Bridging both travel and nature writing, Empire Antarctica is an eloquent, exquisitely written narrative of one man, a lonely continent and the reassuring presence of Emperor penguins.

Gavin Francis spent fourteen months as a medical doctor 'wintering' at Halley Base, a profoundly isolated research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. Attracted by the prospect of solitude and silence – the base is unreachable for ten months of the year – it also a rare opportunity to explore the world of the Emperor Penguin, the only species truly at home in the Antarctic.

As we move through the year -- from the months of constant sunshine to the three and half months of starlight -- Francis guides us through the moods and manners of Antarctic living. Amid the cold, ice and blankness of the landscape, where the legends and myths of Shackleton, Scott, Cherry-Garrard and Admiral Byrd still loom large, Francis explores the physical and mental hardship of living at temperatures of-50°C, and the unexpected reassurance that the penguin community brings in this desolate yet awe-inspiring landscape.

Empire Antarctica is a book to luxuriate in: effortlessly blending travel writing with meditative thought and a profound sensitivity to the natural world, in an enchanting and evocative narrative. 

AUTHOR'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE

‘Empire Antarctica is a beautiful, profound and highly readable account of a remarkable personal adventure. Francis’s pacing is deft, his prose vivid, his research worn lightly. Empire Antarctica is surely destined to be a standard, not so much of travel as of staying still.’ Sunday Telegraph

‘Out of his spell in the white kingdom he has fashioned a book full of wonder. Brilliantly imagined, superbly brought to life, it is a worthy companion to Francis’s earlier journey in the Artic and to Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita’ – Sunday Times,Travel Book of the Month

‘…an awe-inspiring memoir of a modern-day pioneer who writes with a poetic style and descriptive flourish that is part education, part enthrallment and wholly entertaining.’ – Daily Record

EMPIRE ANTARCTICA - ICE, SILENCE & EMPEROR PENGUINS
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2012 IN THE UK BY CHATTO & WINDUS
TO BE PUBLISHED 2013 IN THE U.S.A BY COUNTERPOINT PRESS

**********************************

W sprawie materiałów recenzenckich prosimy o kontakt mailowy z Justyną Czechowską pod adresem justyna@literatura.com.pl