The Great White Bear: A Natural & Unnatural History of the Polar Bear

This "up-close [and] graceful account" of the polar bear combines historical accounts, research, and the author's own encounters in the Arctic (Kirkus Reviews).

Polar bears are creatures of paradox: They are white bears whose skin is black; massive predators who can walk almost silently; Arctic residents whose major problem is not staying warm, but keeping cool. Fully grown they can measure ten feet and weigh close to two thousand pounds, but at birth they are just twenty ounces.

Human enc...