In recent years, journalists and environmentalists have pointed urgently to the melting Arctic as a leading indicator of the growing effects of climate change. While climate change has unleashed profound transformations in the region, most commentators distort these changes by calling them unprecedented. In reality, the landscapes of the North American Arctic—as well as relations among scientists, Inuit, and federal governments— are products of the region’s colonial past. And even as policy analysts, activists, and scholars alike clamor about the future of our world’s northern rim, too few truly understand its history.   In Unfreezing the Arctic , Andrew Stuhl brings a fresh perspective to this defining challenge of our time. With a compelling narrative voice, Stuhl weaves together a wealth of distinct episodes into a transnational history of the North American Arctic, proving that a richer understanding of its social and environmental transformation can come only from studying the region’s past. Drawing on historical records and extensive ethnographic fieldwork, as well as time spent living in the Northwest Territories, he closely examines the long-running interplay of scientific exploration, colonial control, the testimony and experiences of Inuit residents, and multinational investments in natural resources. A rich and timely portrait, Unfreezing the Arctic offers a comprehensive look at scientific activity across the long twentieth century. It will be welcomed by anyone interested in political, economic, environmental, and social histories of transboundary regions the world over. The author intends to donate all royalties from this book to the Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) and East Three School's On the Land Program. "Stuhl perceives climate change as an issue of human rights. It is simply the latest destructive incursion of the outside world; a tale of extraction and exploitation, of scientific, commercial, and colonial incursions that have pushed local people to the margins. The book puts a sharp focus on the far northern and western rim of the North American continent—Alaska and Canada—within a defined time period from 1881 until 1984. Stuhl examines environmental transformation in that part of the Arctic case by case in succeeding chapters, in an appeal to study the human history of the Arctic as an extranational phenomenon. The book is detailed and richly informed, not only by the thoroughness of its library research, but also by the author’s personal on-site experience living and working in the Arctic environment. Arctic specialists will want to devour it. Essential." ― Choice "Breaks new ground . . . . an important contribution to Arctic scholarship. The transnational focus is particularly well suited to studies of science and the environment, and Stuhl's innovative work should certainly encourage other historians to mentally overleap political boundaries throughout the circumpolar north." ― American Historical Review “This is a powerful and moving book. Stuhl’s case is well argued—the book is compelling and engaging, with a strong narrative enlivened by maps, photographs, and firsthand observations of the Arctic today.” ― ISIS " Unfreezing the Arctic is a worthy addition to the recent wave of work on northern history. By ‘‘unfreezing’’ Andrew Stuhl means rejecting the notion of a North frozen in time — a sentiment certain to find hearty agreement among northern scholars. He also joins other historians in presenting a transnational view of the north, and emphasizing the evolving social and political roles of science. Bridging the histories of colonialism, resource management, military activity, and Indigenous self-determination, Stuhl focuses on Alaska and northwest Canada, including the Beaufort Sea, Mackenzie Delta, and surrounding region." ― Canadian Journal of History "Stuhl animates, or 'unfreezes,' this history to bring it into the present—in other words, to place the Arctic back in time." ― Edge Effects “As a non-environmental historian, but as someone with a deep interest in the Arctic, I found this book both readable, enjoyable, and instructive. I recommend it to anyone interested in viewing the last one and a half centuries of change in this part of the Arctic.” -- James T. Andrews ― Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research "In this era of concern over the politicization of science and its embattled role in public policy, Andrew Stuhl's  Unfreezing the Arctic  offers a timely historical reflection on the important social role of science and scientists. . . . [the] account represents a novel contribution to histories of Arctic science." ― Historical Geography “ Unfreezing the Arctic offers a powerful and provocative antidote to current thinking about the Arctic, challenging its consensus status as a newly industrializing global region. Unafraid to make bold assertions, Stuhl moves deftly and confidently to answer the question of how we got to w