The PolarJournal Christmas book selection
With Christmas just around the corner, the gift-giving race is in full swing. And since a good book is always a great present to offer, Polar Journal AG has put together a selection of the best recently published polar books. Whether you’re looking for something to fill Santa’s sack, or just for a moment of relaxation and escape, you’re sure to find what you are looking for among our reading suggestions. Happy holidays!
With his unrivaled photography taken over 20 years of expeditions, including to the North Pole, Copeland transports us to the Arctic to share the heart of the polar cap as never before seen.
An intimate and visually arresting ode to the human pursuit of exploration inside Nature’s most remote and otherworldly theater.
Winner of the 2024 Photographer of the Year from the International Photography Awards, Sebastian Copeland offers some of the most breathtaking pictures of the Arctic. A must for any amateur of beautiful images.
Sebastian Copeland, The Arctic. A Darker Shade of White, Rizzoli, September 2024, 208 pages, ISBN-13 9780847831685
Still fiery and feisty at eighty-seven, Veronica McCreedy, the very first Penguin Ambassador, is determined to prove that nothing is impossible when you put your mind to it. Eileen, Veronica’s ever-patient assistant, is content taking care of other people. But when a new adventure calls, it makes her question everything…
Ten-year-old, penguin-obsessed Daisy can’t wait to be reunited with Mrs McCreedy in her huge house by the sea for the school holidays. When they discover that the local Sea Life Centre is under threat, the unlikely trio are determined to save it and the penguins that live there. Inspired by the penguins and fuelled by Darjeeling and finger sandwiches, they embark on an epic fundraising walk. But soon, their mission becomes so much more and it might just lead each of them to a new beginning…
A beautifully written tale for all you penguin lovers out there!
Hazel Prior, Gone with the Penguins, Transworld, November 2024, 448 pages, ISBN 978-1-80499-333-0
Robert Falcon Scott’s 1910 attempt to reach the South Pole is placed in jeopardy when Edward Evans joins as his second-in-command. A clash of personalities between the two men almost prevents the Terra Nova from sailing, but they forge ahead, conscious of competing expeditions racing to the pole.
On the treacherous journey across the Antarctic ice, the differences between the scientific-minded Scott and the ambitious Evans become insurmountable.
If the story is well known, New Zealand author Harrison Christian brings new elements that shed new light on this mythical and tragic expedition.
Harrison Christian, Terra Nova, Ultimo Press, June 2024, 320 pages, ISBN- 9781761152122
Forty years ago, park ranger Jon Waterman took his first journey to Alaska’s Noatak River. He was astonished by the abundant wildlife and the strange Arctic landscape and its otherworldly light, so he continued on dozens of explorations throughout the north. After a 30-year absence, Waterman returned to the Noatak in 2021 and 2022. Documenting the changes wreaked by the climate crisis and amidst the chaos, he reunites with the wonders of this magical – but fragile – ecosystem.
Richly illustrated with astonishing pictures, this book also suggests actions we can all take to slow the thaw and preserve what is left of this remarkable, vast frontier.
Jon Waterman, Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder amid the Arcic Climate Crisis, Ingram Publishers Services, November 2024, 304 pages, ISBN 978-1-952338-23-6
In March 2022, an international polar expedition team made an astonishing find: the wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Endurance, lost in 1915 after being crushed by ice and then swallowed by the Weddell Sea. The harrowing story of Shackleton’s survival and rescue of all 27 men aboard is well known, but the ship has lain unseen for a century, 10 000 feet underwater—until now.
The vessel remains incredibly intact, as crystal-clear photography and digital scans from the expedition reveal. A thrilling firsthand account of the expedition coauthored by its leader and deputy leader, this is the first and only book to fully document the discovery, produced in full cooperation with the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust.
After the documentary, the book about the search of the Endurance is out. An incredible odyssey in itself, well-illustrated and beautifully told.
John Shears and Nico Vincent, Endurance. Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship, Random House N.Y., November 2024, 256 pages, ISBN 978-1-4262-2383-9
A book to inspire wonder and awe about one of the harshest, most remote places on Earth – the frozen Arctic. All kinds of animals live and thrive in this icy place, but their homes are under threat from global warming and other looming disasters.
This book shows how things were, how things are, and will inspire young readers to care for their planet.
Jerome Martin and Brittany Baugus, Journey across the Arctic with flaps, Rizzoli, December 2024, 16 pages, ISBN 978-1-80507-843-2
“Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has ever been devised,” wrote Apsley Cherry-Garrard in a deceptively jaunty introduction to this classic story of bravery and fortitude first published in 1922.
Second volume to be published in the continuing series of Explorers Club Classic books, the work of Cherry-Garrard, who was himself part of the Terra Nova expedition, is a true classic of the genre. For yourself or as a gift, for the pleasure of discovering one of the best accounts of polar expeditions.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, E-Artnow, June 2024, 444 pages, ISBN-13 9788027388240
Mirjana Binggeli, Polar Journal AG
Featured image: Mirjana Binggeli
