The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic WorldSea ice and the midnight sun, flaming aurora and endless winter night--the arctic of traveler's tales and romantic novels is the unattainable dream of a vast and desolate world--the last imaginary place on Earth. Now, in this fascinating volume, renowned archeologist Robert McGhee lifts the veil to reveal the true Arctic. Combining anthropology, history, and personal memoir, this book dispels romanticized notions of the Arctic as a world apart, exotic and isolated, revealing a land far more fascinating than we had imagined. McGhee paints a vivid portrait of the movement of Viking farmers across the North Atlantic islands, and of the long and arduous searches for sea-passages to Asia. We meet the fur-traders who pioneered European expansion across the northern forests of Canada and Siberia, the whalers and ivory-hunters who ravaged northern seas, and patriotic explorers racing to reach the North Pole. Most important, McGhee offers far more coverage of the native peoples of the Arctic, societies that other histories usually neglect. We discover how northerners have learned to exploit a rich "hunter's world" where game is, contrary to our expectations, far easier to find than in more temperate lands. McGhee takes us to a thousand-year-old Tuniit campsite perfectly preserved in the Arctic cold, follows the entrepreneurial Inuit as they cross the Arctic in search of metal, and reveals the dangers that native people face today from industrial pollution and global warming. Flavored by McGhee's personal reflections based on thirty years of work and travel in the region, here is a wide ranging, enlightening look at one of the most culturally rich and fascinating areas of the world. |
Contents
CONTENTS Acknowledgements | 6 |
An Arctic Vision | 7 |
After the Ice Age | 11 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World Robert McGhee No preview available - 2007 |
The Last Imaginary Place: A Human History of the Arctic World Robert McGhee No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Alaska America ancient animals appear Arctic arrived Baffin bears became began Bering brought built Canada Canadian carried century Civilization claim coast cold communities continued crew culture described developed distant early east eastern economic effects encountered English entire environment Eskimo established Europe European eventually expedition exploration forests Frobisher Greenland groups Hearne Hudson human hunters hunting Iceland interest Inuit Island killed kilometres knowledge known land later lived mountains named Norse North North America northern northwards occupied Passage past period polar Pole populations probably reached recent regions remains reported returned River route Russian sailed settlement ships Siberia society southern Strait summer supplies trade traditional tundra Tuniit turned venture voyage walrus western whales winter Yakutsk