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LOCAL HISTORY:Buried in the Arctic Ice: One Irishman’s Role in 19th-Century Polar Exploration, by Cyril Dunne (Nonsuch, 288pp, €16.99), recounts how 28-year-old Jim Hand, from Bray, Co Wicklow, came to die in the arctic expedition of 1875-76.

It is both an absorbing piece of history and a brilliant adventure tale. Cyril Dunne, a great grandnephew of the explorer, tells the story with colour and vitality, using contemporary writings, including the log of Capt George Nares, leader of the expedition, newspaper and public inquiry reports, and more. It is a sad story, but anyone who is interested in the subject will be fascinated. How, although they were aware of the disease, and carrying supplies of lime juice against it, the crew were stricken with scurvy (because the lime juice had been boiled in copper pots to concentrate it, thus destroying its vitamin C content) is one of the subplots. Cyril Dunne provides excellent historical context for the Arctic explorations of the late-Victorian era, and helps the reader to understand the background.