Exciting tales of heroic polar explorers make a great exhibition, but a book on the North Pole shows that times are too changed not to seek deeper narratives

Polar sledge exhibit

Polar Worlds shows equipment used by the great explorers

Image courtesy of the National Maritime Museum and Casson Mann. ©Hufton+Crow

Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Gallery: Polar Worlds, National Maritime Museum, London

AT THE start of his book, Michael Bravo promises to “treat the mysterious power and allure of the North Pole in a way you will not have seen before”.

It is a promise he fulfils in North Pole, a narrative that avoids the usual histories of exploration. His mission is to chart the layers of meaning that the pole has accumulated in our minds and …

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New Scientist – Earth