More Books

INTO THE ARCTIC
More Books

Across Arctic America, Narrative of the Fifth Thule Expedition • Knud Rasmussen EXPLORATION • 1999 • PAPER • 415 PAGES • COMING IN A facsimile edition of Rasmussen's 1927 account of a 20,000-mile journey by dogsled across the top of North America. Published in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Fifth Thule Expedition. With black-and-white photographs and maps. (ARC90, $24.95)
Across the Top of the World • James P. Delgado EXPLORATION • 2009 • PAPER • 224 PAGES Covering all the major expeditions in detail, and written with passion and authority, this richly illustrated history by James Delgado covers the quest for the fabled Northwest Passage, from the disaster of the Franklin Expedition, to the triumph of Roald Amundsen, all the way up to present-day research. Despite recent competition from writer Anthony Brandt (The Man Who Ate His Boots), historian Glyn Williams (Arctic Labyrinth) and professor of naval history Andrew Lambert (The Gates of Hell), this is still the account we like best. (ARC61, $19.95)
An African in Greenland • Tete-Michel Kpomassie • James Kirkup BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • PAPER • 300 PAGES A memorable account of the odyssey of the West African author from Togo to Paris, Denmark and, ultimately, Greenland. Inspired by a children's book about Greenlanders, Kpomassie's grail is to visit the Arctic. A memoir, ethnography, travelogue and fairy tale, the charming and talented author's dreams all come true. Three-quarters of the book is devoted to his adventures in Greenland. Originally published in 1981. (ARC110, $14.95)
The Anthropology of Iceland • E. Paul Durrenberger CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 286 PAGES Divided thematically, this scholarly book addresses topics such as archaeological research, gender, class and culture. (ICL10, $20.00)
Arctic Adventure, My Life in the Frozen North • Peter Freuchen • Gretel Ehrlich EXPLORATION • 2002 • PAPER • 400 PAGES • COMING IN A showman, explorer and Arctic enthusiast, Freuchen (who played himself in the early MGM movie Eskimo) wrote widely about his exploits in the Arctic. This 1935 memoir, with a new introduction by Gretel Ehrlich, displays his wide-ranging interests, humor and love of the remote north. Freuchen ran a trading post with fellow Norwegian Knud Rasmussusen at Thule in northwest Greenland. He died in Anchorage in 1957. (ARC133, $17.95)
Arctic Kingdom, Life at the Edge • National Geographic Society NATURAL HISTORY • 2009 • DVD Stalk the Arctic ice with the fiercest predator, the polar bear, as it prowls one of the most forbidding places on the planet: a hidden kingdom of magnificent creatures. Armed with a keen sense of smell and backed up by 1,700 pounds, fur and fangs, the polar bear stands alone at the top of the food chain. Yet many other hunters manage to survive in and around harsh arctic waters from the savvy arctic fox to the massive, whiskered walrus. The Arctic ice is revealed as a place of danger and drama as animals are stranded on frozen waters, trapped between moving sheets of ice, and caught in the struggle to survive. Brave the worst that nature has to offer. (ARC284, $19.95)
Arctic Wildlife Nature Activity Book • James Kavanagh NATURAL HISTORY • 2004 • PAPER • 32 PAGES An informative and entertaining book of games, facts and quizzes about animals and natural history for kids, published by the Pocket Naturalist series. (ARC171, $6.95)
Atlantic Canada, A Region in the Making • Margaret Conrad • James Hiller HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 264 PAGES A wide-ranging, illustrated history of the Atlantic provinces written by two Canadian academics. (CND180, $35.00)
Atlas of Newfoundland & Labrador • Mem U Nfld Dept Geog REFERENCE • 1992 • HARD COVER • 78 PAGES This in-depth, oversize atlas presents the demographics, resources, economy and geography of Newfoundland. It's an excellent overview -- and highly recommended for its colorful presentation of detailed statistical information. (NFL04, $49.95)
Baltimore's Mansion • Wayne Johnston BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2001 • PAPER • 272 PAGES Don't let the title fool you, this book is not set in Maryland. Rather, it takes place on the Avalon Peninsula located at a remote tip of Newfoundland, where Lord Baltimore founded a colony. Wayne Johnston, whose novel "Colony of Unrequited Dreams" was a humorous and observant portrait of the Atlantic province, turns to nonfiction for this effort, a history of his young life and the story of his family in Newfoundland. (NFL11, $13.00)
The Basque History of the World • Mark Kurlansky HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 288 PAGES Popular author Mark Kurlansky offers an engaging portrait of the seven provinces of Basque Land, discussing everything from language to culinary heritage and seafaring traditions. It's a spirited, impressionistic history with a firm focus on the international contributions of the Basques and chapters on events such as the Spanish Civil War. (SPN116, $16.00)
The Boat Who Wouldn't Float • Farley Mowat BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 1989 • PAPER • 208 PAGES A Canadian national treasure, Mowat has captured the spirit and humor of Atlantic Canada in his 25 novels and memoirs. This laugh-out-loud book tells of his determination to refurbish and sail a clunky old sailboat in the not-always-forgiving waters of Newfoundland. It's quite a tale. Take your Dramamine before reading this book. (NFL02, $5.99)
Bradt Guide Faroe Islands • James Proctor GUIDEBOOK • 2008 • PAPER • 208 PAGES A practical guide to the North Atlantic islands in the popular series, essential for anyone contemplating an extended visit. With islands maps, city plans, and detailed information on what to do and where to go throughout the archipelago. (ARC156, $25.99)
Burden of Desire • Robert MacNeil LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 482 PAGES Set in Halifax, Nova Scotia during WWI, this story of love and war by novelist and newsman McNeil opens with the explosion of a docked ship loaded with munitions that destroys the north end of Halifax on December 6, 1917. In the ensuing confusion, an intriguing diary is found by a clergyman, producing most interesting results. It's an intricate, suspenseful book. (CND23, $25.95)
Call of the North, An Explorer's Journey to the North Pole • Andre Malaurie EXPLORATION • 2001 • HARD COVER • 336 PAGES A handsome, oversize memoir and celebration of the Inuit by the French polar explorer, featuring 300 of his own color photographs spanning a 50 year career in the Arctic. Maluarie is also the author of the wonderful Last Kings of Thule. Among his many polar accomplishments, he was the first Frenchman to reach the North Pole by dogsled in 1951. (ARC109, $60.00)
Canada Map • ITMB 2010 • MAP A folded, color map of all Canada at a scale of 1:6,00,000, this one-sided sheet shows physical relief, transportation routes, cities and towns from Iceland and Greenland west across Canada to Alaska and the Bering Sea. One in the National Atlas of Canada Reference Map Series. Two Sides. 28x40 inches. (CND15, $9.95)
Canada: A People's History, Volume 1 • Don Gillmor • Pierre Turgeon HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 320 PAGES An illustrated history of Canada from a distinctly Canadian perspective, soliciting expert accounts of seminal events. This, the first of two volumes, covers from early exploration to the dawn of the industrial age in the late 19th century. Volume 2 is also available (CND161). (CND160, $23.95)
Canada: A People's History, Volume 2 • Don Gillmor • Pierre Turgeon HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 352 PAGES An illustrated history of Canada from a distinctly Canadian perspective, soliciting expert accounts of seminal events. This, the second of two volumes, covers from the late 19th century to today. Volume 1 is also available (CND160). (CND161, $23.95)
Chronicles of the Vikings: Records, Memorials and Myths • R.I. Page CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1996 • PAPER • 240 PAGES A collection of Viking writings, organized thematically, including runic inscriptions, poems and a handful of eyewitness accounts. Scholar R.I. Page provides commentary to compliment his translations. (VIK16, $32.95)
Collapse, How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed • Jared Diamond HISTORY • 2011 • PAPER • 575 PAGES Big, wildly ambitious, provocative, this is Jared Diamond at his best. He tackles nothing less than the history and fate of civilization in this compelling book in which he offers case studies, present and past, of societies that work and societies that do not. He devotes 100 carefully reasoned pages, for example, to the fate of the Norse settlements in Greenland (climatic change, Inuit) and another big section on Easter Island (deforestation, hubris). It's a fitting follow-up to his Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel. (GEN324, $18.00)
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams • Wayne Johnston LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 562 PAGES The fictional biography of a minor character who was the father of the confederation of Newfoundland. A hilarious, splendidly entertaining account of a strange man in an even stranger place. This novel takes its power not from the bare facts of a not-so-dramatic life, but instead from the powerful setting and turbulent relationship between the protagonist, Joe Smallwood, and a powerful woman -- the alcoholic, larger-than-life Shelagh Fielding -- who contributes the hilarious excerpts from a condensed history of Newfoundland that are interspersed throughout the novel. (NFL08, $17.00)
The Complete Works of W. H. Auden, Prose and Travel Books, Volume One, 1926-1938 • W.H. Auden ANTHOLOGY • 1997 • HARD COVER • 952 PAGES Much more than the full, illustrated text of "Letters From Iceland," this hefty edition includes "Journey to a War" -- and practically everything else Auden wrote during his years living in England. His "Letters From Iceland", written with fellow poet Louis MacNiece, is a quirky, under-appreciated masterpiece that captures the spirit of Iceland, its people and landscapes. (ICL11, $100.00)
The Control of Nature • John McPhee NATURAL HISTORY • 1989 • PAPER • 272 PAGES A bestseller in the classic McPhee tradition, this book explores our generally feeble attempts to combat all-powerful nature. Interweaving solid science, interviews and observation, he chronicles the army corps of engineers and their efforts to control the Mississippi, Icelanders and their attempts to control the flow of a volcano, and Angelinos and how they cope with the ever-present threat of seismic destruction. A national treasure, no one explains geology and geologists like McPhee. Like most of his work, these vintage essays originally appeared in the "New Yorker." (NAT01, $16.00)
Denmark Map • Freytag & Berndt MAP This double-sided maap, covering Denmark and southern Sweden from Gothenburg to Kristianstad, includes the Faeroes and Greeland on the reverse. The index includes city plans for central Arhus, Copenhagen & Odense. One Side. 49x39 inches. (SCN15, $14.95)
Distant Shores, The Odyssey of Rockwell Kent • Constance Martin • Rockwell Kent ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2000 • PAPER • 128 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE Distant Shores present 80 paintings, prints and drawings by Kent (1882-1971), many in glorious color, and including an exceptional selection of work from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg. Inspired by remote and inhospitable regions, the book follows Kent's life and work at Monhegan Island, Newfoundland, Alaska, Tierra del Fuego and Greenland. Published in conjunction with an exhibition by the same name. With 68 color illustrations and 58 black-and-white photographs. New. (ART34, $125.00)
Driving to Greenland • Peter Stark TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1998 • PAPER • 192 PAGES • COMING IN Peter Stark likes the cold. He not only lives in Missoula, but heads further north whenever he gets the chance (or a magazine assignment), albeit usually in the summer. He didn't actually drive to Greenland in the title story but he did make it as far as Yellowknife in a 1973 mini-van piloted by his improbably named father-in-law Rags. From there he and wife Amy scouted private, regularly scheduled and military aircraft to get them to Baffin Island and across Smith Sound to Qaanaaq, Greenland. Whether Stark is at the precipice of the monster ski jump in Iron Mountain, Michigan, squeezed into a kayak with the local Greenlanders or meditating on the properties of snow, he's an alert, adventurous guide with a highly developed sense of irony. Most of these stories originally appeared in Outside magazine, which has produced a stable of terrific writers on natural history and adventure. (ARC69, $14.95)
The Eskimos • Ernest S. Burch, Jr. CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1988 • HARD COVER • 128 PAGES An ethnographic portrait of Eskimo society, culture and beliefs, featuring 120 color photographs by Werner Forman and accompanying essays by anthropologist Ernest Burch. The oversize book shows the range and diversity of peoples of the circumpolar north with examples from eastern Siberia, the Aleutians, Alaska, Canada and Greenland. Its focus is on the Eskimo peoples of Alaska. (ARC165, $19.95)
Evangeline • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow LITERATURE • 1999 • PAPER • 176 PAGES Longfellow's epic poem of Evangeline and Gabriel, two lovers separated as a result of the 1755 Acadian deportation from Nova Scotia by the English. The story follows the Acadians' journey from Grand Pre to Louisiana, and Evangeline's search for Gabriel down the Mississippi. The heroine Evangeline has remained an icon of Acadian identity throughout North America ever since the poem's publication in 1847. (CND46, $7.99)
Extremes, Surviving the World's Harshest Environments • Nick Middleton TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2005 • HARD COVER • 272 PAGES A British geographer with a television show, Middleton is also a fine, entertaining tour guide. In this latest exploration of how to thrive in impossible places, he goes native in Greenland, the Congo, Niger and Papua New Guinea. It's a sequel to his Going to Extremes. (TVL65, $24.95)
Fall on your Knees • Ann-Marie MacDonald LITERATURE • 1998 • PAPER • 508 PAGES An epic novel following the lives of a Lebanese-Canadian family from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia during the first half of the 20th century. The story is wide in scope, taking place not only in coastal Canada, but also in Europe during World War I and New York City during the "Roaring 20s." Full of hidden family secrets and mounting tragedies, this is a powerful -- and often darkly humorous -- yarn, written by an award winning playwright and actress. (CND49, $16.00)
Far Afield • Susanna Kaysen LITERATURE • 1994 • PAPER • 338 PAGES This charming novel about a social anthropologist off on a grant to study the residents of the Faroes wonderfully evokes the people, culture and windswept landscapes of the islands. Kaysen must have spent time in the islands to capture such a strong sense of place. (ICL08, $17.00)
Field Notes from the Northern Forest • Curt Stager NATURAL HISTORY • 1999 • PAPER • 329 PAGES Combining the latest in scientific literature with his own observations, Sager offers 20 natural science essays exploring the lives of the animals, plants and fungi commonly encountered in the forests of eastern North America. (USE03, $19.95)
The First Crossing of Greenland • Fridtjof Nansen EXPLORATION • 2003 • PAPER • 400 PAGES Nansen's account of his 1888 Greenland journey by ski and sledge with five companions, the first successful expedition across the Greenland icecap. (ARC132, $29.95)
Fodor's Montreal's 25 Best • Fodor's GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 128 PAGES A shirt-pocket guide to Montreal, this slim book includes an excellent map of the center of the city and essential information on its highlights, including restaurant recommendations and sightseeing -- all in a slipcover. (CND41, $11.99)
The Future of Ice, A Journey into Cold • Gretel Ehrlich EXPLORATION • 2005 • PAPER • 200 PAGES The marvelous Ehrlich (This Cold Heaven, Seven Seasons in Greenland) continues her fascination with out-of-the-way -- and cold -- places with this impressionistic account of journeys to the ends of the earth, encompassing deserts, tundra and mountains from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic Circle. The longest chapters are set in Patagonia and Spitsbergen but the book is not so much about place as the experience of cold. (ANT215, $13.95)
Glacier Ice • Austin Post • Edward R. LaChapelle NATURAL HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 145 PAGES A classic book of extraordinary black-and-white aerial photographs of mountains and glaciers by two devoted men of ice. The text is by Ed LaChapelle, an avalanche researcher, glaciologist, mountaineer, skier, author and professor, who died in 2007 at 80 of a heart attack while on the slopes in Colorado. Austin Post's stunning aerial photographs of glaciers along the North Pacific Coast of North America and into the interior ranges of Alaska is supplemented with groundbased photographs from the Himalayas, Switzerland, Chile and other parts of the world. (SCI07, $27.95)
Glaciers • Michael Hambrey SCIENCE • 2005 • HARD COVER • 376 PAGES • COMING IN An excellent companion for travel to regions with glaciers and ice-carved landscapes, the expanded second edition of this handsome book is a pictorial overview of glacial phenomena. From Scandinavia to Alaska, Antarctica and Central Park, its 200 color photographs introduce the formation and types of glaciers and their impact on landscapes over time. If you've ever wondered about circques, fjords, eskers or moraines, this book is an excellent guide. (GEO03, $87.00)
The Gothic Enterprise, A Guide to Understanding the Medieval Cathedral • Robert A. Scott ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2005 • PAPER • 294 PAGES Scott, whose interest in the history of cathedrals began when he first saw the magnificent Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Salisbury, England, takes his reader on a historical, architectural and sociological tour of the magnificent spires and stained-glass windows that dot the landscape of Europe. It's an accessible, personable overview. (EUR190, $21.95)
Guide to the Offshore Wildlife of the Northern Atlantic • Michael H. Tove FIELD GUIDE • 2001 • PAPER • 272 PAGES An oversize field guide to the seabirds, ocean mammals and turtles found off Atlantic shores north of the Tropic of Cancer featuring 39 excellent color plates and extensive descriptive information. With a helpful checklist and charts giving the seasonal abundance of each species at 18 key locations throughout the Atlantic. (ATL11, $24.95)
Handbook of North American Indians: Arctic • David Damas REFERENCE • 1984 • HARD COVER • 829 PAGES The definitive reference on native peoples of the Arctic, one of the Smithsonian's fine series on North American Indians. Authoritative and somewhat academic, it's a terrific book for your library. Widely illustrated with photographs and drawings. (ARC15, $52.00)
Here Is Where We Meet • John Berger LITERATURE • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES This novel weaves a portrait of several European countries through encounters with the dead, from the narrator's mother, whom he discovers on a park bench in Lisbon, to a childhood friend wandering a market in Krakow. "The dead don't stay where they are buried," the protagonist's mother tells him, and this becomes the mantra for this most unusual journey through Europe's history and people. (EUR189, $15.00)
A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland • T.K Derry HISTORY • 2000 • PAPER • 447 PAGES This comprehensive volume gives a historical overview of Scandinavia from prehistory to the present day, with chapters on the Viking and Lutheran kingdoms, medieval times, monarchies, the World Wars and modern period through the 1970s (with a short chapter addressing the 1990s). It emphasizes the common cultural, political and social backgrounds of the five modern states. (SCN03, $25.00)
How to Be a Canadian, Even If You Already Are One • Ian Ferguson • Will Ferguson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2008 • PAPER • 275 PAGES A tongue-in-cheek portrait of Canadian people and society, written by two native sons. It's a guidebook for newcomers to Canada. The Fergusons have a good time poking fun at their compatriots, while at the same time providing insights into the cultural landscape. Will Ferguson is the author of Why I Hate Canadians. (CND208, $18.95)
Hungry Ocean, A Swordboat Captain's Journey • Linda Greenlaw TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2000 • PAPER • 288 PAGES An account of a 30-day swordfishing trip from Gloucester to the Grand Banks by a veteran fishing boat captain. A formidable skipper (and woman at that), Greenlaw details all the excitement, boredom, weather, and characters on a first-class fishing operation off the coast of Newfoundland. (NFL17, $14.00)
The Ice Chronicles, The Quest to Understand Global Climate Change • Paul Andrew Mayewski • Frank White • Lynn Margulis NATURAL HISTORY • 2003 • PAPER • 264 PAGES A history of the Greenland Ice Sheet drilling project, started in 1998 to help measure global climate change throughout history. (SCI70, $22.95)
Iceland Adventure Map • National Geographic Society 2011 • MAP A detailed double-sided map of Iceland, at a scale of 1:465,000. Printed on tear- and water-reistant paper, this National Geographic Adventure map is based on the cartography of Reise Know-How Verlag and the exclelent World Mapping Project. Two Sides. 27 X 39 inches. (ICL05, $11.95)
Iceland, Land of the Sagas • Jon Krakauer • David Roberts TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 1998 • PAPER • 160 PAGES Krakauer (author of "Into Thin Air") and "Outside Magazine" colleague David Roberts hike and climb around Iceland in this travel narrative, reissued as a paperback and featuring color photographs by Krakauer. The book interweaves natural and cultural history of the island with the authors' own adventures. (ICL07, $24.00)
The Idea of North • Peter Davidson CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2004 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A meditation on the concept of northerly places, which draws upon the writings of Nabokov, Auden and others, as well as mythology, films and visual art. Davidson explores Nordic Renaisssance winter paintings, German Romantic landscapes, Scandinavian Biedermeyer and 20th-century prints, taking in the work of artists as varied as Andy Goldsworthy, Eric Ravilious and Ian Hamilton Finlay and writers including W. H. Auden, Cecil Day-Lewis and John Buchan. He ends with a consideration of Iceland, called by Auden and McNeice in 1936 as "furthest, most remote, most distant, most northerly." (ARC159, $27.00)
Identities in North America, The Search for Community • Robert Earle CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1995 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Mexican, Canadian -- or "American"? Contributors to this academic conference ponder what it all means. David Crombie (the former mayor of Toronto) writes on Canadian cities, Mark Pachter takes on American identity, and several politicians debate the Quebec question. It is a stimulating, wonderfully uneven book. (CND14, $26.95)
An Illustrated History of the First World War • John Keegan HISTORY • 2001 • HARD COVER • 448 PAGES • COMING IN An illustrated edition of Keegan's outstanding history of the Great War, considerably enhanced by his selection of almost 500 photographs, maps, drawings and illustrations. The visuals clarify and augment his wide-ranging narrative of the origins, battles and consequences of WWI. (WAR16, $50.00)
Independent People, An Epic • Halldor Laxness LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 480 PAGES • FAVORITE A masterwork redolent of rural Icelandic life in the early days of the 20th century. This great mock-epic features Bjartur of Summerhouses -- a hard-headed, independent-minded sheep farmer whose voice dominates the story. Whatever its ethnographic interest, this is a tremendously good book, rich in local detail. The author won the Nobel Prize in 1955. (ICL01, $16.95)
An Innocent in Newfoundland, Even More Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters • David W. McFadden TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2003 • PAPER • 320 PAGES In this entertaining chronicle and portrait of Newfoundland, McFadden (an errant Canadian who has written many volumes of travel and poetry) stops in to visit poets and writers, pays homage to the Vikings at L'Anse aux Meadows, admires the puffins and -- as usual -- visits a few taverns en route. (NFL20, $16.95)
Insight Guide Iceland • Insight Guides GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 360 PAGES This beautiful guide features wonderful photographs and essays prepared by experts on Iceland. The emphasis here is on providing an understanding of the history, culture, landscapes and attractions of the country. Maps and practical information are secondary. (ICL04, $22.99)
Island, The Complete Stories • Alistair MacLeod LITERATURE • 2011 • PAPER • 448 PAGES From one of Canada's most important writers comes a collection of stories about family and tradition in Nova Scotia. They tell of a young generation who has adapted to the New World but still tries to find their place within the Old World traditions of Scotland. A book-besotted patriarch releases his only son from the obligations of the sea. A father provokes his young son to violence when he reluctantly sells the family horse. A passionate girl who grows up on a nearly deserted island turns into an ever-wistful woman when her one true love is felled by a logging accident. A dying young man listens to his grandmother play the old Gaelic songs on her ancient violin as they both fend off the inevitable. The events that propel MacLeod's stories convince us of the importance of tradition, the beauty of the landscape, and the necessity of memory. (CND73, $15.95)
Islands of the Arctic • Julian Dowdeswell • Michael Hambrey NATURAL HISTORY • 2002 • HARD COVER • 280 PAGES A nicely illustrated overview of the physical geography of the Arctic, especially the role of glaciers and ice in shaping the land and history of northern islands across the Arctic from the Canadian Archipelago, Greenland and Svalbard to the Russian Arctic. The authors, glaciologists both, have worked throughout the circumpolar north with 40 years of field work between them. With 242 color photographs by the authors, illustrating a wide variety of Arctic phenomena, including glaciation, frost action, sea ice, coastal features, and life of the icy seas and tundra. The book concludes with chapters on human habitation and the future of the Arctic. (ARC122, $60.00)
The Last Imaginary Place • Robert McGhee BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR • 2007 • PAPER • 296 PAGES In this wide-ranging portrait of the Arctic, McGhee combines a lifetime of archaeological field work, history and travel, touching on whalers and ivory-hunters, explorers, fur-traders, Viking farmers and, most particularly, the native peoples in a series of illuminating essays. With 37 black-and-white illustrations, 31 color photographs and nine maps. Published in conjunction with the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where McGhee is curator of Arctic archaeology. (ARC164, $18.00)
Last Places, A Journey in the North • Lawrence Millman • Paul Theroux TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2000 • PAPER • 242 PAGES In the wake of the Vikings, the intrepid author explores the landscapes, culture and history of the North Atlantic. His wry -- and sometimes hilarious -- commentary illuminates modern life in the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. (ARC54, $15.95)
The Last Spike, The Great Railway, 1881-1885 • Pierre Berton HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 496 PAGES Part two in Berton's exhilarating narrative of the boldest project in Canadian history, the building of the transcontinental railroad. Berton, arguably the country's greatest historian, focuses on personalities and politics, drawing from a multitude of historical documents. The first volume is "The National Dream" (CND178). (CND179, $16.95)
The Little Ice Age, How Climate Made History 1300-1850 • Brian Fagan SCIENCE • 2001 • PAPER • 272 PAGES A delightful and well-documented survey of the impact of medieval cooling on world affairs, including the hardships suffered by the Norse on Greenland. (ARC147, $16.95)
Lives and Landscapes, A Photographic Memoir of Outport Newfoundland and Labrador, 1949-1963 • Elmer Harp CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 2003 • HARD COVER • 288 PAGES A warmly anecdotal, illustrated journal of ethnographic travels in Newfoundland. The book is a captivating snapshot of the Strait of Belle Isles of decades past, featuring 200 marvelous color illustrations of the people, landscapes and activities of these remote outposts. Harp, now professor emeritus of Anthropology at Dartmouth, first traveled the region as a Ph.D. student in the 1940s. (NFL21, $60.00)
Lonely Planet Canada • Mark Lightbody • Thomas Huhti • Ryan Ver Berkmoes GUIDEBOOK • 2011 • PAPER • 902 PAGES With information on all the provinces, including Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, it is perfect for travelers visiting multiple Canadian destinations, or some of the less traveled regions. It contains 100 maps and a great deal of practical information on accommodations, outdoor adventuring and cultural attractions. (CND54, $26.99)
Lonely Planet Iceland • Deanna Swaney GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 360 PAGES A concise guide to Iceland with short essays on history, culture and attractions and plenty of practical travel information. This guide replaces Lonely Planet Iceland, Greenland & the Faroes. (ICL06, $23.99)
The Maine Reader, The Down East Experience, 1614 to Present • Charles Shain LITERATURE • 1997 • PAPER • 524 PAGES An excellent anthology covering the gamut of the state's culture and history, from early European explorers to the 20th century works of Carolyn Chute, Rachel Carson and John McPhee. Selections from Longfellow, Thoreau, Millay and Jewett appear alongside some rare gems, such as an excerpt from the journal of one of Benedict Arnold's foot soldiers. (USE57, $20.95)
Mammals of Europe • Priscilla Barrett • David W. MacDonald FIELD GUIDE • 2002 • PAPER • 320 PAGES Published by Princeton, this is a field guide to land and marine mammals throughout Europe, both endemic and introduced. With more than 600 color illustrations of over 200 mammals, it's a comprehensive handbook, with detailed descriptions, range maps and commentary on behavior. (FG61, $38.50)
Mammals of North America • Roland W. Kays • Don E. Wilson FIELD GUIDE • 2009 • PAPER • 248 PAGES A comprehensive guide by two noted mammalogists and featuring 108 color plates, illustrating 442 species. Range maps and descriptive text on ecology, habitat and behavior complement the wonderful paintings. (NAM11, $19.95)
Mammals of North America, Temperate and Arctic Regions • Adrian Forsyth NATURAL HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A handsome, illustrated reference to the mammals of North America from polar bears to bison, mountain lions and the black squirrel. Forsyth ("Tropical Nature"), includes not only up-to-date information on taxonomy and distribution but also discusses the behavior and ecology of each species. With range maps and hundreds of color photogrpahs. (NAM02, $29.95)
Midnight Sun • Lawrence Osgood LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 300 PAGES A novel about the eerie intertwining lives of the people of the town of Poniktuk, a small village on the Beaufort Sea. (ARC170, $16.95)
Montcalm and Wolfe, The French and Indian War • Francis Parkman • Caleb Carr • John Keegan HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 640 PAGES This volume, a reprint of the original 1884 edition by the great Francis Parkman, is an extensively researched account of the French and Indian War and of the great generals Montcalm and Wolfe. (CND16, $24.95)
Moose • Valerius Geist • Michael H. Francis NATURAL HISTORY • 2005 • PAPER • 160 PAGES A natural history of the moose, by one of the leading authorities, Valerius Geist. Their migration, social interactions and mating rituals are all covered, along with issues concerning their natural habitats and conservation. The informative text is complemented by wonderful color photographs. (BST56, $21.95)
My Famous Evening: Nova Scotia Sojourns, Diaries and Preoccupations • Howard Norman TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2004 • HARD COVER • 208 PAGES • FAVORITE Howard Norman returned to Nova Scotia over a period of 30 years to interview local legends and research the folklore of the area. Norman writes with an impressionistic intimacy to create a portrait of this enchanting place and its people. A volume in the National Geographic Directions series. (CND204, $20.00)
N by E • Rockwell Kent • Edward Hoagland EXPLORATION • 1996 • PAPER • 282 PAGES A journal of adventure, illustrated with wood-block prints by the author on every other page, this is Kent's lively account of seafaring, adventure and the Arctic, originally published in 1930 in a limited edition. The account of a sailing trip from Labrador, the book culminates with Kent and his party stranded in Greenland. (ARC35, $22.95)
The National Dream, The Great Railway, 1871 to 1881 • Pierre Berton HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 456 PAGES An exhilarating narrative of the boldest project in Canadian history, the building of the transcontinental railroad. Berton, arguably the country's greatest historian, focuses on personalities and politics, drawing from a multitude of historical documents. The first of two parts, this book follows the railway from idea to the beginning of construction. Part two, "The Last Spike" (CND179), is also available. (CND178, $24.95)
National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America • Jon Dunn FIELD GUIDE • 2011 • PAPER • 576 PAGES From Alaska to Baja California, this field guide published by the National Geographic Society, now in its sixth edition (with tabs!), is the one to carry. Practical to use in the field, it has maps, illustrations and descriptions of the birds on facing pages. The scale of the maps changes with the range of the bird, which means you get a more detailed regional map for those birds with a restricted range. This fully revised sixth edition, bigger and better than ever, includes 23 new species, 300 new illustrations, innovative migration and subspecies maps, and a handy quick-find visual index. (FG09, $27.95)
New Brunswick Map • Map Art Maps MAP A colorful travel map of the province at a scale of 1:600,000, with seven city plans. One Side. 27x39 inches. (CND80, $4.95)
Ninety Degrees North, The Quest for the North Pole • Fergus Fleming EXPLORATION • 2003 • PAPER • 496 PAGES A thrilling, artfully told chronicle of the mostly 19th-century adventurers, madmen and explorers who quested after the North Pole. A marvelous storyteller, Fergus (who also wrote Barrow's Boys and Killing Dragons) interweaves journal excerpts with his own account of the often fateful exploits of Robert Peary, Frederick Cook. Elisha Kent Kane and other Arctic explorers. Though all the starvation, cold, braggadocio and lies, Fleming communicates with grace, clarity and wit the magnetic attraction of what historian Pierre Berton has called the Arctic Grail. (ARC124, $15.00)
No Great Mischief • Alistair MacLeod LITERATURE • 2011 • PAPER • 304 PAGES The first novel from short story writer Alistair MacLeod tells the story of the MacDonalds, a Scottish family who moved to the New World and settled on Cape Breton Island, but never forgot their Gaelic roots. Following the MacDonalds from the late 18th century up to the present, MacLeod creates a modern saga of the immigrant experience, familial bonds and life in coastal Canada. (CND48, $15.95)
The Norsemen in the Viking Age • Eric Christiansen HISTORY • 2002 • PAPER • 379 PAGES This scholary history of the Norse takes somewhat of a revisionist approach, examining the evolution of Viking culture as a direct reaction to threatening environmental and social forces at home and abroad. (VIK17, $37.95)
North Circumpolar Region • Canada Map Office 2008 • MAP A bird's-eye view of the top of the world, showing the Arctic Ocean and all the lands north of 55 degrees, including the Canadian Arctic, Alaska, Siberia, Northern Europe, and Greenland. Printed on high quality glossy paper, this revised editon, published by Natural Resources Canada, shows bathymetry of the sea floor, named basins and ridges, shaded relief on sea and land, and limits of the tree line and sea ice. (ARC16, $19.95)
The North Pole, A Narrative History • Anthony Brandt EXPLORATION • 2004 • PAPER • 413 PAGES Anthony Brandt samples the literature of exploration for this anthology in the series by National Geographic. Organized chronologically, the book is divided into three parts: early exploration; the quest for the Northwest Passage; and North Pole journeys. Brandt includes selections by William Scoresby, John Ross, John franklin, Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Francis Hall, Adolphus Greely, Fridjof Nansen, Frederick Cook, Robert Peary and more. Each seledction is 10-20 pages. (ARC155, $15.00)
Northern Nurse • Elliott Merrick • Lawrence Millman TRAVEL NARRATIVE • 2003 • PAPER • 332 PAGES A classic account of life and adventures in Labrador, originally published in 1941. It's the story of Australian nurse Kate Austen at Labrador's Grenfell Mission, written by her writer and novelist husband Elliott Merrick -- and a wonderful portrait of place. (CND190, $14.00)
Nova Scotia & Prince Edward Island Map • ITMB 2008 • MAP This provincial map of Nova Scotia at a scale of 1:400,000 includes Prince Edward Island and adjacent New Brunswick. With city and regional plans and index on the reverse. Two Sides. 27x39 inches. (CND45, $9.95)
One Day the Ice Will Reveal All Its Dead • Clare Dudman LITERATURE • 2005 • PAPER • 416 PAGES What an intriguing idea! Clare Dudman takes the bare-bones of Alfred Wegener's adventurous life (1880-1930) and builds around that foundation an engrossing tale of science and exploration, richly set against a backdrop of Greenland (where Wegener ultimately met his demise) Dudman's first-person voice recalls the brave men and bad weather in the Victorian age. A meteorologist, it was Wegener who first proposed the notion of continental drift. Published in the U.K. as Wegener's Jigsaw. (ARC148, $14.00)
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings • Peter Sawyer HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 298 PAGES This compact, well-produced book, featuring contributions by 12 experts, is an insightful overview of the Viking Age. With numerous black-and-white illustrations. (VIK18, $27.99)
Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings • John Haywood HISTORY • 1995 • PAPER • 144 PAGES • BEST SELLER A thorough history of the Vikings as told through a series of innovative maps and excellent photographs of Viking artifacts. This book traces the route of the 9th-century Viking merchants and explorers throughout Europe and on to the New World. (VIK02, $20.00)
Polar Bears • Ian Stirling NATURAL HISTORY • 2011 • PAPER • 232 PAGES A tribute to the polar bear by preeminent researcher Ian Stirling and intrepid photographer Dan Guravich, featuring 160 color photographs. It's an excellent combination of outstanding color photography, solid information on natural history and Inuit lore. With chapters on polar bear biology, distribution and abundance, behavior and study, the polar bears of Churchill, environmental concerns and the conflicts between people and bears. (ARC58, $40.00)
Polar Explorers for Kids • Maxine Snowden EXPLORATION • 2004 • PAPER • 150 PAGES • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) The history and adventures of 16 polar explorers, including Erik the Red, Henry Hudson, Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, are brought to life in 21 puzzles, games, projects and activities for kids ages 9 and up. With black-and-white photographs, informative sidebars and maps. (ARC191, $16.95)
Ring of Seasons, Iceland, Its Culture and History • Terry G. Lacy HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 332 PAGES A longtime resident of Reykjavik, Lacy weaves tales of family life, anecdote, lore and history into this illuminating personal portrait of Iceland. (ICL03, $25.95)
River Thieves • Michael Crummey LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 352 PAGES A novel of Newfoundland's colonial past. Crummey draws on the history of the early European settlers and the devasting impact on the Beothuk people. (NFL13, $19.95)
The Royal Physician's Visit • Per Olov Enquist LITERATURE • 2002 • PAPER • 320 PAGES • COMING IN Swedish novelist Enquist fleshes out a footnote in Danish history in this story of the Enlightenment-era Danish court, the mad king Christian VII, the ambitious royal doctor and the passionate young queen. It's a wonderfully realized book. (DMK21, $19.99)
The Sagas of Icelanders • Jane Smiley • Robert Kellog LITERATURE • 2000 • PAPER • 544 PAGES Nine sagas and six tales collected in a single volume, all newly translated for this edition marking the 1,000th anniversary of Leif Eriksson's voyage to North America, and including an introduction by Jane Smiley (whose books include the wonderful novel of Norse settlements "The Greenlanders"). Composed between 1000 and 1500, these rousing tales are told with surprising directness and simplicity. Any modern explorer setting off across the North Atlantic should consider taking along this big book. (ICL13, $25.00)
Salamina • Rockwell Kent LITERATURE • 2003 • PAPER • 376 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE A warm account of adventures in Greenland circa 1931, featuring portraits of the people encountered (including the title heroine) and pen-and-ink illustrations by the sailor, adventurer and illustrator. One in a series of adventures in remote locales. (ARC143, $22.95)
Shadows on the Rock • Willa Cather LITERATURE • 1995 • PAPER • 229 PAGES Set at the end of the 17th century in rural Quebec, this beautifully realized novel highlights the struggles of the Parisian widower Auclair and his young daughter to adapt to their new land. (CND10, $14.00)
The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America • David Sibley FIELD GUIDE • 2003 • PAPER • 432 PAGES A compact, geographically-specific version of the Sibley Guide with all-new range maps, the same glorious illustrations and expanded, extremely valuable descriptions of each bird with status, habitat, range, voice and identifying marks. It includes 20 pages on the many and confusing species of wood warblers. This is the book we are now using. For birders living west of the Rockies, you'll want to use Sibley's "Birds of Western North America" (USW418). (USE262, $19.95)
Silent Snow, The Slow Poisoning of the Arctic • Marla Cone NATURAL HISTORY • 2006 • PAPER • 256 PAGES Eloquently written, Cone's report from the Arctic is a work of both scientific and literary merit. On a journey intended to investigate the deteriorating Arctic environment, Cone travels across the northern region and makes several surprising discoveries about the dangers of pollution and how toxic chemicals from around the world end up contaminating the Arctic. (ARC181, $14.00)
The Sledge Patrol, A WWII Epic of Escape, Survival and Victory • David Howarth HISTORY • 2008 • PAPER • 224 PAGES An engrossing true-life adventure story of Danish and Norwegian hunters evading Nazi troops across the hostile terrain of Greenland. (ARC112, $16.95)
Smilla's Sense of Snow • Peter Hoeg LITERATURE • 2012 • PAPER • 448 PAGES Set in Denmark and Greenland and aboard a secret ship, this page-turner (made into a terrible movie) includes an excellent portrait of modern day Copenhagen in its first half. Twentieth Anniversary Edition. (DMK03, $17.00)
Spitsbergen Explorer Map • Ocean Explorer Maps 2006 • MAP A detailed map of Svalbard for the traveler, at a scale of 1:1,000,000, with illustrated biographies of 27 explorers and a brief guide to wildlife on the reverse. Designed and published by intrepid expedition leader and editor Nigel Sitwell. Tony Soper contributed the natural history information. (ARC88, $11.95)
Stories from Where We Live, The North Atlantic Coast • Sara St. Antoine • Paul Mirocha • Trudy Nicholson LITERATURE • 2004 • PAPER • 290 PAGES • MIDDLE READERS (Age 9-12) A substantial anthology of writings about this North American ecoregion, from Newfoundland south to Delaware -- wonderfully useful as a young person's guide to people, nature and place. It includes Native American myths, historical accounts and modern short stories, as well as black-and-white drawings and maps. Ages 9 to 14. (USE252, $10.95)
The Surgeon's Mate • Patrick O'Brian LITERATURE • 1991 • PAPER The seventh in the Aubrey-Maturin series. This one focuses on naturalist-spy Maturin being chased across the Grand Banks by a couple of American privateers. He makes it back to England, of course, where he's sent on a new and perilous mission with Aubrey to France. (NFL12, $14.95)
This Marvellous Terrible Place, Images of Newfoundland and Labrador • Yva Momatiuk • John Eastcott CULTURAL PORTRAIT • 1998 • PAPER • 176 PAGES This portrait of Newfoundland, compiled by two accomplished photojournalists, combines color photographs and oral histories of the area. (NFL07, $24.95)
Tilting, Newfoundland • Robert Mellin ART & ARCHITECTURE • 2003 • HARD COVER • 208 PAGES An intriguing overview of odd buildings in Newfoundland, featuring both photographs and drawings. It showcases the architecture of the fishing villages, directly influenced by the windswept coastal landscape, where houses are sometimes built from boats (or even function as boats!). Author Robert Mellin provides commentary, journal entries and oral histories from local residents. (NFL16, $24.95)
Trans-Canada Rail Guide • Melissa Graham GUIDEBOOK • 2010 • PAPER • 256 PAGES A compact, kilometer-by-kilometer guide to the 4,000-mile rail journey across North America from Halifax to Vancouver (including spur lines to Churchill and Prince Rubert). With 30 maps of cities and town en route, brief descriptions of major attractions and much information on the railroad itself. 4th edition. (CND04, $22.95)
A Traveller's History of Canada • Robert Bothwell HISTORY • 2010 • PAPER • 220 PAGES • BEST SELLER An admirably concise march through Canadian history by Robert Bothwell, who has also written "Canada and Quebec: One Country, Two Histories." Compact, easy-to-read and covering from prehistoric times to today, it's a useful introduction to the country, designed specifically for travelers. (CND82, $14.99)
True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole • Bruce Henderson EXPLORATION • 2006 • PAPER • 331 PAGES A brief account the controversy, bitter rivalry and competing claims between Robert Peary and Frederick Cook. By the author of Fatal North: Adventure and Survival Aboard USS Polaris, the First US Expedition to the North Pole. (ARC158, $24.95)
The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future • Richard Alley SCIENCE • 2000 • PAPER • 229 PAGES Paleoclimatologist Richard Alley takes the long view in this persuasive, accessible survey of climatic change as revealed through ice core drilling. He includes enthusiastic tales of his research in Greenland and Antarctica, an overview of how climate works, and his prognostication for the future. The world climate, not surprisingly, has changed often and suddenly over the last 100,000 years. An excellent, lively report. (SCI24, $21.95)
The Vikings • Else Roesdahl HISTORY • 1999 • PAPER • 368 PAGES A captivating and well-written look at Norse civilization. Roesdahl goes beyond the limited view of the ruthless Viking invaders, instead creating a full picture of the vibrant, artistic, agricultural and exploratory culture. With maps, diagrams and photographs. (VIK09, $17.00)
Volcanoes, Crucibles of Change • Richard Fisher NATURAL HISTORY • 1998 • PAPER • 344 PAGES A complete primer for the volcano lover, this heavily illustrated book covers types of volcanoes and eruptions, worldwide distribution and the physics of their formation. From geysers and fumeroles to pyroclastic eruptions, this book is an excellent guide. With profiles of 40 sites around the world, 125 illustrations -- and a concluding chapter on "The Volcano Traveler." (GEO02, $29.95)
Volcanoes, Fire From the Earth • Maurice Krafft NATURAL HISTORY • 1993 • PAPER • 175 PAGES • HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE This lavishly illustrated pocket-size encyclopedia by the great French scientist (who died on the job on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991) covers the formation and study of volcanoes along with dozens of famous examples. (GEO06, $15.95)
Vulcan's Fury, Man Against the Volcano • Alwyn Scarth NATURAL HISTORY • 2001 • PAPER • 299 PAGES In the contest of "Man against the Volcano," nature always wins. The author draws together eyewitness accounts, science, sociology and folklore in this page-turning account of 15 dramatic volcanic events from Vesuvius to Krakatau, Mt. St. Helens and Pinatubo. (GEO10, $29.00)
Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer • Chauncey Loomis • Andrea Barrett EXPLORATION • 2000 • PAPER • 350 PAGES A neglected 1971 classic, resurrected by series editor John Krakauer and the Modern Library. Amateur explorer Charles Francis Hall, like many contemporaries in the 1860s, ventured into the Arctic in search of the lost Franklin Expedition. Loomis sets out to find Hall's grave and solve the mystery of his death. Most interesting. (ARC63, $19.00)
Wine Country Europe, Touring, Tasting, And Buying At European Regional Wineries • Ornella D'Alessio • Marco Santini FOOD • 2005 • HARD COVER • 324 PAGES Part how-to, part guidebook, part picture book, this charming coffee table treat covers sprawling French vineyards as well as lesser-known hidden treasures in Austria and Hungary. The authors, both Italian journalists and wine connoisseurs, provide helpful tips alongside the hundreds of magnificent color photographs. (EUR191, $35.00)
Winslow Homer Watercolors • Helen A. Cooper ART & ARCHITECTURE • 1987 • PAPER • 260 PAGES An examination of the watercolors of one of America's beloved artists, Winslow Homer. Analytical essays and discussions of technique accompany 132 color reproductions, chronicling his work throughout New England, the Adirondacks, Key West, the Bahamas and Bermuda. This is a valuable book for anyone wishing to understand Homer's work and the American watercolor tradition. (USE85, $39.95)

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