Swift, razor-sharp characterisation, narrative suspense and the sparest, yet most penetrating description.

The finest staff writer in the history of the New Yorker and one of the greatest journalists America has produced.

A superb volume of essays.

Wonderful... Jack is a superb and diverse writer, with a mind and eyes and a nose for virtually everything... He's smart, proportionate, discerning and (rarest of rarities) decent. To me, this book is indispensable

Ian Jack's superbly evocative essays are the ideal advertisement for the virtues of print journalism... superbly evocative

Ian Jack does for Great Britain what Arthur Miller did for the US and portrays a land through journalistic vignettes and essays

One of our most prized journalists...we are lucky to have him. Where in many places else there is cant abounding, here is that rare thing, cant deficiency

For a perceptive perspective on the Britain that we're leaving ever further behind, Jack's journalism is hard to beat

An intriguing selection of the writing of Ian Jack...Jack masterfully reflects on the past while bringing modern life into sharp focus...despite taking an unflinching approach, his work is often humorous

This is a beady, sometimes moving book which proves that the finest journalism is worth paying for

Ian Jack's journeys in Britain and India are illuminating and memorable

Nostalgia drives this collection of Jack's journalism... Jack's backward-looking stance works best when he is exposing the vandalism of the past

[Has] a meditative, often melancholy, quality that tells us a lot about what it's like to simply be in the Arctic...the author deftly weaves in some nicely crafted vignettes that illuminate various aspects of the Arctic experience

It is the warmth and the honesty of the portraits that is Wheeler's forte

Wheeler is excellent company for the journey, with her observations on the consequences of our actions always well balanced and open-minded

Is an entertaining mix of popular science, history and reportage, wrapped up in some seriously fine writing

Wonderful account of her journeys through the region

One of the greatest travel books of our times - poignant, funny, a delight to read

Her writing, while brilliantly evocative, is never overblown... If you are lucky you might get to travel in the Arctic yourself; if you don't, this book is the next best thing

A chilling and fascinating work

Quite wonderful

Carries lightly a depth of research that gives alarming edge to Wheeler's engrossing

It is a testament to the author's ability that the text never lurches into despondency- above all, this is a book that celebrates the inspiring endurance and colourful past of those who populate the area

In its many-layered discoveries, the book is truly magnetic