There are only few human beings who can adapt, survive and thrive in the coldest
regions on earth. And below a certain temperature, death is inevitable. Sir Ran
ulph Fiennes has spent much of his life exploring and working in conditions of e
xtreme cold.
The loss of many of his fingers to frostbite is a testament to t
he horrors man is exposed to at such perilous temperatures. With the many advent
ures he has led over the past 40 years, testing his limits of endurance to the m
aximum, he deservedly holds the title of 'the world's greatest explorer'. Despit
e our technological advances, the Arctic, the Antarctic and the highest mountain
s on earth, remain some of the most dangerous and unexplored areas of the world.
This remarkable book reveals the chequered history of man's attempts to disc
over and understand these remote areas of the planet, from the early voyages of
discovery of Cook, Ross, Weddell, Amundsen, Shackleton and Franklin to Sir Ranul
ph's own extraordinary feats; from his adventuring apprenticeship on the Greenla
nd Ice Cap, to masterminding over the past five years the first crossing of the
Antarctic during winter, where temperatures regularly plummeted to minus 92 * C.
Both historically questioning and intensely personal, Cold is a celebration of
a life dedicated to researching and exploring some of the most hostile and bruta
lly cold places on earth.
