The Palaeo-Eskimos have left far more than the hundreds of pieces of art recovered by archaeologists and the evidence of human ingenuity and endurance on the perimeter of the habitable world. Their most valuable legacy lies in the realization that these two things occurred together and were part of the same phenomenon. They provide an example of lives lived richly and joyfully amid dangers and insecurities that are beyond the imagination of the present world.

Despite its extreme climate, the North American Arctic holds a complex archaeological record of global significance. In this volume, leading researchers provide comprehensive coverage of the region's cultural history, addressing issues as diverse as climate change impacts on human societies, European colonial expansion, and hunter-gatherer adaptations and social organization.

In the pages that follow, the story of commercial whaling in the western Arctic is told by a scholar intimately acquainted with the terrain--not only as it can be found in the historical records or at archaeological sites, but from lone experience on the shores and waters where the great adventure was played out. His book is written with such mastery and vigor that we confidently greet it as the finest history yet written on any aspect of American whaling.

Published to great reviews in Canada, the US and the UK, Ancient Mariner tells the riveting story of how Samuel Hearne—a sailor at 12, a northern explorer at 24, an admirer of Native peoples—became the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America. Yet, as Ken McGoogan reveals, Samuel Hearne’s place in the history books has been a subject hotly disputed over the past two centuries. This fascinating saga, a skillful blend of literary detective work and finely imagined narrative, delights and surprises as it restores Hearne’s rightful place in history.