White Eskimo : Knud Rasmussen's fearless journey into the heart of Arctic
Record details
- ISBN: 9781771620017 (hardcover) :
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Physical Description:
print
regular print
xxv, 341 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm - Publisher: Madeira Park, British Columbia : Douglas and McIntyre, 2015.
Content descriptions
Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Additional Physical Form available Note: | Issued also in electronic format. |
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Genre: | Biography |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Camosun College Library.
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- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
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Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Circulation Modifier | Holdable? | Status | Due Date | Courses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lansdowne Library | G 635 R3 B68 2015 (Text) | 26040003192602 | Main Collection | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Perseus PublishingThough less known today than contemporaries like Amundsen and Peary, Knud Rasmussen (18791933) was one of the most intriguing of the great early 20th century arctic explorers. Born and raised in Greenland, and part Inuit on his motherâs side, Rasmussen could shoot a gun and harness a team of sled dogs by the time he was eight. Nevertheless he was well versed in the civilized arts and came to exploration after failing to make a career as an opera singer in Europe. He was obviously more at home on the ice floes than the stage, and undertook some of the most astounding feats of endurance in the annals of polar exploration including his record-setting 18,000-mile Great Sled Journeyâthe first to traverse the Northwest Passage by dogsled. More impressively, he traveled without the elaborate preparations and large support staffs employed by other explorers, surviving with only a few Inuit assistants and living off the land. He once explained his approach by saying, [As a child] my playmates were native Greenlanders; from the earliest boyhood I played and worked with the hunters, so even the hardships of the most strenuous sledge-trips became pleasant routine for me.â
Despite his extraordinary physical prowess, Rasmussen was one of the most intellectual of the great explorers, more interested in scientific study than glamorous feats, producing (among many other works) a ten-volume account documenting Inuit spirituality and culture, an accomplishment that earned him the title the father of Eskimology.â
In this first full-length biography, Stephen R. Bown brings Rasmussenâs inspiring story to English readers in all its richness, givingWhite Eskimo the readability of a good novel.