9:33pm Thursday 26th November 2009
By Matt Westcott
AS a frustrated outdoorsman, books such as this only serve to increase my longing to get more at one with nature.
Dont get me wrong, I make the most of what our great country has to offer when I can, but the opportunities are not as frequent as I might like.
This book, to accompany the BBC series, has led me to move Canada up my list of places to visit before I die.
Mears is not the greatest of writers, but his love and enthusiasm for his subject and the places he treks across make him an engaging read.
His knowledge of anthropology as well as natural history give his books an added depth and that is no better illustrated than in Northern Wilderness.
Mears explores the vast Boreal Forest with its rich and varied wildlife and tells the story of the ancient trappers and the lands indigenous peoples as he travels across Hudson bay by canoe. Along the way we learn how it is possible to survive in this beautiful, but often hostile landscape.
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