A History of the Arctic: Nature, Exploration and Exploitation

Description

In A History of the Arctic, award-winning polar historian John McCannon provides a far-reaching overview from the Stone Age to the present, examining all major aspects of this vital region from a global perspective. Covering the history of each Arctic nation, McCannon discusses many topics, including polar exploration and science, nation-building and diplomacy, environmental issues and climate change, and the role of indigenous populations in Arctic history. With Arctic territorial claims and resource-extraction assuming ever greater importance in the twenty-first century, this book includes a timely assessment of current diplomatic and environmental realities, along with the increasingly dire risks the region is likely to face in the near future.

John McCannon is Assistant Professor of History at Southern New Hampshire University, and has published widely in the field of Arctic history and exploration. He is the author of Red Arctic (1998).

'A remarkable voyage through the Arctic, from its misty past to contentious present. A graceful writer with a fine eye for telling detail, McCannon offers an exciting, broad-sweep tour ... A must-read volume for the general public and scholars alike.' - -- Ronald E. Doel Florida State University 'A dazzling tour d'horizon ... Anyone who cares about the Arctic should read this sobering book. Let's hope his gloomy predictions are wrong. I suspect he is right.' - -- Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics Royal Holloway, University of London