Welcome!

Enrich Your Travels with Longitude

We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.

SIGN UP FOR

Longitude News

Get our monthly e-mail update

GET A

Catalog

Polar Obsession

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

A raft of new and forthcoming and new books on the Arctic and Antarctic

AntARCTIC, A Tribute to Life in the Polar Regions

AntARCTIC, A Tribute to Life in the Polar Regions

by Michael Poliza

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 240 PAGES

With his inimitable blend of intimate close-ups and cinematic landscapes, Poliza celebrates polar wildlife and landscapes in this compact edition of his oversized, sumptuous original, (ANT314, $39.95)

Penguin

Penguin

by Frans Lanting

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 168 PAGES

For this gorgeous collection of 114 color photographs, Lanting loitered among the Magellanics, rockhoppers and gentoos of the Falklands, spent time with the king penguins of South Georgia and, famously, camped on the sea ice to follow the life cycle of the emperors and their young. (ANT117, $14.99)

Vanishing Wilderness of Antarctica

Vanishing Wilderness of Antarctica

by Colin Monteath

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 272 PAGES

Featuring 328 dazzling color photographs of the nature, land and icescapes of the seventh continent by naturalist, explorer and mountaineer Monteath. (ANT327, $24.95)

To the Arctic

To the Arctic

by Florian Schulz

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 204 PAGES

From aerial photographs of the tundra in summer to stark winter landscapes and underwater images, Shultz showcases the cycle of an Arctic year in 160 color photographs in this sumptuous book, a companion to the 2012 IMAX film. (ARC273, $45.00)

Arctic Obsession

Arctic Obsession

by Alexis Troubetzkoy

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 302 PAGES

From the earliest Vikings to William Barent, William Edward Parry, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen and 21st-century adventurers, Troubetzkoy traces the history of explorers and entrepreneurs across the Arctic. (ARC288, $25.99)

Polar Obsession

Polar Obsession

by Paul Nicklen

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2009
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES
  • NEW

Born and raised on Baffin Island, Nicklen has ice in his blood. The National Geographic photographer, wildlife biologist and naturalist presents up-close portraits of the creatures of the high latitudes in 150 dazzling photographs of swimming bears, cavorting seals, penguins, dueling narwhals and all manner of polar life. (ANT305, $50.00)

Frozen Planet, A World Beyond Imagination

Frozen Planet, A World Beyond Imagination

by Alastair Fothergill

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 312 PAGES

From the great melt in Spring to the 24-hour summer, the beginning of the big freeze and long dark winter, this companion book to the stunning documentary series follows the wildlife and change in lanscapes over the year in both the Antarctic and high Arctic. (ANT359, $39.95)

 
Last Days of the Arctic

Last Days of the Arctic


by Ragnar Axelsson

  • CULTURAL PORTRAIT
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 272 PAGES

A veteran of three decades among the people of the circumpolar north, Ragnar Axelsson documents the eerie land and icescapes, daily life, communities and culture of remote Greenland and the Arctic in hundreds of striking, often double-page photographs. (ARC287, $75.00)

The Future History of the Arctic

The Future History of the Arctic


by Charles Emmerson

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 448 PAGES

In awe of the Arctic, fascinated with the place since he was a kid, British economic analyst and geopolitical expert Charles Emmerson challenges romantic notions of the remote Arctic. Home to the Russian nuclear fleet, Murmansk, he reminds us, has 340,000 inhabitants. With a focus on the increasing importance of the region, he deftly tackles sovereignty, shipping, nature and resources of the Arctic in just over 300 absorbing pages. With notes and photographs. (ARC256, $28.95)

The Storied Ice

The Storied Ice


by Joan Boothe

  • HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 372 PAGES

A frequent visitor to the Antarctic over the past decade, Joan Boothe recounts the thrilling adventures of whalers, sealers, explorers and scientists along the Antarctic Peninsula. With abundant quotes, 100 illustrations, 30 maps and a chronology. (ANT353, $24.95)

A History of Arctic Exploration

A History of Arctic Exploration


by Juha Nurminen

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 349 PAGES

The ancient Inuit, Vikings, Vitus Bering, whalers, explorers and James Cook are all paid tribute in this sumptuously illustrated history, drawing on the collections of Helsinki's Nurminen Foundation. (ARC257, $60.00)

Arctic Labyrinth, The Quest for the Northwest Passage

Arctic Labyrinth, The Quest for the Northwest Passage


by Glyn Williams

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 464 PAGES

Drawing on letters, archives and explorer accounts, Williams charts the full sweep of the history of discovery and the quest for the Northwest Passage. (ARC254, $22.95)

Beyond the Edge, The Search for Ultima Thule

Beyond the Edge, The Search for Ultima Thule


by Gerald Johnson

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 109 PAGES

Robert Peary figures proiminatently in this captivating tale of the Northernmost Land on Earth, vairously Peary's Cape Morris Jesup to recently discovered offshore islands, including Koffeklubben, Oodaaq and Euro-American Island, happened upon in 2003. (ARC301, $39.95)

The Ice Balloon

The Ice Balloon


by Alec Wilkinson

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2012
  • HARD COVER
  • 272 PAGES

New Yorker writer Wilkinson recounts in thrilling detail the ill-fated attempt by Swedish engineer and aeronaut Salomon August Andree to reach the North Pole from Svalbard by balloon in 1897. (ARC289, $25.95)

The Man Who Ate His Boots

The Man Who Ate His Boots


by Anthony Brandt

  • EXPLORATION
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 448 PAGES

The enthralling tale of the adventurers who searched in vain for the Northwest Passage, holy grail of 19th-century British exploration. (ARC246, $16.95)

The Ends of the Earth

The Ends of the Earth


by Francis Spufford | Elizabeth Kolbert

  • LITERATURE
  • 2007
  • HARD COVER
  • 544 PAGES
  • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

A handsome anthology of the finest writing of the Arctic and the Antarctic, including classic accounts, fiction, science writing and essays. (ANT264, $29.95)

Planet Arctic

Planet Arctic


by Wayne Lynch

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2010
  • HARD COVER
  • 240 PAGES

Expedition leader, photographer and colleague, Wayne Lynch presents the "large and legendary" musk oxen and bear, tundra plants, birds, mammals and, of course, polar bears and other marine creatures of the sea ice in this portfolio of 150 striking full-page color photos. (ARC268, $40.00)

Science on Ice

Science on Ice


by Chris Linder

  • SCIENCE
  • 2011
  • HARD COVER
  • 288 PAGES

Linder chronicles four expeditions to the Arctic and Arctic in this strikingly photographed book. (ARC290, $40.00)

More Recommendations

Here are some other groups of books that might be of interest

Longitude provides recommended reading for travelers in partnership with the leading tour operators and travel programs for hundreds of destinations worldwide. We've got the classic, new and hard-to-find books and maps to help you get the most out of your adventures.