The Ice: A journey to Antarctica by Stephen Pyne, Orion, 拢16.99, ISBN 1842126741 Reviewed by Alison George
IF rip-roaring tales of Antarctic derring-do are your cup of tea, then read no further. Stephen Pyne鈥檚 The Ice has a different take on Antartica. His book examines the frozen continent from every conceivable angle 鈥� history, politics, exploration, science, and most importantly, the ice.
You might think that ice is ice. But Pyne will have none of that. He lists the various types: 鈥減ack ice, ice floes, ice rinds, ice hummocks, ice ridges, ice flowers, ice stalactites, pancake ice, frazil ice, grease ice, congelation ice, infiltration ice, undersea ice, vuggy ice, new ice, old ice鈥�. And that鈥檚 just the sea ices.
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Like a polar expedition, the book is heavy going, but Pye鈥檚 background as a historian gives him a truly novel perspective. This is a reissue of a prize-winning book from 1987, so many recent developments 鈥� the discovery of the ozone hole, for example 鈥� are missing. But The Ice is well worth the effort for connoisseurs of the white continent.