Congratulations to Peder Roberts and his team for developing the concept of representing the humanities in Antarctica with a collection of essays, which take the reader across Antarctic time and space from archaeologists’ attempts to understand the experiences of nineteenth-century sealers on the South Shetland Islands (Zarankin & Salerno, Chapter 4) to discussions of the Anthropocene and the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and other polar-related organisations in the 20th and 21st centuries (Elzinga, Chapter 12). Authors range from young researchers to professors, and the result of their combined efforts and perceptive interpretations is a comprehensive publication. The content is richly informative but, in necessarily addressing ongoing issues, a cluster of these authors express a well-articulated despair in the pursuit of an elusive status that they believe scholarship in the humanities deserves, but does not yet enjoy, in Antarctic studies. Such despair is rooted in decades of promotion of Antarctica as ‘a continent for science’ but the sciences and the humanities were – and are – so closely, inextricably, linked in Antarctic subjects. Conventions of science, which demand robust analysis, and the conventions of the humanities, which allow a more subjective approach, can steer their respective adherents into conflict. Certain passages in this book will inevitably resonate agreeably with one group of readers, and not with another, but viewpoints developed by immersion in separate areas of Antarctic study will hopefully find avenues to a connectedness between disciplines and to inclusive dialogue.

After a foreword by Professor of Geopolitics Klaus Dodds, in which he discusses the complex relationships people have had with Antarctica, the editors’ introductory chapter explains the presentation of the book in four parts. Part I, The heroic and the mundane, connects the Antarctic experiences of isolated expedition members to the outside world via interpretations of diaries and a medical case study. Part II, Alternative Antarctics, examines perspectives formed by disparate sources. Part III, Whose Antarctic?, delves into the development of a perceived sense of ownership. Finally, Part IV, Valuing Antarctic science, considers the interconnectedness of science, politics and the humanities. The final chapter, in which the author aims ‘to trace a few strands in the emergence of Antarctic humanities as a field’, is an engaging series of deliberations with a more optimistic outlook for the future of the humanities in Antarctic studies with the possibility of ‘cross-disciplinary collaborations across faculty boundaries’.

In Part I, the author of the first essay examines the characteristics of Antarctic diaries, particularly those of the Heroic Era, their contribution to the reputations of the diarists compared to the reputations attributed to non-diarists, and their place in the literature (Leane, Chapter 2). She lists diaries published during centennial commemorations of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition 1911–1914, but omits those of Leslie Blake, Macquarie Island Base, and of Xavier Mertz, Main Base. Both were published in 2014 and were reviewed in Polar Record. The second essay describes the case of a beriberi outbreak on an Antarctic expedition in the early 20th century, how the power of prestige enabled the perpetuation of an erroneous theory postulated by members of the medical profession not in attendance, and how the ship's surgeon could eventually prove otherwise and challenge that authority ‘with actual evidence’ (Lüdecke, Chapter 3).

Part II begins with an investigation into sealers’ experiences on the South Shetland Islands and researchers’ attempts to develop an understanding of those experiences through awareness of working and living conditions, shelter, clothing, food, and a dearth of familiar cultural connections (Zarankin & Salerno, Chapter 4), and then examines the notion of white supremacy in How did Antarctica become a space for Nazi survival mythology? (Roberts, Chapter 5). The disturbing record of apartheid and South Africa's history in Antarctica is also presented (van der Watt & Swart, Chapter 6). These three essays present alternative attitudes and encourage the reader to question influences and representations.

Part III focuses on a sense of place. There is a gradual separation from the perception of Antarctica as a global commons, to a place to be wrested from the monopoly held by scientists, to an inclusive dynamic that considers the plurality of Antarctic places and environments (Antonello, Chapter 8). The consideration of materials remaining at specific places, such as former whaling stations, in Antarctica is a multifaceted and debatable issue. National attachments to a location and the historical value of artefacts may need to defer to common sense when possible toxicity of those artefacts and their potential effect on the environment is considered (Avango, Chapter 7). An array of linkages, historical and current, prompt the investigation of ‘the cultural enmeshment of Antarctica in the world system’ (Glasberg, Chapter 9). Selected literary and filmic representations of Antarctica – as imagined by authors from different cultural backgrounds – and examples of exploration and tourism define threads that form in this mesh of global association with the ice. These examples are intermingled with more substantial threads of built scientific stations, geopolitical and national interests, and the involvement of multinational organisations until the evidence for that ‘enmeshment’ is unassailably convincing.

Part IV both challenges and applauds the involvement of scientists in Antarctica, but wherever many players bring their own interests to the same platform (or book), the perspective will shift as each makes their presentation. Asserting the importance of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Bones (Chapter 10) delves into the complexities of relationships between politics and polar science. Drawing on incidents in Norway's history, he discusses how factors influencing international development in the Arctic contrast with those in Antarctica.

At the time of writing this review, I was following the progress of the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition 2016–2017. Participants aboard the expedition's ship, like the authors in this book, are men and women from several disciplines, from several nations and with a range of experience. When the ship berthed in Hobart, I met scientists involved in the expedition. Also on-board were journalists, photographers and filmmakers. Despite challenges and disappointments, there was a driving enthusiasm with resultant successes and no noted mention of inequalities. While understandably focused on their own careers, they were enthusiastic about the opportunities for collaborative, yet competitive, projects and optimistic about the potential for us all to gain a better understanding of Antarctic and global systems, through science and art.

In contrast to those on-board the ship, a number of contributors to this book, I felt, wrote with limited optimism for future potential and as if, troubled by inequalities of gender, race or funding, they are burdened with an overwhelming sense of academic injustice. Instead of promoting and celebrating the advances made by the humanities in Antarctica, they chose to use the book as a vehicle to convey their grievances to a readership possibly similarly aggrieved. The value of an inflexible polemic stance to the Antarctic discourse and allusions to ‘science envy’ is questionable when there are numerous examples of people overcoming undeniable inequality.

The physical Antarctic space has been subjected to territorial claims and changing politics, but there is intellectual space for the pursuit of the sciences and the humanities, and for their fusion in respectful alliances. Adrian Howkins cites historian Ursula Rack (Chapter 11), who collated meteorological information garnered from log books and diaries of early explorers and collaborated in a comparative study of terrestrial magnetism. Expedition diaries can claim an exclusive genre in Antarctic literature and, as noted in Part I (Leane, Chapter 2), many were written by scientists recording their work and describing the living conditions with an awareness of the social impacts that isolation had on all members of the team. Our interpretation of the Antarctic is from a multilayered synthesis of input by all players, and the humanities have much to contribute.

This hardcover first edition of Antarctica and the humanities is beautifully presented, with endnotes following each chapter, with maps and illustrations, and an index for the diverse subject matter. It has been deservedly well-received. It is a book which invites further discussion. It is, and will continue to be, a valuable reference.