Frozen Planet: A World Beyond Imagination - Hardcover

Fothergill, Alastair; Berlowitz, Vanessa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1554079918 ISBN 13: 9781554079919

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2011

Synopsis

The ultimate portrait of the earth's Polar Regions.

In 2012 the Discovery Channel will broadcast Frozen Planet, the long-awaited third installment in the BBC Earth series of which Blue Planet: Seas of Life and Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before won multiple Emmy awards.

Frozen Planet is the companion book to the TV series. It follows the world's best wildlife photographers as they capture animal behavior and landscapes never seen before, including Antarctica's active volcanoes and the previously restricted Russian Arctic. Custom-designed HD cameras allowed undisturbed observation. Traveling by nuclear submarine, military helicopter, icebreaker and snowmobile, the filmmakers endured piercing polar winters and the dangerous summer "melt" to record what may be the dying days of Earth's frozen regions.

Frozen Planet has seven sections:

• Pole to Pole
• Spring: Life Wakes Up
• Summer: Life Multiplies
• Autumn: Life Retreats
• Winter: Life Closes Down
• On Thin Ice
• Tales from the Poles

It follows four polar residents that reveal the health of the planet and what the future may hold: the polar bear and arctic fox in the north; the Adelie penguin and wandering albatross in the south. "Behind the scenes" segments describe the making of the TV series.

Some of the fascinating stories are:

• Icebergs the size of New York skyscrapers
• The first record of killer whales hunting in packs
• 80,000 smelly macaroni penguins on Bird Island
• A very rare blond fur seal pup
• Satellite tagged wandering albatrosses raising their chicks
• King penguins catching a wave
• A lone white wolf eyeing a photographer
• Grass-eating polar bears
• The creeping glaciers of Svalbard
• Adelie penguin chicks learning to swim
• Killer whales using their tails to wash seals off ice flows
• Canada's Barrenlands coming to life in the spring
• A polar bear stalking a film crew
• Scuba diving with beluga whales in the Russian Arctic
• The elusive Greenland shark

Sales of the companion book to the Blue Planet television series topped 6 million dollars. Frozen Planet promises to be an equal or greater success. The important topic, the expected demand from Discovery Channel viewers and an excellent price make it an essential purchase.

About this title

About the Author:

Alastair Fothergill was the executive producer of Frozen Planet, and also produced Planet Earth and The Blue Planet for the BBC. Alastair studied zoology at the University of Durham, and is the author of four books.

Vanessa Berlowitz was the series producer of Frozen Planet and director and producer of the 'Ice worlds' and 'Mountains' episodes for Planet Earth. Vanessa studied human sciences at the University of Oxford, and has also contributed to a number of books and written on wildlife and conservation for magazines.

Review:

BBC Earth spent three years working on a documentary series on the poles, sending crews to Antarctica and the Arctic to film wildlife, the small groups of people that eke out an existence there, and the ever-shrinking ice itself. This companion piece to the Frozen Planet documentary includes dozens of stunning photographs, a seasonal exploration of the frozen climes, and a section detailing the production of the show and the book. Fans of the series or nature documentaries in general will find this tome enthralling as an educational text and as a stunning collection of images. From detailed information on polar bear gestation and hibernation habits to a remarkable photo sequence of a pod of killer whales collaborating to kill a seal, the book sheds light on day-to-day life in the harshest of climates. The self-awareness of the photographers and producers (as evidenced by commentary on the process and pitfalls of shooting in these regions) creates an interesting dialogue about the
relationship between humans and nature. Indeed, the volume ends with sobering data about climate change and its impact on the poles, rendering the previous breathtaking photographs as evidence of the beauty the world stands to lose if climate change is left unchecked. (Publishers Weekly)

Absolutely stunning.... Well worthy of purchase, this spectacular book is the perfect companion to the television series and is guaranteed to have an impact on the reader. It not only celebrates the wonder of the poles and their inhabitants, but Frozen Planet: A World Beyond Imagination also imparts an important message about the fragility of the environment and the responsibility of humans to act as stewards for our planet. Highly Recommended. (Gail Hamilton Canadian Materials 2012-05-18)

A beautiful and stunning portrait of the planet's polar regions. (Oceans)

This is a keeper to delve into again and again, with or without the televised series. (Sandy Bauers Philadelphia Inquirer 2012-05-19)

This portrait of our polar region will surprise and amaze. Frozen Planet offers extraordinary views of frozen landscapes and animal behavior impossible to see on dry land. The full-page images are breathtaking, and the layout depicts the vastness of this landscape of ice. The team also takes us on a voyage below the ice, to the heart of the glaciers and volcanic caves of crystalline ice.... Frozen Planet is a book of immense beauty and an inexhaustible source of information. One cannot remain insensitive to the impact of humanity on this majestic landscape. (Ginette Lapointe Photo News 2012-06-01)

The text that accompanies the truly magnificent photographs is informative and factual. The undoubted stars of the book are the photographs of the landscape and its inhabitants, which are unworldly for a resident of a temperate region of the earth. (Clarence J. Murphy, emeritus, East Stroudsburg Uni Science Books and Films 2012-02-01)

Full of gorgeous images by top wildlife photographers and informative text explaining the seasonal changes in animal behavior and in the landscape, this book is a pleasure to explore. (Photo Life 2012-03-31)

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1554079918
• ISBN 13: 9781554079919
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312