Storied Ice, The - Joan N. Boothe

by Joan N. Boothe

Not only a place of staggering scenic beauty and amazing wild­life, the Antarctic Peninsula Region has an immensely rich and fascinating human history that stretches from the journey of Magellan until today. The Storied Exploration, Discovery, and Adventure in Antarctica’s Peninsula Region vividly recounts this dramatic human story of Antarctica’s most-visited region. Several expeditions to this part of Antarctica are well known, in particular the legendary Ernest Shackleton and his Endurance expedi­tion. That journey is here along with many other less familiar but exciting from pack ice crushing ships and fearless sea voyages in tiny boats to hauling sledges for hundreds of miles and brave pilots flying the Antarctic skies. These are the tales of sealers, whalers, pioneer aviators, scientists, and several expeditions of Ant­arctica’s “Heroic Age”. All of them are woven together, placing the individually captivating stories in a historical context that casts new light into each adventure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

408 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2011

Reviews

[Margaret]

History of the Antarctic peninsula from 1500 to the 21st century. I especially enjoyed accounts of the lesser known (to me at least) expeditions. The wholesale slaughter of beautiful animals for their fur or blubber was sickening. Without regulations and conservation what will happen? The accounts of enormous oil spills in the Antarctic were briefly touched upon. The desire to exploit oil and minerals in Antarctica is sure to be the next fight between conservationists and multinational corporations. But in spite of everything the majority of the book took the reader through the years of exploration —-very exciting!

[John Crippen]

One great story after another! I particularly enjoyed the history up through the 1920s. The last third of the book covered more modern exploration expeditions that sort of seemed like cheating (planes, radios, helicopters, snowmobiles...come on!). You can tell the author loves the region, has researched it extensively, and has spent a lot of time there. If you're planning a trip to the Antarctic Peninsula, I would highly recommend reading this book beforehand, so you'll appreciate the amazing things that happened there. Reading it after visiting Antarctica may well make you want to go back!

[Mallory Bates]

lovely lil summary of nearly every expedition that has gone to antarctica