BOOK REVIEW
Citation: Polar Research 2019, 38, 3748, http://dx.doi.org/10.33265/polar.v38.3748
Copyright: Polar Research 2019. © 2019 S.Ø. Nilsen. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Published: 19 November 2019
Correspondence to: Stein Ø. Nilsen, Environmental Management and Mapping Department, Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Centre, P.O. Box 6606 Langnes, NO-9296 Tromsø, Norway. E-mail: stein.orjan.nilsen@npolar.no
The authors of this magnificent book have wide experience bearing on the wildlife and the environment in the Arctic and have several relevant publications in print and online. The Arctic covers all aspects of the Arctic, including the region’s history and geology, and presents a view of environmental change, pollution and the problems that these cause for the people living north of the Arctic Circle.
The well-written text describes the shaping of the Arctic, the physical environment, the indigenous peoples whose accumulated know-how allows them to survive in the harshest of environments, and the wildlife and plants evolved in these lands surrounding the North Pole.
In many ways, a handbook to all facets of the Arctic, the book is speckled with fact boxes explaining, for example, some aspect of animal behaviour and the naming of the different peoples inhabiting the Arctic. It does not come with references to scientific papers nor is there an index or a checklist, which are common features of fieldguides. Because information about a given species is spread throughout the volume, the reader wishing to learn about that species must skim through the entire book to be sure to find it all.
The images taken by Per Michelsen are in general of a very good quality, and for some of the species they are outstanding. The size of the book gives room for some nice large prints, but the book is illustrated with mostly smaller photographs of what to expect when visiting this exciting part of our globe. There is even a visitor’s guide to the Arctic for those who want to go North to see for themselves. This book is a bargain for those seeking to learn about the Arctic either before or after travelling there, as well as for those who want to visit it from the comfort of their armchairs.