Editorial Review

Nicolas Vanier says, "I am neither an adventurer, a scientist, nor an explorer. I am simply a man in love with nature at its wildest and most beautiful." In these tales of his adventures across Labrador, Alaska, Siberia, and the Yukon, Vanier's love of the land and the people comes through as clearly and as piercingly exquisite as the photographs that accompany his prose. Traveling on horseback or pony sled, in a fishing boat or by dogsled, Vanier's stories celebrate a land and a life few make the effort to see. They make for dreamy armchair fodder when you're sitting by your fireplace, but may serve as catalysts as well, inspiring you to your own journeys into the rare pleasures of the north. Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th Century Description And Travel    2. Adventure and adventurers    3. Cold regions    4. Discovery And Exploration (General)    5. Earth Sciences - Geography    6. Essays    7. Essays & Travelogues    8. Polar Regions    9. Science    10. Travel    11. Travel - United States    12. Vanier, Nicolas    13. Arctic regions    14. Canada    15. Journeys    16. North America    17. Siberia    18. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. 1838-1914    2. 18th And 19th Century Description And Travel    3. Alaska    4. Arctic Ecology    5. Biography    6. Description and travel    7. Essays    8. Essays & Travelogues    9. General    10. Muir, John,    11. Naturalists    12. Travel    13. Travel - General    14. United States    15. Classic travel writing    16. Journeys    17. Muir, John    18. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (6)

arctic daughter
i read this book years ago when goin through hard times and i got hope and inspiration from it. in my opinion very personally written.i enjoyed it right from the very first page.

A great expedition from the warmth of your own reading chair
Arctic Son keeps the reader "involved" and teaches you about surviving the Arctic North.I learned it is not something I would like to do, with months upon months of frozen everything and darkness.This book helps you to appreciate what you have and the warmth of your own home!It is nice for this authro to write about her adventures in the Arctic and share this true life tale with us, the readers. Just as Good as Arctic Daughter
I couldn't wait to read this book after having enjoyed Arctic Daughter.The two adventure stories stand alone as exceptional works -- not of literature -- but of true adventure stories.I found Arctic Son to be true to Jean Aspen, the woman and adventurer.It was real in content, description of events, feelings and thoughts, and it allowed me to live out my own dream of building a cabin in Alaska without leaving home.Additionally, Arctic Son proved that even after a family comes along, adventure is still attainable and very rewarding to the soul of all.At the same time, the mental and physical risks and costs of such high adventure are made quite clear.This book was just as good, if not sweeter, than the first book.Also, it isn't necessary to read both books sequentially to understand events or motivation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alaska    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Brooks Range    5. Essays & Travelogues    6. Frontier and pioneer life    7. General    8. Pioneers    9. Travel    10. Travel - General    11. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. Polar Regions    2. Peary Relief Expedition    3. Wyckoff, Clarence    4. History - General History    5. Photojournalism    6. Photography    7. Photo Essays    8. Expeditions & Discoveries    9. Classic travel writing    10. Diaries    11. Journeys    12. Arctic regions    13. Travel    14. Photoessays & Documentaries    15. Bement, Louis    16. (1901)   

Reviews (1)

Timberline
Timberline - where the trees end - is a biological boundry visible to even the casual traveler throughout North America. Where highways or hiking trails ascend to upper timberlines (ranging from below 2000-foot elevations in Alaska to over 11,000 feet in California), visitors see patchy forest and meadows giving way to stunted trees and finally to mere shrub-like trees and tundra. A lower timberline is seen in the semi-arid west at the foot of mountain ranges. Those who fly over northern Canada or Alaska see a cold produced "arctic timberline" snaking across the continent.
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Subjects:  1. Ecology    2. Forests & Forestry    3. General    4. Natural History    5. Nature    6. Nature / Field Guide Books    7. Nature/Ecology    8. North America    9. Timberline   

Subjects:  1. Antarctica    2. Arctic Islands And Antarctica - History    3. Canadian    4. Discovery And Exploration (General)    5. Discovery and exploration    6. Polar Regions    7. Travel    8. Travel - General    9. Arctic regions    10. Geographical discovery & exploration    11. World history   

Reviews (2)

The story of the Bancroft-Arnesen expedition to cross Antarctica
"Ann and Liv Cross Antarctica: Dream Come True" tells the story of two young girls who lived on different continents but shared the same dream.Ann Bancroft, living in Minnesota, and Liv Arnesen, living in Norway, both dreamt of one day crossing Antarctica.They were inspired by the great Antarctic explorers of the past, such as Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott.Of course there were those who said they were crazy, who insisted they would freeze to death, and who actually said it was something women could not do.We paid more attention to the expedition when it was happening than most people since Bancroft hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but you do not have to live where it snows half the year to appreciate what she and her friend accomplished in 2001.
My nieces and nephews loved this book!
I have 8 nieces and nephews, ranging in age from 1 to 12, and bought a few of these books for them as a gift.THEY LOVED IT!Read more

Subjects:  1. Adventure & Adventurers    2. Adventure and adventurers    3. Antarctica    4. Arnesen, Liv    5. Bancroft, Ann    6. Biography & Autobiography - Historical    7. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Biography    8. Children: Grades 2-3    9. Girls & Women    10. Juvenile Nonfiction    11. Juvenile literature    12. Travel    13. Women adventurers   

Subjects:  1. Children: Grades 4-6    2. General    3. Nature / Field Guide Books   

Reviews (5)

Understated Greatness
Matthew Henson was a great and courageous American who never got the proper respect or credit for his contribution toward the exploration of the North Pole from 1891 to 1909. Racism was undoubtedly the reason, and perhaps this is why his book is so frustratingly short on detail.
cheers to Henson
I've always had a soft spot for Henson ever since Peary was quoted as saying he took Henson, a black man, with him because he didn't want to share the honor of reaching the North Pole with another man. I too tend to doubt that Henson wrote this, but he deserves a great deal of credit. Especially for putting up with Peary.

Interesting but incomplete
Matthew Henson's life was different from those of many other blacks of his day.He was privileged to be in on one of the greatest adventures of the early 20th century:reaching the North Pole.Taken from and based on a diary he kept at the time, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole provides a good timeline and basic account of the trek.Accompanying Commander Peary and Henson in the final stretch were Eskimos and dogs.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1866-1955    2. African American explorers    3. Biography    4. Discovery and exploration    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    7. Expeditions & Discoveries    8. Henson, Matthew Alexander,    9. History - General History    10. North Pole    11. Polar Regions    12. Social Science    13. Sociology    14. Arctic regions    15. Biography: general    16. Geographical discovery & exploration    17. Henson, Matthew Alexander    18. Travel writing   

Subjects:  1. 1882-1958    2. Adventure & Adventurers    3. Antarctica    4. Biography & Autobiography - Historical    5. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Biography    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Explorers    8. History - Exploration & Discovery    9. Juvenile literature    10. Mawson, Douglas,    11. Sir,    12. Travel    13. Explorers & discoverers    14. Juvenile Nonfiction / Adventure & Adventurers    15. True stories of endurance & survival   

Reviews (1)

Female explorer not to be missed!
I found this book fascinating.Jane Franklin is an amazing, almost mythical woman.How refreshing to read about a commanding historical female!Her story is like a decadent cheesecake - best savoured in small slices.I found myself reading the short chapters one and two at a time to let them fully digest and swim around in my mind.I especially enjoyed the book spine.I would glance up at the bookshelf and see Lady Franklin gazing at me, daring me to read more.Delicious! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adventurers & Explorers    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Historical - British    4. Travelers   

Subjects:  1. Polar regions    2. Travel writing    3. True stories of endurance & survival   

Reviews (3)

Still a classic
This 1966 book coined a term that still is used to describe disastrous impacts of more powerful cultures on weaker ones. Moorehead describes the effects of initial European contacts with Tahiti, Australia, and the Antarctic, giving special attention to the voyages of Captain Cook.Early British contacts with the Tahitians are described in fascinating detail.Cook perceived that Western impact on Tahiti would have serious negative effects, writing that it would have been better for the Tahitians if the British had never visited the island.In his description of the initial British colonization of Australia, Moorehead focuses on the mistreatment of the aborigines, including the complete elimination of native Tasmanians from their homeland.Most of the section on the Antarctic is about Cook's determined attempts to reach the continent with his ships.Cook's descriptions of abundant sea life around Antarctica had the unintended effect of provoking whalers and sealers to decimate many species.Well written, this book is a chastening read.

A Book for all time.
They say that history is written by the victor. While this may have been the case years ago, before the advent of electronic and paper printing, it is interesting to note that often small jewels of history can still be found hidden in the sands of time. This is such a book. You may have read the bestseller, "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. While this book is dedicated to Alan Moorehead's "The Fatal Impact", it is a rather overblown attempt to take off from where Moorehead left off. Moorehead, unlike Hughes, is succinct and straight to the point, describing in a paragraph what might take Hughes pages to deploy. But Moorehead goes further by re-writing history with some of the most beautiful and descriptive language ever displayed in word, especially his lyrical but simple descriptions of the Australian 'bush' before the advent of the white man.Unlike many historical essays, Mooreheads style is to grab and swallow us; it takes and immerses us in our own past, and it is frightening. This book is a true account of the effect of the white invasion of the South pacific. Though often sad, it is devoid of token sentimentality. It is books such as these that keep our history grounded and firmly established in truth, and not the often repeated propoganda that is a common style for Western academia to employ and justfiy our own convoluted history...

Concise, definitive study on the opening of the Pacific
A magnificent short book which places the reader on the deck of Endeavorand the Resolution during Cook's first two voyages of discovery in thePacific. An easy read, yet a scholarly study of the consequences of Westerncontact in Tahiti, Australia and the Antarctic.One of Moorhead's centralthemes in the book is the Noble Savage, "happy, healthy, beautifulpeople whose every want was supplied by the tropical forest, and who, bestof all, knew nothing of the cramping sophostries of civilization." Cook brought back evidence that the noble savage indeed existed, andwriters such as Boswell, Diederot and Rousseau used it to argue that lifein Europe during the late 18th century had evolved into something less thandesirable. It is ironic that, despite the high purpose of Cook's voyagesof discovery and the pleas of those who recognized the validity anddesirability of life in Tahiti or on the barren lands of Australia, thevoyages touched off a frenzy by religious zealots and profiteers. A halfcentury after Cook had opened Tahiti to the rest of the world, Gaugin seesshadows of something so beautiful that it still moves him to create hispaintings; "The overwhelming physical beauty of the woman remains, butshe does not dance. Instead, she lies inert and naked on her bed ...waiting for nothing, hoping for nothing, the petals of the tiare Tahitiscattered about her, a dark, conspiratorial couple in the background andall around them the mystical shapes and symbols of the Tropics. On this onecanvas the painter has written in English the one word,"Nevermore." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antarctica    2. Australia    3. Description and travel    4. Discoveries (in geography)    5. Discovery and exploration    6. General    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Tahiti   

Subjects:  1. Antarctica    2. Children's 9-12 - Travel - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    4. Children: Grades 1-2    5. Curiosities & Wonders    6. Juvenile Earth Sciences    7. Juvenile Nonfiction    8. Juvenile literature    9. People & Places - Polar Regions    10. Polar Regions    11. South Pole   

Reviews (1)

FASCINATING
This is a fascinating compliation of true stories about some of the bravest people ever! Their stories of death, suffering and discovery in THE final frontier of our planet are absolutely riveting! If you"get" why they did it, you'll treasure this book. Even if youdon't understand their reasons for having to explore Antarctica, you'llstill be i for a great read and find a special respect for these truewarriors. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Polar Regions    2. History - General History    3. Expeditions & Discoveries    4. Geographical discovery & exploration    5. History / General    6. Travel writing    7. General    8. Antarctica    9. History    10. History: World   

Reviews (1)

A tragic topic, an impressive writer
A sad book. High Latitudes focuses on the disintegrating culture of North Canadian Natives. Much of the book is transcription of the natives in their own words and gives excellent insight into their plight. An overriding theme of the book is the devastating effect bureaucratic decisions of government and big business has had on these Inuits (Eskimos) and others. Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Canada, Northern    4. Description and travel    5. Environmental conditions    6. Essays & Travelogues    7. Interviews    8. Literary    9. Mowat, Farley    10. Natural history    11. Northern Canada    12. Polar Regions    13. Special Interest - Adventure    14. Travel - General    15. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Subjects:  1. Travel / Essays & Travelogues    2. Travel / Polar Regions    3. Antarctic Peninsula    4. Antarctica    5. Biography: general    6. Description and travel    7. Outdoor Life   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Nature    3. Nature / Field Guide Books    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Arctic regions    6. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    7. Nature / General   

Reviews (3)

a classic on the arctic
Paul Nicklen was raised in the Arctic. (on Baffin Island) perhaps that is why he understands the special beauty of the Arctic and was able to capture it in his photographs.

Incredible photography
This is an incredible collection of photos.I relived my Arctic experiences and could feel the cold and hear the quiet.This collection will remain with me forever and my compliments go out to the artist.I look forward to another publication in the near future.

Awesome photos
Received the book as a gift and thought that the photos were absolutely incredible.These pictures have made me want me to visit the Arctic.I think this is one of the finest publications for coffee table books and have put it on my Christmas list. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arctic regions    2. Individual Photographer    3. Landscape photography    4. Nature    5. Nature/Ecology    6. Photography    7. Pictorial works    8. Seasons    9. Subjects & Themes - Plants & Animals    10. Subjects & Themes - Travel - World/General    11. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    12. Nature / General    13. Photographs: collections   

Features

• Illustrated

Subjects:  1. Discovery And Exploration (General)    2. Earth Sciences - Geography    3. Polar Regions    4. Special Interest - Adventure    5. Travel    6. Travel - Foreign    7. AMUNDSEN, ROALD, 1872-1928    8. ANTARCTICA_DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION    9. Antarctica    10. Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers    11. SCOTT, ROBERT FALCON, 1868-1912    12. SOUTH POLE    13. Travel writing    14. World history: from c 1900 -