Iceland Imagined Nature, Culture, and Storytelling in the North Atlantic

"For centuries, Iceland has occupied a peculiar place in the European imagination. It has appeared utterly familiar and proximate on the one hand, while simultaneously exotic and remote on the other. This striking contrast serves as the launching point for Karen Oslund's compelling and richly detailed book, Iceland Imagined: Nature, Culture and Storytelling in the North Atlantic. The book offers a historical exploration of how Iceland (as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands) was discursively constructed through the narratives of European travelers, naturalists, scientists, and statesmen from the early eighteenth through mid-twentieth centuries."--Kai Heidemann, H-SAE, December 2012