Exploring Magnetic North and Polar Regions

One of the Globe and Mail's standout titles of 2011 is "Magnetic North" by Wheeler, an engaging book about the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Over a decade ago, Sara Wheeler embarked on a journey to Antarctica, a continent shrouded in myth and mystery. Her acclaimed book, Terra Incognita, detailed her expedition to uncover the hidden history of this remote land. Now, Wheeler shifts her focus to the opposite pole, delving into life at the fringes of the Arctic in her latest work, The Magnetic North. This book offers a comprehensive exploration of the Arctic, described as both an untouched paradise and a focal point of global warming.

Impressed by the spiral shape of a reindeer-horn bangle, Wheeler embarks on a counterclockwise journey across the Arctic. Passing through the territories of Russia, the US, Canada, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, she observes the changing landscape that once seemed unalterable. Bearing witness to the increasing air pollution hovering over the North Pole, Wheeler reflects on the planet's overall health.

Smashing by way of the Arctic Ocean with the crew of a Russian icebreaker, shadowing the countless Trans-Alaska Pipeline with a tricky Idaho-born outdoorswoman, herding reindeer with the Lapps, and visiting the haunting, deceptively peaceable lands of the Gulag, Wheeler brings the Arctic’s many contradictions to life. The Magnetic North is an pressing, lovely guide, wealthy in dramatic description and vivid reporting. It’s a singular, deeply private portrait of a area rising every day in world significance.