“[ Frostlines weaves] together natural history indigenous perspective and environmental
transformation in the Arctic. The book helps bring a human story to the science of climate
change.”— Parade A sweeping exploration of the Arctic—and how it’s being transformed by
climate change—from National Geographic writer Neil Shea As warming reshapes our planet the
Arctic—a region that once seemed unchangeable beyond the reach of modern problems—is quickly
coming undone. While the old cold world can still be glimpsed in the movements of caribou the
hidden lives of wolves and the hunting skill of an Iñupiaq elder look closer and you’ll find
a new Arctic appearing in its place. In Frostlines Neil Shea blends natural history
anthropology and travel writing to explore how the beauty chaos and power of change in the
far north are reflected in the lives of people and animals. He sojourns with a wolf pack on
Canada’s Ellesmere Island and travels with Indigenous hunters in Alaska Nunavut and the
Northwest Territories. He tracks dwindling caribou herds across the top of North America
searches for vanished Vikings in Greenland and visits the front line of the new Cold War
rising between Russia and Europe. What Shea finds is not one Arctic but many—all still linked
by shattering cold seasons of darkness and a pure inimitable light. Written with masterful
prose and a spark of adventure Frostlines is an expansive yet intimate revelation of the
Arctic during a time of transformation and a journey along the threshold of a stunning and
sometimes frightening world that’s emerging right before our eyes.
