A landmark illustrated atlas from the creator
of the national best-seller Historical Atlas of Canada.
Derek Hayes charts five centuries of polar exploration and
describes the passion and greed that drove men to explore
the top of the world.
The vast empty spaces of the Poles were the last frontier
to be assailed by explorers intent on achieving a geographical
goal. But long before the North Pole was finally attained,
men sailed the seas searching for an easier and shorter
path to the riches of the Orient. The mapmakers of the day
translated sparse information into often fanciful, sometimes
stunningly artistic maps.
Author Derek Hayes documents the international race for
the Pole involving expeditions on foot, by hot air balloon
and by airplane. Along with the detailed historical maps,
Hayes provides insightful commentary, and describes the
aspirations and motivations of explorers and the harsh realities
they faced. Hayes also presents a number of revealing and
often beautiful scientific maps produced at a time when
the military and those in search of oil probed the ocean
and the ice of the arctic frontier.
The Historical Atlas of the Arctic includes more than 300
historical maps, many never before reproduced, from all
the polar nations: Canada, the United States, Russia, Norway
and Greenland.
ISBN: 1-55365-004-2
Author: Derek Hayes
Price: $75.00
