The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World - Couverture souple

McGhee, Robert

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0226500896 ISBN 13 : 9780226500898

Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2007

Synopsis

The Arctic of towering icebergs and midnight sun, of flaming auroras and endless winter nights, has long provoked flights of the imagination. Now, in The Last Imaginary Place, renowned archeologist Robert McGhee lifts the veil to reveal the true Arctic world. Based on thirty years of work with native peoples of the Arctic and travel in the region, McGhee's account dispels notions of the frozen land as an exotic, remote world that exists apart from civilization.

Between the frigid reality and lurid fantasy lies McGhee's true interest, the people who throughout human history have called the Arctic home. He paints a vivid portrait of Viking farmers, entrepreneurial Inuit, and Western explorers who have been seduced by the natural wealth and haunting beauty of this land. From lively accounts of fur trading, ivory hunting, and whaling to white-knuckle tales of the first, doomed expeditions, McGhee takes the reader on a whirlwind journey across this disorienting, dreamlike terrain that has fascinated mankind for centuries.

"In prose infused by his position as curator of Arctic archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization--which has taken him to sites in several countries--McGhee demolishes some persistent illusions about the white North . . . evocative."--Times Literary Supplement

"[A] compelling account . . . [McGhee] believes that the Arctic is not so much a region as a dream--what he sees as a dream of a unique, attractive world . . . An archaeologist who has spent thirty years there, the author lets his love for the region shine through on every page.--Booklist

"McGhee displays the powerful attractions of the top of the world . . . [his] prose . . . sparkles like frost in the midnight sun."--Financial Times

"McGhee has written a sensitive, fascinating and extremely important book."--Canadian Geographic

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Robert McGhee is curator of Arctic archaeology at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa and the author of numerous books, including Ancient People of the Arctic and The Arctic Voyages of Martin Frobisher.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: University of Chicago Press
• Date d'édition: 2007
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0226500896
• ISBN 13: 9780226500898
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 296
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible