When Peter Freuchen died suddenly in 1957, his third wife, Dagmar, carried out to completion his work of assembling the best of his writings of a lifetime in which Arctic travel dates back to the earliest years of this century. Arctic Adventure, his best-known work, was long out of print, so much from it was incorporated in this book. Some of the horrors and hardships that are part of living in the Far North (such as the occasion on which Freuchen had to cut off his own frozen toes) are detailed to a grisly degree, but are handled with surprising nonchalance. The effect is to heighten the glamour and excitement of Freuchen's experiences by contrast. The natural harmony of Eskimo existence before the advent of white men is a prevalent theme, but the point is made without specific preachment. The supreme tact of Eskimo women, in keeping with their tradition of being powers-behind-thrones, is another thing that evoked undisguised admiration from Freuchen, whose first wife was an Eskimo by whom he had two children. Considerable skill has gone into making this informative and absorbing story come to life.