In Search of the South Pole, the best book we’ve seen on polar exploration in many a year, captures the ambition, romance and thrill of adventuring in Antarctica. Kari Herbert (daughter of polar explorer Sir Wally) and husband Huw Lewis-Jones collared an international who’s who of explorers, historians, scientists and polar experts for this irresistible portrait of place. It’s a scrapbook of Antarctic exploration, featuring a time line, dozens of color reproductions of period posters and other arcana, and excerpts from logbooks and journals.

In addition to the words of Scott and Amundsen, vivid descriptions from the logbooks, journals and narratives of pioneers such as Carsten Borchgrevink, Ernest Shackleton and Douglas Mawson provide first-hand experiences of this enigmatic and unforgiving region. Modern explorers and travellers, writers and scientists also explain what the South Pole means to them. Among those featured are Edmund Hillary, Vivian Fuchs, Ranulph Fiennes and Borge Ousland. Stunning images by Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley, and from the personal collections of explorers and adventure photographers, as well as contemporary ephemera and artifacts illustrate the hardships of life on the ice.