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Frostlines
- Author
- Neil Shea
- Narrator
- Neil Shea
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Publish Date
- 12 February 2026
- Run Time
- 6 hours 7 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
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What to expect
Read by the author, Neil Shea
'Magnificent and moving. Shea writes with the magic of an aurora illuminating how life is rapidly changing across the cold expanses of the Arctic' - Steve Brusatte, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
'Enchanting and fascinating, full of wonder and wildlife . . . An extraordinary and necessary read' - Annie Worsley author of Windswept
A breathtaking and epic exploration of the transforming Arctic.
The Arctic was once a place seemingly frozen in time. Now, while the old cold world can still be glimpsed in the herds of caribou, the hidden lives of wolves, and the hunting skill of an Inupiat elder, there is a new Arctic emerging.
National Geographic writer Neil Shea begins his journey with the wolves of Canada’s Ellesmere Island, and travels among the Indigenous Netsilingmiut and Tlicho peoples of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. In the Barren Lands, perched on an esker, he watches bears, or Big Men. In Alaska he tracks the patterns of caribou, now shifting after thousands of years of predictability, and in the European Arctic he explores the new Cold War that is rising between Russia, China, Europe, and the United States over who controls the pole, and who will reap its riches as the ice melts.
Frostlines is an expansive yet intimate revelation of the Arctic during a time of crisis, and a journey along the threshold of this stunning and sometimes frightening world. What Shea finds is not one Arctic but many – all linked by shattering cold, seasons of darkness, and pure, sparkling light.
Critics Review
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Magnificent and moving . . . This stunning book—part travelogue, part history, part popular science—will give you a new appreciation for a place, and its people, and how they together are confronting the upheaval of the modern world.
Steve Brusatte, University of Edinburgh paleontologist and Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs
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Profound and moving. In prose that shines with insight and astute observation, the intersecting stories of people, animals, and the land come to vivid life in these pages. Shea’s brilliant writing offers clear-eyed and respectful meditations on the meanings of community and belonging in times of upheaval, in the past, present, and future.
David George Haskell, two-time Pulitzer-finalist author of Sounds Wild and Broken
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From wolves and whales to weaponized borders, Neil Shea cinches a singular storyline across the Arctic cap of our rapidly changing planet, bearing witness to loss and conflict while holding tight to wonder and awe
Meera Subramanian, author of A River Runs Again
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With evocative and time-bending writing, Neil Shea honors the historic agency of animals and peoples too often idealized and ‘managed.’
Trish O’Kane, author of Birding to Change the World
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Frostlines transports readers to far-flung regions of the Arctic, where they encounter majestic wolves and elusive caribou. Neil Shea’s captivating prose reveals the Arctic’s extraordinary diversity and illuminates the ecological, social, and cultural consequences of a changing climate
Amanda Bellows, author of The Explorers
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Lush and heartbreaking . . . lays the Arctic bare to reveal a place of life, beauty, and ancient interdependencies. Neil Shea is both a careful observer and a gifted writer, weaving a narrative steeped in loss, wonder, and warning
Jonathan C. Slaght, author of Tigers Between Empires and Owls of the Eastern Ice
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Enchanting and fascinating, full of wonder and wildlife. In each region, Shea creates a deep and meaningful 'sense of place'. His knowledge of the complex connections between people and ice, community and wildlife, nature and cold is remarkable . . . Frostlines is an extraordinary and necessary read
Annie Worsley, author of Windswept
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Lyrical, unexpectedly moving
New Scientist
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Neil Shea
- Narrator
- Neil Shea
- Duration
- 6 hours 7 minutes
- Release Date
- 12 February 2026
- ISBN
- 9781529084177
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Pan Macmillan
- Genre
- Climate change, Indigenous peoples / Indigeneity, Travel writing, The environment
Synopsis
Read by the author, Neil Shea'Magnificent and moving. Shea writes with the magic of an aurora illuminating how life is rapidly changing across the cold expanses of the Arctic' - Steve Brusatte, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs'Enchanting and fascinating, full of wonder and wildlife . . . An extraordinary and necessary read' - Annie Worsley author of WindsweptA breathtaking and epic exploration of the transforming Arctic. The Arctic was once a place seemingly frozen in time. Now, while the old cold world can still be glimpsed in the herds of caribou, the hidden lives of wolves, and the hunting skill of an Inupiat elder, there is a new Arctic emerging.National Geographic writer Neil Shea begins his journey with the wolves of Canada’s Ellesmere Island, and travels among the Indigenous Netsilingmiut and Tlicho peoples of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. In the Barren Lands, perched on an esker, he watches bears, or Big Men. In Alaska he tracks the patterns of caribou, now shifting after thousands of years of predictability, and in the European Arctic he explores the new Cold War that is rising between Russia, China, Europe, and the United States over who controls the pole, and who will reap its riches as the ice melts.Frostlines is an expansive yet intimate revelation of the Arctic during a time of crisis, and a journey along the threshold of this stunning and sometimes frightening world. What Shea finds is not one Arctic but many – all linked by shattering cold, seasons of darkness, and pure, sparkling light.
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