Antarctica

Like Antarctica itself, this 'History in 100 Objects' is unpredictable and compelling. Generous - yet partial, skidding over vast surfaces, digging into detail. Read it all at once: or select at leisure. * Meredith Hooper * From the Aurora Australis to the weather balloon, authors Daniella McCahey and Jean de Pomereu have assembled a beautifully curated collection of objects pertaining to Antarctica. As they note, so poignantly, Antarctica is not one thing. * Klaus Dodds * Reading this book is like being in a very large polar museum with two expert and amusing companions as your guides. Compiled by a historian and an artist, Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects takes its reader on a tour of human engagement with the far south that is by turns educative, playful, poignant, ridiculous and disturbing, but always knowledgeably explained and illustrated. While some objects might be readily anticipated (sledges, diaries, maps), others will likely be a surprise (a canary, a wedding dress, a nuclear reactor). Ranging in scale from ships to krill-oil capsules, encompassing both the other-worldly (a meteorite) and the mundane (soap, a T-shirt), the objects demonstrate the national and cultural diversity of human encounter with the ice continent. While the book skips with delightful eclecticism between different periods, put together the object descriptions comprise a well-rounded introduction to the issues and events that have shaped human encounter with the far south. Readers who know little about the place will find it an excellent way into the continent, and 'Antarctic tragics' will enjoy the unexpected and sometimes surreal details that accompany every object. * Elizabeth Leane * Exceptionally handsome * The Telegraph *