Book review: The Polar regions: an environmental history by Adrian Howkins

In The Polar Regions: An Environmental History, Adrian Howkins offers a concise but thoughtful history of the changing Polar regions, tracing the similarities, contrasts and contradictions that have shaped the landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctica – both at times viewed as wild and untamed, yet ripe for regular exploration; both subjected to devastating environmental degradation, but also protective measures. This digestible work captures the transforming identities and interconnected destinies of the Poles, and uses history to offer a sense of hope pointedly laced with an admission of human vulnerability, writes Michael Warren.