On Sunday 8 January 2006, Isabelle Autissier and Erik Orsenna leave Ushuaia for the far South. Isabelle has recently bought a sturdy 15 meters sailing boat, on which a four people crew embarks: two professional sailors, a documentary filmmaker and a young ornithologist tormented by sea sickness.
The book describes the seven weeks venture, the fears and the wonder, the rediscovery of the trail of the great explorers (Charcot, Shackleton, Nordenskjöld), the encounters with amazing women and men, the mountains and the icebergs, the landscapes that will stay in your memory for life. It evokes the Albatrosses, the mighty predatory Skuas, and the gentle Cape petrels, as well as the whales and the fearsome sea leopard which attacks the zodiacs boats ....
Their book focuses on our planet’s most mysterious continent - the Antarctic: 70% of our drinking water, the most formidable archive of our far away past, an essential component of the climatic system…
The book also explains and offers proofs of global warming, testifies to and warns us about the fragility of our eco system. It acknowledges the existence of the only example of common management of natural riches: south of the 60th parallel is a huge territory that belongs to no-one. A land without a flag or a nationality, dedicated to research and peace. But for how long?
Known for her four solitary races around the world, Isabelle Autissier has taken part in many scientific expeditions; she is also a writer, the author of Kerguelen, le voyageur du pays de l'ombre, Grasset 2006.
Winner of the Goncourt prize for L’Exposition coloniale (Seuil, 1988), Erik Orsenna, is one of France’s most popular contemporary authors. His books have all met with popular and critical acclaim. His recent publications include: Les chevaliers du subjonctif (Stock 2004), Portraits du Gulf Stream (Seuil 2005), Voyage au pays du coton (Fayard 2006).
