A new history of the North Pole uncovers its deep significance for modern civilization

The new book ”North Pole: Nature and Culture,” by Cambridge geographer Michael Bravo reminds us that the pole has a long, tangled cultural history.

What exactly is the North Pole? How are we to understand the North Pole’s significance to the world today? has all the mysticism and wonders which so enthralled the early explorers and their eager audiences now completely vanished, reduced to bland insignificance by icebreakers, flags, submarines, tourists and jets in thoughtless shuttle across the polar sky?