The Antarctic is perhaps the strangest and most fascinating place on Earth. The last continent to be discovered and explored, it is still politically a unique and peculiar geographic entity. Its extremely harsh climate makes it uniquely inhospitable and unwelcoming place for humans to visit. And yet, like many such remote and mysterious places it has been drawing explorers, adventurers and visitors for as long as it has been known.

This is a very well written and pretty detailed book about the Antarctic. It explains well what is usually meant by the terms Antarctic and Antarctica, and how these entities are usually treated in international law and politics. The book spends quite a bit of space explaining the geography and climate of this remote region. However, the book’s unique strength lays in its treatment of the political nature of The Antarctic. Ever since it was discovered various nations had laid claims on the vast regions of the Antarctic. Oftentimes these claims overlap, and have resulted in contentions that have not been properly resolved to this day. Since the 1950s, though, Antarctica has enjoyed a very unique status in international law thanks to the treaty that made the whole continent into one great scientific lab.

The book covers several interesting scientific investigations that have been going on in the Antarctic for years. Unfortunately, it doesn’t mention any of the really cool Physics and Astronomy experiments that have been performed there in recent years.

Another topic that I wish the book explored was the treatment of The Antarctic in arts, literature and film. There is a mention of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket”, but it was only mentioned in passing as an example of early misconceptions about the Antarctic. Due to its “alien” nature the Antarctic has been a source of inspiration for quite some time, and several of my favorite movies are set over there.

The author also mentions in passing several topics and social concerns that seem to have become the focal points of all academic writing these days, but are completely at odds with a book of this nature. They feel very out of place and even grotesque when talked about in a book about the Antarctic, but fortunately they don’t take up much space and can be safely skipped.

Overall, this is a fairly interesting and well-written book. Despite the few shortcomings I noted, I still think it’s probably the best short introduction to the Antarctic, and one of the better books in this Very Short Introduction series. Recommended.