I will probably never travel to Antarctica but I really enjoyed my armchair journey with this book. The photographs are stunning and the text is informative. Enjoy

Another beautifully curated photo book from the publisher, and a book to grace anybody;s coffee table!

The focus is on the stunning landscape of Antarctica, so the stunning sights are captured in colour be that widlife, icebergs and even the different kinds of buildings that can be found there. And on each page there's also some fascinating information about the region, the wildlife, the research and the impact of climate change that is visible for all to see. But it doesn't go overboard with words, this is a book that lets the photos do the talking!

The photography is awe-inspiring and really brings home the beauty in this brutal landscape.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great coffee table book about Antarctica. Good information and excellent photos of the landscape and animals.

This was an amazing book. The photographs were just stunning and held so many emotions. It is utterly amazing just how beautiful an ice landscape can be. The colours the ice captures just had me in awe. These photos are definitely a credit to there takers. I just loved how varied these pictures were. I loved looking at all the aerial views aswell. The information in this book was so interesting. There was plenty of fascinating facts and descriptions of the areas, terrain and the fantastic animals that live and breed in Antarctica. There was also a stunning picture of the aurora. It was amazing seeing just how varied the landscape was. Also how different conditions produced different ice formations. I just loved the info and pictures on how lily ice is formed it was really amazing stuff that blew my mind. I could of sat and stared at these pictures for hours on end. I just loved the layout of the book spliting Antarctica into it's different areas. It was so interesting to see the different type of buildings there and reading about their historical significance. Also the problems caused by the waste left behind. I learnt so much from reading this book. I definitely recommend this book to everyone who appreciates stunning photography and just loves traveling to different places from the comfort of your sofa. This book is also brilliant for family learning as there is something for everyone. 

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author, photographers and publishers for creating this spectacular book . I will definitely be looking out for more books by this author. 

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/antarctica-by-conor-kilgallon-amber-books-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

Just wow.. the photography of this book is so amazing. So super magical! I've always been fascinated by both the South and North poles so this was a perfect book for me. Definitely recommended for (ant)arctic fans.

The pictures in this book were beautiful and I learned a lot about the continent. Besides being a habitat for many types of animals, there is also a small isolated research building there for scientists of animals and climatologists. Antarctica is truly a treasure!

Recommended for those who want to learn about a magnificent continent! This was easy to read in a few sittings.

Thanks to Netgalley, Conor Kilgallon and Amber Books Ltd for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 8/14/22

This is a gorgeous coffee table book filled with stunning photographs of the landscape and wildlife of Antarctica. The pictures are large, breathtaking, and beautifully rendered. There is a nice mix of subject matter and perspectives. The captions provide useful context and interesting facts without getting overwhelming. It may get a bit repetitive (ice! penguins! research stations!) but there are only so many options available given the location. What is available to showcase is depicted compellingly and will be of great interest to photography and nature buffs.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

It took me 22+ hours on 3 separate flights plus 2 days on a polar-class vessel to reach Antarctica. And after all that, I still saw very little of earth's fifth largest continent.

But my knowledge gap has diminished with Antarctica: Life on the Frozen Continent, which described the planet's most remote land in a 224-page long photographic essay. The Transantarctic Mountains divide the eastern from the western regions, so named because they lie, respectively, in the eastern and western hemispheres. For the most part, Antarctica is a polar desert with the lowest temperature ever recorded (-128.6° F or -89.2° C). And even though I may visualize it as being at the bottom of the globe, the marker for the South Pole stands at an altitude of 9,301 feet.

During the "Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration" from the late 1800s through 1917, ten countries launched 17 major expeditions. A couple of their buildings still stand today. They paved the way for the whaling industry to establish itself. Today, the Antarctic Treaty guides human occupation, and this book showed the exterior of a few of the various international research stations. The author mentioned two of the three research stations operated by the United States -- the Amundsen Scott Pole Station located at the South Pole and the McMurdo Station with its 1,200 residents forming the largest village on the continent.

But humans are vastly outnumbered in this inhospitable land. While the Emperor Penguins settle in eastern Antarctica, most of the wildlife inhabit the western section as the climate is relatively more temperate. Of course, the climate has also been warming too rapidly in recent years, permanently altering both the sea- and landscapes and posing a greater challenge to the penguins' food cycles and thus mortality.

"The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed by nearly 3°C (5.3°F) over a 50-year period from the early 1950s, faster than the rest of the continent and higher than the global trend. If all the ice in Larsen C were to melt, global sea levels would rise by about 10 cm (or 4 inches)."

Antarctica: Life on the Frozen Continent has limited and simple prose. I did occasionally wonder why or how the author had chosen to organize his pages. Many of the photos, especially of the eastern Antarctica, are documentary in style, ie. they're straightforward prose in visual form. About a quarter of the images are arresting and intriguing. Whipped by winds, icebergs have been sculpted into fantastical shapes which reveal multiple shades of blue. The penguins and their fluffy newborns are also among my favorite pictures. Few of them capture the full majesty of the Great White Continent; this isn't a shortcoming of the photographers but just a reality of the scale.

Because of its harsh physical extremes, Antarctica isn't usually on photojournalists' itineraries. But the breadth of the coverage that the author compiled is one of this book's strength, and it prompted my memories of a visit to a wondrous land.

Thank you to the author, Amber Books, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC (ISBN 978-1-83886-197-1). Publication day is September 13, 2022.

I loved this book! Ugh I really really enjoyed it. My 10 year old self would have loved this! It was so fascinating to learn about Antartica in such a gorgeously visual way. The pictures were gorgeous and had great information about them, the language was easy, no big scientific terms. Anyone could read this book. It was so good! Highly recommend!

I know the bare minimum about Antarctica, so couldn’t resist this book, as going by previous books I’ve reviewed for Amber Books I knew I’d discover a lot more about it.
As always there were amazing photos with short text to explain what you’re looking at, making it easy to read, but also not too heavy on detail so as to be boring. The book is split up into five chapters including an Introduction, East Antarctica, West Antarctica, Islands and Wildlife, which showed me straight away that I didn’t have a clue as to just how enormous Antarctica is!
I loved the wildlife photographs, especially the cute penguins, but it was the images of the icebergs that I found breathtaking! They were stunning and looked like massive ice sculptures, which I suppose they are, but fashioned by the weather.
I didn’t realise that they were so many research stations down there and that the land has been claimed by so many nations! There is a permanent Argentinian research base that’s inhabited all year round, and is home to fifty people, including children and school teachers. Imagine spending some of your school days down there, and all the stories you could tell? Also the most southerly operational post office on the planet is at Base A, Port Lockroy, a former research station, and now a tourist site for the summer cruise ships that visit, as well a colony of gentoo penguins.
Did you know that there are volcanoes in Antarctica? One of them is Mount Erebus and it regularly produces gas and steam. It was climbed by Ernest Shackleton’s team in 1908 and has a lava lake in it’s crater. Amazing! Also did you know that it was the Halley VI Research Station that discovered the hole in the ozone layer in 1985? Sadly I didn’t realise that Antarctica is one of the areas in the world that is warming up the fastest, which off course is having a horrendous effect on wildlife and rising sea levels. It made for sober reading at times.
As you can see I’ve discovered so much about Antarctica, and highly recommend this if you’re interested in the area or you enjoy armchair travel!

Not just the shockingly blue and white landscapes, and some cute penguins, this photo book covers a lot more ground than you’d expect – and that a continent twice the size of Australia deserves. It very randomly – but always beautifully – takes us on a tour, where all the icebergs calving, the research stations and yes the penguin colonies are given their (kind of meaningless) name and location, and everything lacks but one thing – the correct sense of scale to put the huge vistas into perspective. Designed probably for the general browser (although who knows, maybe a copy will end up Down There with the scientists some day), people might not care what mountain range is what, and who named it in honour of whom, but whether it be a nature close-up or an aerial photograph of wind-battered and ice-smothered rocks, this is class. Four and a half stars.

This book is so beautifully photographed and the images are accompanied by interesting facts. Covering the West, East and the Islands of Antarctica., we can see the whole spectrum of the landscape, from the drama and harshness of nature to its beauty. What I loved about this book especially, is that as well as images of the ice formations and wildlife, there are also photos of the bases around Antarctica, including huts used by explorers like Shackleton.

Ice in a multitude of forms and colors. Penguins in a variety of species.. Manmade structures and detritus. Stunning photographs of all this and much more accompanied by brief explanations of what you're looking at. The book covers the entire continent, as well as islands as far afield as South Georgia. This is the sort of book to return to over and over in order to marvel at the beauty and consider its fragility. Thanks to Amber Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This coffee table book is filled with photographs of the landscapes, wildlife, and settlements of Antarctica. Many of the photos are stunning on their own, but the captions include information about the area of the continent as well as fun facts about the region or objects featured.

Perfect for armchair travellers or in this sweltering days. I loved the gorgeous pictures and think this is going to be a fabolous coffee table book.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Absolutely beautiful pictures! Icebergs, ice shelfs, buildings, sea lions, tourists, penguins, ice formations. Just anything you could think of. Antarctica is one of my "win the lottery" vacations and this was a great substitute until that happens. Now if I could just find a penguin to hug!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for a chance to read and review this book. Full of beautiful pictures of the native animals and landscapes fill this gorgeous book that describes Antarctica to a tee! The book is broken into sections covering East Antarctica, West Antarctica, Islands and Wildlife. Each section has a short introduction and then the rest is filled with large photographs. You will not be disappointed when you read this book!

I received an ARC of, Antartica, by Conor Kilgallon. I have always been fascinated by Antarctica, and its frozen tundra. Even the pictures made it look cold. I loved the pictures of the penguins, such hardy creatures.

Miigweetch to Netgalley and Amber Books for the DRC.

My words simply cannot do the photos in this book justice. The information in the captions is plentiful and the author does a good job of providing context for the many marvels featured in the pages of this book. I especially like that tourist destinations are noted; Antarctica has long been a dream destination of mine and it was enjoyable to make a visiting “bucket list” while I perused this book as I drank a cup of hot tea.

The photos are stunning and I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this cold continent, who likes to travel, or enjoys nature photography. Lots of praise for this book!

Name of the Book : Antarctica - Life On The Frozen Continent

Author's Name : Conor Kilgallon

Category : Coffee Table Book

Pages : 226

Publisher : Amber Books

Ratings : 5/5

Highlights : Spectacular pictures of stunning landscapes curated with scoop of interesting and intriguing information about the mysterious Continent Antarctica which was unknown to human civilization till the 19th Century.

The book is divided into four parts - East Antarctica, West Antarctica, Islands and Wildlife

Excerpts : Antarctica is the fifth biggest Continent twice the size of Australia. It comprises of rocky land mass covered with ice in contrast with the Arctic which is land surrounding frozen sea. The continent records the lowest temperature on Earth which bottoms down to -89.2 Degree Centigrade. During winters the size of the Continent doubles due to the enormous amount of ice. It holds 70% of world's fresh water in the form of ice which, if it were to melt, would raise the global sea level up to 60 Meters (i.e. 200 Ft.). 19th and 20th Centuries saw a spurt of expeditions to the Continent and a race to territorial claim which is governed by the Antarctica Agreement whereby a lion's share of the freezing land mass is held by Australia followed by Norway and a slim slice by France. Presently, the Continent is dotted with Research Stations, Igloo Satellite Colonies, Progress Stations and Support Bases. The Russian Support Base or Progress Station runs throughout the year while the other Research Stations remain open only in summers (October to February) to study marine life, sub atomic particles of the sun etc. The Ozone Hole in Earth's atmosphere was first detected in 1985 by one of these Research Bases (Halley). However, these man-made Units are seemingly in ugly contrast to the majestic, snowy tansantarctic mountains (dividing East from West Antarctica), silently floating tabular, tibular, dome shaped azure ice bergs (which drift away from the land in summers and get trapped in fast ice or sea ice in the winters), sculpted by wind and water, the millions of meditating penguins, the horde of lazing seals on the coastal beds, the flapping but fast extinguishing albatrosses, the visiting whales, fabled Midnight Sun and the magical red moon. Antarctica also hosts the legendary South Pole. With increasing global footprints Antarctica now also houses a living museum, post office, shop and churches.

To give glimpses of a few more fascinating facts about this huge Continent lying across Eastern and Western Hemispheres :

Antarctica is the driest, windiest region and actually a polar desert.

West Antarctica is known as Lesser Antarctica, most probably, because it has milder climate (temperature bottoming down to merely -20 Degree Centigrade) than East Antarctica which has harsher Winter. It is also the part which is warming very fast. The summers in Antarctica is supposedly barmy i.e. only 0 Degree Centigrade in temperature. :-)

Ross Sea lying in West Antarctica is called the last ocean of the Earth as it is the most southerly sea.

Antarctandes mountain range in West Antarctica is a continuation of Andes mountain range of South America.

Lambert Glacier in East Antarctica is the fastest moving glacier.

Scotia Sea (West Antarctica) is also known as Iceberg Alley because all ice bergs pass through this sea passage due to the anti-clockwise coastal currents and clockwise circumpolar currents.

Mummy Lake in East Antarctica is named after the mummified seals found on the edges of its waters.

The mountains of East Antarctica has several ranges, namely, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and the highest peak is 10590 Ft.

Tide Cracks appearing on ice beds are feeding ground for birds and breathing hole for seals.

Penguins only breed in winters. The Empire Penguin weighing around 45 Kgs and height around 39 inches are the largest and hardiest. Surprisingly, they can dive almost 1800 Ft. deep and hold their breath for almost twenty minutes long underwater. The male penguins huddle around an incubating egg in harsh winters alternating between the cooler edge and warmer interior of the huddle (this process is known as thermoregulation wherein the male penguins lose almost 12 Kgs. in weight as they renunciate food to keep the egg warm) while the female penguins walk away to the sea to feed and bring back food.

These and many more astounding facts and figures along with beautiful photographs of volcanic islands, thriving wildlife, cruising ships, magnificent sky show of Aurora Australis, regal mountain ranges, ice sheets waltzing on cold sea water, serrated ice bergs (seracs) predominated by the colour blue (as they absorb long red wavelengths and throw off blue short wavelengths of light) serenely gliding by carrying with them at times bergy bits and growlers are captivated in the pages of this magnificent book.

The book while giving a wealth of information, presented picturesquely, heightens curiosity of the reader to know more about this mystique Continent. And that is the UPS of the labours of the curator, Conon Kilgallon, which has truly paid off.

A Coffee Table book, while being attractive and informative, does not drag with long drawn out descriptions and statistics. It is easy to read or browse through, the insights are relevant and precise supplementing the visuals and can be really enjoyed with sips of a piping hot cup of coffee on a summer evening.

And that is what I did.

You can also read the post here:

https://panaecea.wordpress.com