Ultima Thule: Explorers and Native in the Polar North FROM THE PUBLISHER
Ultima Thule is the terrible yet fantastic story of European and American exploration in the Polar regions. Thirteen extraordinary men and expeditions preceded author Jean Malaurie to the North Pole. Based on excerpts from these explorers' logs, counterbalanced by Inuit testimony, this book brings to life both sides of the clash between indigenous people and the white men who arrived in the Far North dreaming of Polar conquest, and believing they brought with them a superior civilization. Over the intervening 170 years, tensions have continually risen and fallen as new waves of Europeans encounter the native Inuit. Today, the outlook for the Inuit and for the Polar environment is bleak: both the people and their landscape are in danger of disappearing forever. But according to Malaurie, the situation is not without hope. Using original travel accounts and a stunning array of period photographs, engravings, artifacts, maps, and drawings, Malaurie paints a richly detailed portrait of an intersection of cultures and fantasies. This beautifully produced book, an international success now available for the first time in an English translation, puts an entire museum of North Pole history in the reader's hands, illuminating a little-known world.
SYNOPSIS
The history of western exploration of the Arctic North is provided in detailed chapters devoted to 13 men and their expeditions, from Captain John Ross in the 17th century through that of the author himself in the 20th. (Malaurie, who wrote Last Kings of Thule spent the year of 1950 among the Inuit.) The lengthy accounts of the expeditions are accompanied by copious color illustrations with lengthy captions; an excellent map on endpaper locates important sites. A central theme is the irreversible changes experienced by the native peoples as a result of these expeditions and attention to the explorers' accounts of their encounters, treatment, and opinions of the natives. A concluding chapter is devoted to the current cultural and environmental conditions in the North. The volume is oversize: 10.75 x 13.5". No competent arctic collection will want to lack this splendid work. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Striving to be the ultimate coffee-table book on the Arctic; its white explorers; and the Inuits, the northernmost native people on Earth, this work succeeds grandly. With its breathtaking illustrations, extensive sidebars (largely diary entries, historical documents and ethnographic material) and a condensed history of Arctic exploration and Inuit life, it's hard to imagine anything better. It's also hard to imagine anything bigger (10" x 14"), heavier (over six pounds) or more expensive ($75), a perfect example of what CD-ROMs were supposed to replace. French explorer and geographer Malaurie became an ethnographer of the Inuit people after his extended stay in the early 1950s, where he witnessed and then exposed the establishment of a secret American nuclear base in the Inuit capital of Thule, which devastated the tiny native population. Here, he traces the history of despoliation, beginning with the first Arctic explorer to encounter the Inuit (Captain Ross in 1818) and ending with himself and the revival of Inuit life. Each chapter in between is devoted to Arctic explorers and their expeditions in chronological order. Malaurie's version of anthropology reverses the roles of savage and civilized, and his historical accounts of Arctic expeditions' murder, mutiny and mysticism are always fascinatingly told in surprisingly clear and comprehensible prose. Period photographs, engravings, artifacts, maps and drawings help demystify the unknown Arctic. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Polar explorer Malaurie has written extensively on the North Pole, previously authoring Call of the North and the best-selling The Last Kings of Thule. Here he provides further understanding of explorations in the northern environment and the role of the Inuit people over the centuries. Using extensive research, he profiles such notable explorers as John Ross, Sir John Franklin, and Elisha Kent Kane, as well as the more recent journeys of Knud Rasmussen, Ernest Shackleton, and his own. Through this venue, Malaurie delves into a wide range of topics, including anthropology, history, and the environment, relying heavily on supporting materials. Readers are transported into the past and left with newfound insight into the world of polar exploration. The visual component of the book is equally rewarding as some brilliant photography is scattered throughout. Recommended for any library and well worth the financial outlay.-Jo-Anne Mary Benson, Osgoode, Ont. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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