This is another good example of the popular science books produced as an adjunct to television series during the 1980s and 1990s by leading media companies, characterised by authoritative text, outstanding visuals (often pioneering for their time). This one portrays the Antarctic region in all its starkness and terrible beauty, with stunning photographs of regions and places hardly visited by people. Especially impactful and moving are the descriptions of the struggles of various species to survive and bring up their young, of which surely the stories of the emperor penguin and the wandering albatross are surely the most poignant. A great achievement by the author and the production teams. ( )