Arctic Grail: The Quest For The Northwest Passage And The Pole, 1818 - 1909 : by Pierre Berton.

The beautiful photograph of Arctic ocean on the cover makes one wish one was there, and the description makes one wish one could get the book immediately, or even better, that it was a DVD with extensive arctic scenery.

The quest of a northwest passage reminds one of the recent summer opening of a northwest passage north of Canada and the environmental worries about a what if - certainly any usage of the passage for commercial nature will only make matters worse for global warming related questions. The faster the arctic melts the sooner the vanishing of coastal cities and towns near and far, and some whole nations as well, low lying countries that is.

Arctic Grail tells about all those that ventured forth in the quest of The arctic passage and north pole, British and Scandinavians, and those that perished and those that arrived. The very names thrill one.