A stunning celebration of the most beautiful part of the Arctic by its most passionate explorer.

In this intimate portrait, Jerry Kobalenko describes a series of journeys he has taken over the past twenty years around the Canadian High Arctic by foot, skis, kayak, and ship that provides a multifaceted view of this most beautiful and most vulnerable part of the Arctic. Combining natural history, exploration, and personal experiences gathered during twenty years of Arctic travel, the book explores the ice caps and glaciers of Ellesmere Island; introduces us to Axel Heiberg's magical fossil forest of cypress trees and its population of endangered Peary caribou; follows the author's seven-hundred-kilometre journey on skis from Devon Island to Alexandra Fiord, punctuated by near-fatal encounters with polar bears; and comments on changes in climate he has witnessed throughout the High Arctic. The book also showcases Kobalenko's magnificent photographs of the region, capturing wildlife such as walrus, muskoxen, and Arctic wolves and stunning geographical features from towering icebergs to virgin snowscapes under a sky of wild lenticular clouds.

Published in partnership with the David Suzuki Foundation.

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Jerry Kobalenko's words and images have been published in hundreds of publications around the world, including National Geographic, Outside, Condé Nast, BBC Wildlife, and Time. He is the author of The Horizontal Everest, which won the Best Adventure Travel Book in 2002 at the Banff Mountain Book Festival. He lives in Canmore, Alberta.

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Jerry Kobalenko's profile page

Canmore writer and photographer Jerry Kobalenko loves the High Arctic, and it shows in Arctic Eden, his lavishly illustrated coffee-table book. —albertaviews

Those who dream of really getting away from it all, to the far, far northern reaches of the planet, can do so from their armchair by reading Canmore author and photographer Jerry Kobalenko's latest book, Arctic Eden. —Canmore Leader

An instant classic. —Tim Cahill

This explorer's soul is shared through the eye of his camera no less than through his gentle, understated prose. —Thomas Hornbein

Seamlessly combining history, adventure, memoir and photography, Arctic Eden intertwines personal tales of Kobalenko's travels on Ellesmere, Axel Heiberg and Devon islands with the stories of the explorers who visited before him . . . Kobalenko creates beautiful images not just with his camera but also with his descriptions of the place he so clearly loves . . . Arctic Eden is written so passionately, it could inspire even the warmest-blooded Canuck to head north. —Canadian Geographic

As writing, Arctic Eden begs comparison with Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams . . . Then there are the photos, which are the best images of the High Arctic I've ever seen. —Lawrence Millman

Jerry Kobalenko is that rare thing, an adventurous traveler with a brain and a good eye, whose curiosity and passion lead him into forgotten corners of history and nature from where he returns, laden with treasure. —Ed Douglas

One of the best photographic narratives on high adventure in the Arctic ever produced. —Pat Morrow

Every page of this beautiful book resonates with Jerry Kobalenko's deep knowledge and love of the Arctic. His evocative images and clear, candid prose bring to life its landscapes, its natural history, and the early explorers who went before him. —Maria Coffey