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Rating: 
Summary: overall nicely done
Review: i had already picked up the LP guide to the antarctic and i saw this and just couldn't resist. (and this is a guy who *freezes* when it gets below 60 degrees!)overall, the book seems great, though of course i can't speak from experience. just as an introduction to the arctic it's not bad at all. you get lots of long sections on all sorts of stuff -- the flora and fauna, the history of arctic exploration, the indigenous peoples, past and current arctic research programs, even arctic literature, plus of course all the introductory stuff covering history more generally, geography, climate, "environment and ecology", and national parks. you also get short (usually one-to-four page) insets on a particular subject (alcoholism among the Inuit, Fridtjof Nansen, the Sea Ice, SAD == Seasonal Affective Disorder" [seasonal depression from lack of light], "Arctic Phenomena" == the Northern Lights and other such things). etc. etc. in general i've had good luck with the lonely planet guides -- they give you detailed info about all the basics (getting there, visas, getting around, potential health problems, religion, basic phrases in the most important languages, etc.) and they seem well-organized and to-the-point when it comes to telling you what are the interesting things to see, as well as making it possible for you to make your own choices based on what *you* find interesting. be aware that this is a first edition so it may have some bugs in it that will get ironed out in later editions.
Rating:
Summary: overall nicely done
Review: i had already picked up the LP guide to the antarctic and i saw this and just couldn't resist. (and this is a guy who *freezes* when it gets below 60 degrees!) overall, the book seems great, though of course i can't speak from experience. just as an introduction to the arctic it's not bad at all. you get lots of long sections on all sorts of stuff -- the flora and fauna, the history of arctic exploration, the indigenous peoples, past and current arctic research programs, even arctic literature, plus of course all the introductory stuff covering history more generally, geography, climate, "environment and ecology", and national parks. you also get short (usually one-to-four page) insets on a particular subject (alcoholism among the Inuit, Fridtjof Nansen, the Sea Ice, SAD == Seasonal Affective Disorder" [seasonal depression from lack of light], "Arctic Phenomena" == the Northern Lights and other such things). etc. etc. in general i've had good luck with the lonely planet guides -- they give you detailed info about all the basics (getting there, visas, getting around, potential health problems, religion, basic phrases in the most important languages, etc.) and they seem well-organized and to-the-point when it comes to telling you what are the interesting things to see, as well as making it possible for you to make your own choices based on what *you* find interesting. be aware that this is a first edition so it may have some bugs in it that will get ironed out in later editions.
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