For centuries it was suspected that there must be an undiscovered 
continent in the southern hemisphere. But explorers failed to find one. 
On his second voyage to the Pacific, Captain Cook sailed further south 
than any of his rivals but still failed to sight land. It was not
 until 1820 that the continent's frozen coast was finally sighted. 
Territorial rivalry intensified in the 1840s when British, American, and
 French expeditions sailed south to chart further portions of the 
continent that had come to be called Antarctica. For the nearly two 
centuries since, the race to claim exclusive possession of Antarctica 
has gripped the imagination of the world. Antarctica: A Biography
 is the first ever major international history of this forbidding 
continent - from the eighteenth century voyages of discovery to the 
fierce rivalries of today, as governments, scientists, 
environmentalists, and oil companies compete for control. On one level 
it is the story of explorers battling the elements in the most hostile 
place on earth as they strive for personal triumph, commercial gain, and
 national glory. On a deeper level, it is the story of nations seeking to incorporate the Antarctic into their own national stories - and to claim its frozen wastes as their own.

Antarctica: A Biography PDF

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