Gavin Francis 
Empire Antarctica 
Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins

* WINNER OF THE SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2013 *
*Shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Biography Prize*
* Shortlisted for the 2013 RSL Ondaatje Prize *
* Shortlisted for Banff Adventure Travel Prize *
* Shortlisted for Saltire Book of the Year Award *
Gavin Francis fulfilled a lifetime“s ambition when he spent fourteen months as the base-camp doctor at Halley, a profoundly isolated British research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. So remote, it is said to be easier to evacuate a casualty from the International Space Station than it is to bring someone out of Halley in winter.
Antarctica offered a year of unparalleled silence and solitude, with few distractions and very little human history, but also a rare oppurtunity to live among emperor penguins, the only species truly at home in the Antarctic. Following the penguins throughout the year — from a summer of perpetual sunshine to months of winter darkness — Gavin Francis explores a world of great beauty conjured from the simplest elements, the hardship of living at 50°C below zero and the unexpected comfort that the penguin community bring.