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

FATHER'S DAY

City of Fortune, How Venice Ruled the Seas

Roger Crowley

SEE ALL >

PROVENCE & THE COTE D'AZUR

A Pig in Provence: Good Food and Simple Pleasures in the South of France

Georgeanne Brennan

SEE ALL >

OUR FAVORITES

Arctic Dreams

Barry Lopez

SEE ALL >

PENGUIN CLASSICS

The Log from the Sea of Cortez

John Steinbeck

SEE ALL >

NORTH ATLANTIC

North Atlantic

READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

  • E-MAIL
  • PRINT

Kids

Books for

Essential Reading

Item EXARC292. Buy these 4 items as a set for $66 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

ADD SET
TO BOOKBAG
Last Places, A Journey in the North

Last Places, A Journey in the North

by Lawrence Millman | Paul Theroux

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 242 PAGES

Millman explores the culture and history of the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland in this often-hilarious account of his travels in the wake of the ancient Vikings. (ARC54, $15.95)

The Vikings, Lords of the Seas

The Vikings, Lords of the Seas

by Yves Cohat

  • HISTORY
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 175 PAGES

An indispensable reference that fits in your pocket, this slim volume is packed with maps, archival photographs and illustrations. It tells of the Norse homeland, discoveries and settlements, and features a useful chronology and excerpts from the Viking Sagas. Part of the "Discoveries" series. (VIK01, $15.95)

Wildlife of the North Atlantic, A Cruising Guide

Wildlife of the North Atlantic, A Cruising Guide

by Tony Soper | Dan Powell

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 176 PAGES

This compact, illustrated guide covers the many petrels, ducks, gulls, terns and other seabirds, as well as the rich abundance of life existing under the waves, that populate the vast Atlantic region from the British Isles to Newfoundland. (ATL26, $25.99)

Circumpolar North / Greenland Map

Circumpolar North / Greenland Map

by ITMB

  • 2009
  • MAP

With the North Circumpolar region on one side, including Iceland, and a detailed map of Greenland on the other. (ARC111, $12.95)

 
Iceland Adventure Map

Iceland Adventure Map


by National Geographic Society

  • 2011
  • MAP

A detailed, double-sided traveler's map at a scale of 1:465,000 by National Geographic. (ICL05, $11.95)

North Circumpolar Region

North Circumpolar Region


by Canada Map Office

  • 2008
  • MAP

A striking bird's-eye view of the Arctic Ocean and all the lands of the far north, at a scale of 1:9,000,000, with shaded relief on sea and land. (ARC16, $19.95)

Bradt Guide Faroe Islands

Bradt Guide Faroe Islands


by James Proctor

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2008
  • PAPER
  • 208 PAGES

A practical guide to the North Atlantic islands, 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)

Lonely Planet Iceland

Lonely Planet Iceland


by Deanna Swaney

  • GUIDEBOOK
  • 2010
  • PAPER
  • 360 PAGES

This concise guide to Iceland includes short essays on history, culture and attractions and plenty of practical travel information. (ICL06, $23.99)

Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings

Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings


by John Haywood

  • HISTORY
  • 1995
  • PAPER
  • 144 PAGES
  • BEST SELLER

The history of the Vikings told through a series of innovative maps and excellent photographs. This book traces the route of the 9th-century Viking merchants and explorers throughout Europe and on to the New World. (VIK02, $20.00)

Vikings, The North Atlantic Saga

Vikings, The North Atlantic Saga


by William Fitzhugh | Elisabeth Ward

  • HISTORY
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 432 PAGES

An extensively illustrated volume of Viking culture, history and exploration that focuses especially on voyages to North America. Published in conjunction with a Smithsonian exhibit, it features essays and 400 color photographs. (VIK11, $34.95)

Frost on My Moustache, The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer

Frost on My Moustache, The Arctic Exploits of a Lord and a Loafer


by Tim Moore

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 280 PAGES

In this inspired folly, a British comic heads to Iceland, Spitsbergen and other northern locales in pursuit of a fictitious Arctic hero. (ARC74, $16.99)

Iceland, Land of the Sagas

Iceland, Land of the Sagas


by Jon Krakauer | David Roberts

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 1998
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

Krakauer and colleague David Roberts hike and climb around Iceland in this classic travel narrative, reissued as a paperback and featuring Krakauer's color photographs. The book interweaves the natural and cultural history of the island with the authors' own adventures. (ICL07, $24.00)

The Ice Finders, How a Poet, a Professor and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age

The Ice Finders, How a Poet, a Professor and a Politician Discovered the Ice Age


by Edmund Blair Bolles

  • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

A wonderfully eccentric history of 19th-century science, focusing on three personalities and their ideas about the role of ice in Earth's history. Each contributed to the Victorian debate among scientists, explorers and the man on the street about the nature of the polar regions. (ARC78, $17.95)

This Cold Heaven

This Cold Heaven


by Gretel Ehrlich

  • TRAVEL NARRATIVE
  • 2003
  • PAPER
  • 400 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Ehrlich spent seven seasons in Greenland, mostly alone, traveling by boat, helicopter, plane and dogsled. This exhilarating book reflects her insight, knowledge and deep appreciation of the people and barren landscapes of the north. (ARC107, $18.95)

Far Afield

Far Afield


by Susanna Kaysen

  • LITERATURE
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 338 PAGES

Susanna Kaysen's 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 North Atlantic archipelago. (ICL08, $17.00)

Independent People, An Epic

Independent People, An Epic


by Halldor Laxness

  • LITERATURE
  • 1997
  • PAPER
  • 480 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

Rich in local color, this great mock-epic by the Icelandic Nobel Prize-winner features the indelible Bjartur of Summerhouses, a hard-headed, independent-minded sheep farmer. (ICL01, $16.95)

Old Man and His Sons

Old Man and His Sons


by Heoin Bru

  • LITERATURE
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 166 PAGES

Heoin Bru deftly captures a vanishing way of life in the Faroe Islands in this short novel, showing his thrifty characters occupied with gathering wood along the shore, farming and fishing in a traditional world on the verge of change. Heoin Bru was the penname of Hans Jacob Jacobsen (1901-1987), a Faroese novelist and translator. (SCN68, $13.95)

The Greenlanders

The Greenlanders


by Jane Smiley

  • LITERATURE
  • 2005
  • PAPER
  • 608 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

This marvelously researched novel recreates life in the Viking settlements in Greenland. (ARC08, $15.95)

The Sagas of Icelanders

The Sagas of Icelanders


by Jane Smiley | Robert Kellog

  • LITERATURE
  • 2000
  • PAPER
  • 544 PAGES

Nine sagas and six tales composed between the years 1000 and 1500, including an account of Leif Eriksson's voyage to North America, all newly translated. With an introduction by Jane Smiley. (ICL13, $25.00)

A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic

A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic


by E.C. Pielou

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1994
  • PAPER
  • 327 PAGES

Our best-selling book on the Arctic, this guide covers the geography and climate, plants, birds and wildlife of the circumpolar north. (ARC03, $22.00)

Arctic Dreams

Arctic Dreams


by Barry Lopez

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2001
  • PAPER
  • 417 PAGES
  • FAVORITE

A dazzling meditation on the Arctic, breathtaking in scope. Lopez draws on his travels throughout the North, including Baffin Island, the Chukchi and Bering seas, Alaska, the Yukon and Greenland, interweaving natural history, accounts of early exploration, anecdote and lore into an indelible portrait of place. (ARC11, $16.00)

Polar Bears

Polar Bears


by Ian Stirling

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 2011
  • PAPER
  • 232 PAGES

A tribute to the polar bear by a preeminent researcher, this handsome natural history features outstanding color photographs and detailed chapters on biology, distribution, behavior, study, conservation and lore. (ARC58, $40.00)

The Control of Nature

The Control of Nature


by John McPhee

  • NATURAL HISTORY
  • 1989
  • PAPER
  • 272 PAGES

In the classic McPhee tradition, these sparkling essays explore our generally feeble attempts to combat all-powerful nature, including valient efforts by Icelanders to control the flow of a volcano across the harbor at Heimaey in the Westman Islands. (NAT01, $16.00)

The Arctic, A Guide to Coastal Wildlife

The Arctic, A Guide to Coastal Wildlife


by Tony Soper

  • FIELD GUIDE
  • 2012
  • PAPER
  • 160 PAGES

An essential handbook for the ship-based traveler, this compact guide to the plants, marine mammals and birds of the circumpolar north features handsome watercolor illustrations and lively text. This new edition includes a section on the Bering Sea. (ARC85, $23.99)

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.