Empire Antarctica

"A finely written account of an extreme experience of the Antarctic, worthy to stand beside some of the great travel narratives in the English language." RSL Ondaatje Prize Judges "Empire Antarctica is the embodiment of everything I admire in travel writing -- a great journey, intense isolation, wide reading, vivid writing, scientific research, and something in the nature of an old-fashioned ordeal. That Gavin Francis is a medical doctor, with an important role to play in the darkness and cold at the ends of the earth, is a bonus. I loved this book." -- Paul Theroux "One of the best travel titles I have read in a long time. Thoughtful, lyrical, extremely well written, it's a triumph." -- Giles Foden Conde Nast Traveller "A Sunday Times Travel Book of Month: 'A book full of wonder. Brilliantly imagined, superbly brought to life'" -- Anthony Sattin Sunday Times "A beautiful, profound and highly readable account of a remarkable personal adventure. Francis's pacing is deft, his prose vivid, his research worn lightly. This is probably as close as most of us will ever get to experiencing a modern polar winter. Empire Antarctica is surely destined to become a standard, not so much of travel as of staying very still." -- Ed O'Loughlin Daily Telegraph