Polar Regions Books

This is a great book!! If you live in, or are interested in visiting Alaska, be sure to read this. Then with all that is within you, attempt to check out what it says in the field. It is written by geologists who actually live in Alaska. It is great to read along with a rock and mineral identification guide, so you can more easily identify them in the field later. Buy it, read it.

Observe Rockwell Kent's hand-printed notes on the Frontispiece, and you will see the legend: "This is Salamina -- apparently hanging out nothing but a clothes pin. If I had given her wash it would have covered up her hands. She always tried to cover them, for they were working hands. This book permits of no concealment."

The book, thus launched in truth, combines Kent's pen and ink chapter-head sketches, full-length portraits of native friends, and engaging text that transport the reader through the icy climes of Greenland in a year-long adventure beginning in 1931. Along the way, Kent describes the hospitality of Greenlanders, which he found humbling and at times frustrating. Readers will discover that many of his stories hold a chuckle or two, if not a good belly-laugh. Salamina, his widowed housekeeper, is the heroine, but main figures in the book are people who gave to him and stole from him. The book is social anthropology, crisply and entertainingly served, of a people and their ways, now gone forever.

The Foreword by Kent-archivist Scott R. Ferris anticipates your first question. Ferris quotes two reviewers when the book first appeared in 1935: Lewis Gannett of the New York Herald Tribune wrote that Salamina "has in it a moving sense of wonder of the virgin universe, the dignity of mountains and of sea, and a rarely intimate picture of Greenlanders at play." A review for The New Yorker opined Kent's "style is abrupt, rhapsodic, hearty . . . it is good anthropology and even better adventure narrative." Said Ferris: "This is why Kent's sagas continue to be reissued."

I just found this book, and it has a great touch to it.My little niece felt in love with it insteandly and me too.So I had to buy it and put in on the coffee table, so my little guest have something to read and feel.

Literary and theater critic Rainer-K. Langner presents Scott and Amundsen: Duel in the Ice, the amazing and tragic tale of the rivalry between the leaders of the first two Antarctic expeditions to successfully reach the South Pole. Norwegian Roald Amundsen prepared meticulously by learning Polar survival skills from the native peoples of the Arctic; British citizen Captain Robert Falcon Scott had a very different perspective, valuing courage, endurance and immediate improvisation as the lynchpin to surmounting obstacles. Yet in January of 1912, when Scott and his four companions reached the South Pole, they discovered that Amundsen had beaten them by 34 days - and worse, Scott's misjudgments, and lack of knowledge had a cumulatively fatal effect, as his team died during the return journey - only 18 kilometers short of the supply depot that could have saved them. Part history, part dual biography, Scott and Amundsen retraces the journeys of both men thoroughly, reconstructing the final days of Scott's ill fate through his recovered diary. An absorbing slice of history that pays tribute to the courage, daring, and willingness to risk life and limb of both expeditions, while simultaneously dissecting the precise reasons why one team returned alive and triumphant, while the other did not. Highly recommended, especially for public library collections.

An excellent narrative about Dr. Hammer's Anarctica discovery. I know Dr. Hammer & the pictures look just like him.

Ernst Shackleton was an explorer of the South Pole who never really made it. He kept trying and on his third try he failed and began a story of great adventure. He swore he wouldn't leave any man to die and he saved them all. That is the big story of this amazing life and death story where everybody managed to live. I like this series because it allows my ESOL students to learn to read English while learning American History. The graphics helps a lot.

A sweet, gentle story of Eskimo boy and lovable polar bear. Unusually written in parallel construction, with just a touch of a similarity to "Blueberries for Sal." Educational, too, as it shows the seasons and chilling shadows of the Arctic. My whole family loved it! This is great book to read to your children on a snowy day in front of the fire, or on a hot summer day when it's nice to remember the cold chill of the Arctic.

Ships Of Wood And Men Of Iron: A Norwegian-Canadian Saga Of Exploraiton In The High Arctic is the true story of Canadian and Norwegian exploration expeditions into the perilous and bitterly cold arctic islands during the first half of the twentieth century. A meticulously researched and engagingly presented saga of the remarkable men who endured the elements and more in pursuit of science, fame, or commercial interests, Ships Of Wood And Men Of Iron is a riveting look into history and pitting of man versus nature. Black-and-white photographs enhance this superb documentary.

This is a charming rhyming picture book about an adventurous young girl named Sitka Rose, with colorful illustrations by Shannon Cartwright that teach as much about Alaska as the story does. "Sitka Rose" is a great tale for teaching both girls and boys about interacting with the world around them and taking life into your own hands. A timeless tale spanning from the creation of the Yukon River and the Denali National Park and Preserve all the way up through the Gold Rush, includes numerous Alaskan animals and a map of Alaska. The author, Shelley Gill, and Cartwright are both Alaska residents -- and it shows. A great book!

Griffiths opens his book: "To voyage towards Antarctica is to go beyond the boundary of one's biology towards a frightening and simplifying purity. [You need warmth and food, and stories.] Stories are privileged carriers of truth. Truth ... cannot easily be stated explicitly. It is not to be found in a chronicle of facts ... Story creates an atmosphere in which truth becomes discernible as a pattern."

Griffiths includes extracts from other authors, for example quoting Ursula le Guin, who argues that Scott's "real heroism" lay in "what he made of his failure", his rendering of a needless sacrifice in virtuoso prose. Scott knew the power of story-telling, as he lay dying in his tent, writing copious letters and notes. "In the elemental purity of the ice, in the white noise of the enshrouding blizzard, the written word assumed extraordinary power."

The book's structure is based on pages in Griffiths' Antarctic diary when he sailed to Antarctica as a guest of the Australian Antarctic Division. Each chapter can be read as a stand alone essay, and each essay is an excellent summary of its topic. These are adventure stories, but contain a great deal of analysis as well.

The first six chapters review the history of the Antarctic up to the International Geophysical Year of 1957/58. It is concise but comprehensive. There are chapters on living in the Antarctic, comparing the heroic era and with the modern. There is an excellent exploration of the issue of food and entertainment and the closing chapter discusses the role of tourists. [I was one of about 30,000 tourists who visited in 2004.]

The background literature is outstanding and extensive and explores literature not usually found in debates on Antarctic. There's an Australian bias to the book, of course, but that adds an interesting point of view. Australia claims 40% of the continent and has taken steps to make that portion "Australian" to reinforce its legal claims.

The book is compelling reading, and very well-produced.


Robert C. Ross 2008