Antarctica Books

I really think that this was the best book I ever read. The story of how Shackleton surmounted impossible odds to save all of his people when they were stranded in the Antarctic is the best inspirational story of leadership I have ever encountered. I can't imagine not enjoying this book.

I bought this book after I read about it. The photographs provide the proof of who these spectacular men were. Frank Hurley makes it more real than any words could describe. As you look at the photos you realize the beauty but also the desolateness of where they were. There was nothing there! Blue sky or white snow, with occasional grey clouds. Three colors to live with for over a year. There are beautiful portraits, animal photos and great shots of the ship that could have done the job, but sadly didn't. Amazing, truly amazing. There are even a few color pictures that Frank took.

If you want to know what it is like to live and work in Antarctica this is the book for you. Alia Sorensen is a gifted writer who spent a year at the United States McMurdo Staion, describing in fascinating detail about life in that remote community. The differences in the summer and winter routine are most interesting. Even though she did not go as a scientist or historian she weaves the science and history of Antarctica into the tales of daily life. And if you are interested in employment at one of the three United States stations in Antarctica, Sorensen gives some insight into getting a job and keeping it. All in all it is an enjoyable read for those of us who will never get to McMurdo...and those who want to go.

This 1924 book is a wonderfully educational and amusing journey through Fowl life in cold climates. It should not die out. It should live on through younger generations.

Fascinating true story - a real page-turner. Couldn't
put it down until I finished it. Great for anyone interested
in human courage, endurance, and medical science combined.

Terra Antarctica: Looking Into the Emptiest Continent is the true-life story of award-finalist author William L. Fox's journey to explore the Antarctic, the "largest and most extreme desert on Earth". A medley of artistic, cartographic, and scientific images intertwine in his reflections of the remote and brutally harsh continent. A handful of gorgeous color photographs illustrate this compelling tale tempered with a scientist's respect for and love of nature's glory.

Reviewer: A reader from New Zealand Peak of a climber's career

7 Summits Solo, (Summit, USA) by Robert Mads Anderson To Everest via Antarctica, Robert Mads Anderson Reviewed by Neil Nelson, The Evening Standard, Wellington, New Zealand Saturday, February 24, 1996

Having spent the past 20 years scaling some of the world's most difficult peaks, American-born Aucklander Robert Anderson set himself a new challenge: to climb the highest peak on each of the world's seven continents.

As an added challenge, he elected to climb them solo.

Ultimately, he failed in his bid, with Everest getting the better of him on two separate occasions. But failure to stand on the top of the world's highest peak doesn't diminish Anderson's achievement or the highly readable accounts he has written of his adventures.

As the price tags would suggest, the two books which have resulted from his seven summits project are totally different.

7 Summits Solo is a large-format, lavishly produced, 160-page volume which includes dozens of superb colour photographs taken by Joe Blackburn during the expedition (Note, nearly all photos in the book are Anderson's).

Anderson's account of the expedition is essentially a précis of the story he tells in To Everest via Antarctica. The 220 page Penguin book (Stackpole Books, USA) contains just a handful of photographs, but includes a far more detailed account of Anderson's adventures.

During the past decade or so, I've read numerous accounts of climbing expeditions: this one rates as one of the best.

Unlike some mountaineers, who feel compelled to describe in minute detail everything they did during the expedition, Anderson concentrates more on the adventures he had actually getting to the mountain.

He admits it is more of a travel book than a book about climbing and that he wrote it for a broader market.

Some chapters have little to do with climbing at all. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Anderson's descriptions of his travels in Russia, late in 1992, after conquering Mt Elbrus, Europe's highest peak. With Elbrus out of the way, and three weeks left on his Russian visa, Anderson decided the opportunity to see some of Russia was too good an opportunity to miss.

With the Russia of old rapidly being split into a series of new countries, and new border crossings appearing at random, it was decided a large bus would be the easiest way of moving around. One was soon found and with several companions Anderson set off for a fascinating tour of parts of Russia which had seldom seen Western tourists. The tales he relates of his journey make for absorbing and humorous reading.

With a degree in writing and a career spent mainly in the advertising industry - the business he set up in New Zealand and subsequently sold helped fund his seven summits project - Anderson wastes few words. He has an economical, easy-to-read style and knows how to tell a good story.

While the price of 7 Summits Solo means it's unlikely to appear on best-seller lists, To Everest via Antarctica deserves to be. One of the most enjoyable books I read in 1995, I look forward to reading of Anderson's further adventures.

This is the ultimate book on Greenland with a sensitive approach to the inuit people. Both breathtaking and informative. Respect of nature, art and people. A masterpiece.

Spoiler warning.

I'm not sure how to write this. I'll just say that it was a fun read. Once I picked it up I found that I read the entire book in two short sittings. It's just so . . . weird. It's very interesting and odd. The entire book is a narrative but I never found out who the narrator was. Theres also this weird letter. Its a book within a book but its still pretty interesting. It gets dull at times, especially with the captain but I still liked it. The only thing that really bothered me about the book was it's refusal to resolve. I don't want to be too specific because that may ruin the story for you. Still, it's a fun read overall.

This book was an eye opener about Antarctica... The explorers found new challenges and adventures at every turn that used all their mental and physical power just to survive way back a hundred years ago and more.. The book tells about the wild life that lives and raises young in this awesome cold area. The size of this continent is almost as big as South America and the tonnage of ice there for thousands of years is amazing. If you want to know about the last place on our planet that hasn't been explored read this book Now that I know what I know I'll go back and read it again...