Land of wondrous cold The race to discover Antarctica and unlock the secrets of its ice

Review by Choice Review

With a flair for interpreting present-day problems and environmental changes against a vast backdrop beginning with the 19th-century age of seafaring discovery, Wood (Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) adeptly mediates between past and present. Aside from demonstrating his creative skills as a writer, this work is all the more welcome for its distinguished scholarship. While focusing mainly on the fierce rivalry among the French, British, and American expeditions of the 1840s, Wood successfully bridges the huge gulf between that time and the present, recounting discoveries of modern scientists that document the effects of global warning on the Antarctic ice cap. Wood's examination of prior human perceptions of Antarctica in the days of sail, juxtaposed with contemporary appreciation and warnings about what the future may hold, adds up to a marvelously engaging work. It is no easy feat to pass between the Victorian era and the present. Current ocean drilling programs, studies of plate tectonics, glacial erosion, and paleontological discoveries provide detailed substance, even verve, to Wood's text. Production quality, too, is of the highest order. Including a thorough, up-to-date bibliography and serviceable index, this work provides valuable insight into the present problems of a remembered world that is physically passing into memory. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals. General readers. --Barry M. Gough, emeritus, Wilfrid Laurier University

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

The Victorian-era search for the South Pole has been historically overshadowed by the expeditions of Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton, and Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s. Here, Wood profiles three separate voyages undertaken by French, British, and American explorers from 1838 to 1842. While these explorers failed to reach the South Pole, they made many significant discoveries along the way. Interwoven with these three voyages are sections covering the history of the formation of Antarctica, current scientific endeavors taking place there, and the impact of climate change on the region. The opening time line, showing exploration in the Antarctic from 1772 to 1917, will be useful to readers, as the chronology is sometimes unclear in the narrative. While the coverage of the Victorian-era expeditions is compelling, the overly descriptive text sometimes detracts from the content. The book concludes with an index and a bibliography arranged by general references, primary sources, secondary sources, and scientific sources. With its various competing time lines and perspectives, this book is best suited for those with a background or a strong interest in the subject.--Maren Ostergard Copyright 2020 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Three nations sent expeditions to the Antarctic in the late 1830s and early 1840s. This fascinating account describes their members' heroism and often disastrous experiences without ignoring the significant discoveries that followed.Wood (Environmental Humanities/Univ. of Illinois; Tambora: The Eruption That Changed the World, 2014) writes that by the early decades of the 19th century, whalers, sealers, and explorers had penetrated deep into the icepack and touched dry ground. Geographers suspected there was more, and the spirit of discovery, national rivalry, and the persistent fantasy that a rich, temperate land lay near the pole encouraged further voyages into the planet's last great uncharted territory. In France and England, two experienced explorersJules Dumont d'Urville and James Rosscommanded their nation's expeditions. The American ships, so long delayed and poorly organized that its senior officers refused to serve, sailed under junior officer Lt. Charles Wilkes, whose dysfunctional command style produced almost universal hatred from his men, who were "focused on what they perceived as his despicable stratagems to hog the glory of polar discovery for himself." Wood delivers riveting accounts of the voyages, which, hobbled by primitive technology and wooden sailing vessels, featured immense courage, suffering, loss of life, and shipwreck but produced important advances. "The first race to the pole resulted in a split decision," writes the author. "The French were the first to sight Antarctica and make landing, while the Americans charted the greatest section of coast and established its continental dimensions. The British, meanwhile, who were the last on the scene, traveled the furthest and saw the most." Mixed with these adventures, Wood provides a rich history of Antarctica, which was a lush, temperate land before it froze 50 million years ago, and a portrait of the continent today, whose mysteries are now less geographic than meteorological. If its ice (90% of the world's) melts, oceans would rise more than 200 feet, and this might be now in progress.Outstanding history accompanied by outstanding popular science. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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