Overview

"People have perennially projected their fantasies onto the North as a frozen no-man's-land full of marauding Vikings or as the unspoiled landscape of a purer, more elemental form of life. Bernd Brunner recovers the encounters of adventurers with its dramatic vistas, fierce weather, exotic treasures, and indigenous peoples-and with the literary sagas that seemed to offer an alternate (""whiter"" and ""superior"") cultural origin story to those of decadent Greece/Rome and the moralistic ""Semitic"" Bible. The Left has idealized Scandinavian social democracy. The Right borrows from a long history of crackpot theories of Northern origins. Nordic phenotypes characterized eugenics, which in turn influenced America's limits on immigration. The North, Brunner argues, was as much invented as discovered. A valuable contribution to intellectual history, full of vivid documentation, Extreme North is an enlightening journey through a place that is real, but also, in fascinating and very disturbing ways, imaginary."

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9780393881004

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Reviews

As content creators continue to find inspiration in the mythical north, readers interested in why these themes have had such longevity will find this book invaluable.--Margaret Atwater-Singer, Univ. of Evansville Lib., IN Library Journal [A] captivating and wide-ranging account. . . Erudite yet accessible, and packed with intriguing arcana, this cultural history fascinates.-- Publishers Weekly A fascinating and historically disturbing journey through an intriguing land of mystery and legend.-- Kirkus [This] erudite, engaging book is indispensable for understanding the cultural status of the North today.--Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir, author of Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World An intrepid researcher and writer, Bernd Brunner takes readers on a journey through time and space and into the minds of countless many.... The journey is sometimes shocking, always fascinating, and surely worth taking.--Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf From the Ultima Thule of antiquity to the practices of the North's Indigenous peoples to stoic, Kierkegaardian faith, and on to the racial fantasies about the North's white peoples, Bernd Brunner's imaginative-yet-critical exploration weaves together the many, often contradictory, images and ideas about the top of the globe. It should be read by the curious, student and scholar alike.--Andrew K. Nestingen, author of Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia Beautifully written and deeply evocative, this is history that is in equal parts whimsical and disturbing. Bernd Brunner shows how scientific curiosity and the pursuit of adventure collided with malign theories of racial superiority, attributed to a myth of northern descent.... Extreme North could not be more timely.--Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly Waters In Extreme North, Bernd Brunner gives us a spry, fascinating tour through centuries of lore about the globe's colder latitudes. From Greek myths of Hyperborea to Enlightenment scientists to the Nazi adoration of Norse symbols, he brings alive the power of the north to inspire European ideas about everything from race and social organization to geography and history. Bristling with captivating details and characters, Brunner pushes us to wonder what the north is, and why it has so long fascinated people living to the south.--Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast Extreme North is an icily bewitching panorama of the dreams and fears, the fascination and the danger of the snowy limits of civilization. In these fantasies and travel accounts, ancient legends, and wild projections, we become spectators of the age-old dance between life and landscape of Nordic climes on the one hand, and human longing on the other.--Philipp Blom, author of Nature's Mutiny

Extreme North is an icily bewitching panorama of the dreams and fears, the fascination and the danger of the snowy limits of civilization. In these fantasies and travel accounts, ancient legends, and wild projections, we become spectators of the age-old dance between life and landscape of Nordic climes on the one hand, and human longing on the other. -- Philipp Blom, author of Nature's Mutiny Extreme North takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the 'North' as it has been seen from the outside through time - alien or coarse to some, noble and civilized to others, but always different. Brunner draws on an eclectic mixture of sources, from early maps and travel narratives to heavy metal, and his erudite, engaging book is indispensable for understanding the cultural status of the North today. -- Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir, author of Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World From the Ultima Thule of antiquity to the practices of the north's Indigenous peoples, to stoic, Kierkegaardian faith, and on to the racial fantasies about the north's white peoples, Bernd Brunner's imaginative yet critical exploration of the circumpolar region weaves together the many, often contradictory, images and ideas that have come together in writings and images of the top of the globe. It should be read by the curious, student and scholar alike. -- Andrew K. Nestingen, author of Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia Bernd Brunner's Extreme North is a gripping and highly original history of how encounters with northerly landscapes and peoples have shaped Europe's perception of itself. Beautifully written and deeply evocative, this is history that is in equal parts whimsical and disturbing. Brunner shows how scientific curiosity and the pursuit of adventure collided with malign theories of racial superiority, attributed to a myth of northern descent. At a moment when our collective future is increasingly bound to the fate of the polar regions, Extreme North could not be more timely. -- Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly Waters An intrepid researcher and writer, Bernd Brunner takes readers on a journey through time and space and into the minds of countless many who had something profound to say about the northernmost reaches of the globe. The journey is sometimes shocking, always fascinating, and surely worth taking. -- Jack Davis, author of The Gulf

Extreme North is an icily bewitching panorama of the dreams and fears, the fascination and the danger of the snowy limits of civilization. In these fantasies and travel accounts, ancient legends, and wild projections, we become spectators of the age-old dance between life and landscape of Nordic climes on the one hand, and human longing on the other. -- Philipp Blom, author of Nature's Mutiny [This] erudite, engaging book is indispensable for understanding the cultural status of the North today. -- Johanna Katrin Fridriksdottir, author of Valkyrie: The Women of the Viking World From the Ultima Thule of antiquity to the practices of the North's Indigenous peoples to stoic, Kierkegaardian faith, and on to the racial fantasies about the North's white peoples, Bernd Brunner's imaginative-yet-critical exploration weaves together the many, often contradictory, images and ideas about the top of the globe. It should be read by the curious, student and scholar alike. -- Andrew K. Nestingen, author of Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia Beautifully written and deeply evocative, this is history that is in equal parts whimsical and disturbing. Bernd Brunner shows how scientific curiosity and the pursuit of adventure collided with malign theories of racial superiority, attributed to a myth of northern descent.... Extreme North could not be more timely. -- Sunil Amrith, author of Unruly Waters An intrepid researcher and writer, Bernd Brunner takes readers on a journey through time and space and into the minds of countless many.... The journey is sometimes shocking, always fascinating, and surely worth taking. -- Jack E. Davis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Gulf In Extreme North, Bernd Brunner gives us a spry, fascinating tour through centuries of lore about the globe's colder latitudes. From Greek myths of Hyperborea to Enlightenment scientists to the Nazi adoration of Norse symbols, he brings alive the power of the north to inspire European ideas about everything from race and social organization to geography and history. Bristling with captivating details and characters, Brunner pushes us to wonder what the north is, and why it has so long fascinated people living to the south. -- Bathsheba Demuth, author of Floating Coast

Author Information

Bernd Brunner is a historian, lecturer, and author of many acclaimed books. He splits his time between Istanbul and Berlin. Jefferson Chase has translated works by Thomas Mann and Wolfgang Schivelbusch, among others. He lives in Berlin.

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