December 2017 marks Finland’s centenary as a country. To celebrate the occasion, travel writer Horatio Clare, whose most recent adventure saw him embedded on a Maersk container ship for his Sunday Times bestseller Down to the Sea in Ships, was invited to spend January on a government icebreaker in the Gulf of Bothnia, just south of the Arctic Circle. It’s the icebreaker’s job to keep open the most northerly ports of the country by carving water lanes out of the ice.
Horatio Clare’s writing blends history, geography and environmentalism with charm and immersive excitement. As well as describing the people he is sailing with, and the icy world around him, he also delves into the Finnish character. Icebreaker is a vivid and timely book about Finland’s history and people and the urgent global question of ice.
Horatio Clare’s writing blends history, geography and environmentalism with charm and immersive excitement. As well as describing the people he is sailing with, and the icy world around him, he also delves into the Finnish character. Icebreaker is a vivid and timely book about Finland’s history and people and the urgent global question of ice.
