a moratorium, but Jeremy Cherfax claims that, to date, it has presided over the destruction of whales, despite the campaigns of eco-saboteurs willing to break the law in order to uphold the principle that whales be allowed to live. The author describes the biology of whales, their varying species and sizes, their ability to dive to great depths, their uncanny skill of echo location, their feeding, mating and social habits. The author is Life Sciences Consultant to New Scientist. In 1987 he was awarded the Cortina Ulisse prize for Science Writing for his book on ge netic engineering, Man Made Life.