Recommended Reading List

[NCCruzQueen]

tupper10 posted the title of a good book with calendar that was enjoyed after getting home from an Antarctic cruise. Does anyone recommend some titles they liked either before going to or after returning home from Antarctica, South Georgia or the Falkland Islands?

 

copied from tupper10's post: Great book and calendar - On amazon we found a great calendar and book with Antarctic pictures by Sebastian Copeland - called Antarctica - Global Warming - we were actually at one of the sites with the whale bone and penguins and the sea ice etc. is reminiscent of what we saw. His photos are incredible. If you are on the PAII they will send you a book with your tickets so don't buy one - it gives you pictures of the various birds etc. so you can identify them.

 

Many thanks

[2552phxcrzr]

Ernest Shackleton's "South"

Kim Heacox's "Antarctica, the Last Continent" and "E.H. Shackleton"

Stephen Pyne's "The Ice, a Journey to Antarctica"

Ron Naveen's "Waiting to Fly"

Apsley Cherry-Garard's "The Worst Journey in the World"

 

Guidebooks

"Oceanites Site Guide to the Antarctic Peninsula" ... esp for trips with landings

Tony Soper's "Antarctica, A Guide to the Wildlife"

[cnbfrank]

Dallas Murphy, Rounding the Horn, more about Cape Horn that Antarctica, but covers weather/ocean conditions that make Drake Passage so treacherous, exploration sagas of the tip of South America, and personal narrative of sailing around, and landing on, Cape Horn, from a small sailboat.

[2552phxcrzr]

Dallas Murphy, Rounding the Horn, more about Cape Horn that Antarctica, but covers weather/ocean conditions that make Drake Passage so treacherous, exploration sagas of the tip of South America, and personal narrative of sailing around, and landing on, Cape Horn, from a small sailboat.

 

Second this recommendation as well ... not directly Antarctica related, but interesting reading about the waters around the tip of SA.

[MJC]

I also loved and highly recommend Ron Naveen's book Waiting to Fly. Also like Seabirds of the World by Harrison, a great guide for frequent cruisers. Also The Endurance by Caroline Alexander with some wonderful photos from the ship's photographer.

[Skeezics]

Just finished reading: The Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica, by David Campbell. Ordered it from Ship to Shore on the Silversea site. Also is on Amazon.com. Excellent book about the area. Covers flora and fauna, early whaling, South Georgia and loads more. Highly recommend. Two months tomorrow the PAII leaves Ushuaia!

[ArthurIhde]

Ron Naveen's "Waiting to Fly" is a nice book

[NCCruzQueen]

Two months tomorrow the PAII leaves Ushuaia!

 

Thanks, all, for your recommendations. Will add all of them to my bibliography.

 

Skeezics, I do hope you will post a review when you return home. I'm planning on a January 2012 cruise on the PAII.

[Carmelita]

Just in the middle of Fraser's Penguins by Fen Montaigne, great read. Very interesting years of study on the Adelie penguins as well as the environment and other wildlife & birds. Extremely readable, enjoyable and informative.

[SarniaLo]

Apsley Cherry-Garard's "The Worst Journey in the World"

I'll second that, it's really a wonderful and gripping book.

 

Also Francisco Coloane's short stories about life in Tierra Del Fuego (they are collected in three books called "Tierra Del Fuego", "Cabo de Horno/Cap Horn" and "Golfo de Penas/Gulf of Sorrow"). Really fascinating.

 

Regarding Shackelton's "South", in addition to Shackelton's own recollection of the journey, there is also a great book with Franck Hurley's photographs, and a DVD (also called "South") with the few films Hurley managed to save (I have seen it aboard the Fram in Antarctica, in Feb2009, and bought the DVD when I came back, the quality and emotions that come from these pictures and movies are incredible).

[HDS]

Thank you for starting this post and thanks to all who have contributed, providing me with lots to read in the next twelve months.

I have just finished Chris Weyers' "White Demon" (published by Macmillan), the story of Chris's trek to the South Pole interspersed with bits of Antarctic history. He covers a lot of teritory the cruises ships don't visit but I enjoyed his perspective immensely and look forward to reading the other suggestions.