A review by quoththegirl
Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle

4.0

Sam gave me a gorgeous copy of Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure by Arthur Conan Doyle. What a neat look into Doyle’s life! The book includes facsimiles of the diary itself, so you can read the story in Doyle’s own handwriting (sometimes with a quill pen, sometimes with a fountain pen). He made a lot of illustrations, most of which are gory depictions of seal and whale hunting, but with occasional, beautiful drawings of ships or the crew members. In 1880 when Doyle sailed, the whaling industry was already waning, but it was still the livelihood of quite a few coastal towns, and the diary is a fascinating look at a time period that’s difficult to imagine today.