Philip Hoare is the author of several books, including ‘Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant’; ‘Noel Coward: A Biography’; ‘Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand’; ‘Spike Island’ and ‘England’s Lost Eden’. He lives in Hoxton, London, and Southampton, and each summer visits Cape Cod, where, as a member of the Center for Coastal Studies, he undertakes twice-daily expeditions to watch its whales.

‘This singular, magnificent book inspires both awe and shame – awe of the whales, shame of the human species that has tried to destroy them. In the end, Hoare’s virtuosic sympathy for his subject makes you believe in the better angels of our nature.’ Alex Ross, bestselling author of ‘The Rest is Noise’

Philip Hoare is the author of several books, including ‘Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant’; ‘Noel Coward: A Biography’; ‘Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand’; ‘Spike Island’ and ‘England’s Lost Eden’. He lives in Hoxton, London, and Southampton, and each summer visits Cape Cod, where, as a member of the Center for Coastal Studies, he undertakes twice-daily expeditions to watch its whales.

‘This singular, magnificent book inspires both awe and shame – awe of the whales, shame of the human species that has tried to destroy them. In the end, Hoare’s virtuosic sympathy for his subject makes you believe in the better angels of our nature.’ Alex Ross, bestselling author of ‘The Rest is Noise’