In addition to his achievements as a doctor, meteorologist, and cartographer, Richardson was the first great naturalist to study the North American Arctic. His journal made such an outstanding contribution to ornithology, ichthyology, botany, and geology that much of modern Arctic research is founded upon his observations. Enhanced by fifty-six line drawings and eight maps, Arctic Ordeal will interest a wide audience as well as medical historians, geographers, anthropologists, and botanists.

Stuart Houston received his early education in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, his M.D. from the University of Manitoba, his fellowship in diagnostic radiology from the Royal College, and a D.Litt from the University of Saskatchewan. He was editor of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, head of the Department of Medical Imaging at the University of Saskatchewan, a member of council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, president of the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine and vice president of the American Ornithologists' Union.

Stuart Houston's profile page

"The combination of Richardson's journal and Houston's expert introduction and annotation makes Arctic Ordeal enthralling." I.S. MacLaren, Saturday Night.

"A sterling tribute to Richardson." Mark Abley, Books in Canada. "The combination of Richardson's journal and Houston's expert introduction and annotation makes Arctic Ordeal enthralling." I.S. MacLaren, Saturday Night.