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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsThe Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circleby Sara Wheeler
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:More than a decade ago, Sara Wheeler traveled to Antarctica to understand a continent nearly lost to myth and lore. In the widely acclaimed, bestselling Terra Incognita, she chronicled her quest to find a hidden history buried in Antarctica's extreme surroundings. Now, Wheeler journeys to the opposite pole to create a definitive picture of life on the fringes. In The Magnetic North, she takes full measure of the Arctic: at once the most pristine place on earth and the locus of global warming.
Inspired by the spiraling shape of a reindeer-horn bangle, she travels counterclockwise around the North Pole through the territories belonging to Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, marking the transformations of what once seemed an unchangeable landscape. As she witnesses the mounting pollution concentrated at the pole, Wheeler reckons with the illness of the whole organism of the earth. Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, shadowing the endless Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a tough Idaho-born outdoorswoman, herding reindeer with the Lapps, and visiting the haunting, deceptively peaceful lands of the Gulag, Wheeler brings the Arctics many contradictions to life. The Magnetic North is an urgent, beautiful book, rich in dramatic description and vivid reporting. It is a singular, deeply personal portrait of a region growing daily in global importance. Review:"In her previous book, on Antarctica (Terra Incognita), Wheeler dismissively labeled the Arctic Circle as 'the complicated, life-infested North.' She changed her stance in 2002, following a trip during which she towed her infant son on a sled while traveling with the Sámi reindeer herders in the Arctic Circle. Readers are whisked away on an incredible, multifaceted tour of a region still unknown and mysterious. Her journeys, spread over a two-year period, begin in Siberia, nine time zones east of Moscow, in a region closed to foreigners and where there is no soil for anything to grow in a quarter of a million square miles. Traveling in a clockwise direction Wheeler's circuit includes Alaska; Canada; Greenland; Spitsbergen, Norway; Lapland; and back to the White Sea in Russia, weaving together fantastic stories of the North all the while. Wheeler admits this isn't a comprehensive history, but that makes little difference. This fact-filled narrative is nearly impossible to put down. Her theme is heroic individual struggle, such as pioneering polar aviation, heroism of the Norwegian resistance during WWII, and life in the Soviet gulag. By chronicling what the Arctic tells us about our past, Wheeler vividly reveals what it tells us about our collective future. (Feb.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright PWyxz LLC)
Review:The Magnetic North offers a fascinating tour of a disappearing world. Sara Wheeler is an eloquent and intrepid guide." Elizabeth Kolbert, author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe
Review:"A wise, provoking and zestful chronicle, poetic, often tragic and always engaging. Wheeler, a prolific raconteur of distant places, has created the finest book on the Arctic since Hugh Brody's The Other Side of Eden . . . She has mapped a remarkable journey." Rory MacLean, The Sunday Times (London)
Review:"Fantastic . . . Readers are whisked away on an incredible, multifaceted tour of a region still unknown . . . This fact-filled narrative is nearly impossible to put down . . . By chronicling what the Arctic tells us about our past, Wheeler vividly reveals what it tells us about our collective future." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Book News Annotation:Author of a clutch of excellent books, including ones on her travels to Chile and Antarctica, Wheeler now takes readers along for a journey through the planet's Arctic regions. In travels spread out over a two year period, the author found not a pristine wilderness, but a region plagued by the rest of the world's pollution and toxic wastes, not to mention a climate suffering from global warming and native cultures reeling from the impact of Western civilization. Despite all of this, Wheeler also found great natural beauty and numerous examples of unsung heroism and stoicism under extremely difficult conditions. Engagingly written and illustrated with numerous photographs and maps, this book is an excellent introduction to a part of the world that is becoming increasingly important. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis:A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title More than a decade ago, Sara Wheeler traveled to Antarctica to understand a continent nearly lost to myth and lore. In the widely acclaimed, bestselling Terra Incognita, she chronicled her quest to find a hidden history buried in Antarcticas extreme surroundings. Now, Wheeler journeys to the opposite pole to create a definitive picture of life on the fringes. In The Magnetic North, she takes full measure of the Arctic: at once the most pristine place on earth and the locus of global warming. Inspired by the spiraling shape of a reindeer-horn bangle, she travels counterclockwise around the North Pole through the territories belonging to Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, marking the transformations of what once seemed an unchangeable landscape. As she witnesses the mounting pollution concentrated at the pole, Wheeler reckons with the illness of the whole organism of the earth. Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, shadowing the endless Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a tough Idaho-born outdoorswoman, herding reindeer with the Lapps, and visiting the haunting, deceptively peaceful lands of the Gulag, Wheeler brings the Arctics many contradictions to life. The Magnetic North is an urgent, beautiful book, rich in dramatic description and vivid reporting. It is a singular, deeply personal portrait of a region growing daily in global importance. Synopsis:In order to understand climate change and our enormous dependence on oil, Sara Wheeler set out for the desolate vistas of the Arctic. In an epic voyage across the territories belonging to Russia, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, Wheeler marked a landscape that is at once the most pristine on earth and the site of mounting pollution—and the locus of global warming. Smashing through the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, shadowing the endless Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a tough Idaho-born outdoorswoman, herding reindeer with the Lapps, and visiting the haunting, deceptively peaceful lands of the Gulag, Wheeler has brought the Arctics many contradictions to life—and has positioned an urgent, beautiful book at the center of the most important debates of our age. Rich in dramatic description and vivid reporting, The Magnetic North has swiftly become an essential guide to a region that continues to grow daily in global importance. About the AuthorSara Wheeler is the author of five previous books, including the bestselling Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica, Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Too Close to the Sun: The Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton.
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History and Social Science » Arctic and Antarctic » General
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