Fascinating bit of history about a little known vase in Greenland during the Cold War. I had no idea the base even existed and this is a gold nugget fir military history buffs. All around great read filled with interesting information about the vase and era in which it was created and used.

I'll openly confess that I was unaware of the story of Camp Century prior to reading the brief description provided for this book and being intrigued enough to jump at the opportunity to read it in advance.

Camp Century only existed from 1959-1966, a Cold War strategy by the U.S. Army to embed a base deep in the Greenland ice cap. It was officially defined as a "scientific research station," but the facility had the undisclosed purpose of aiming up to 600 nuclear warheads, buried deep within the ice, at the Soviet Union.

Eventually, the challenges would become too great and the political dynamics of the world would change enough that the U.S. would abandon the strategy and abandon Camp Century. However, Camp Century was and remains controversial and has an ongoing impact on diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and its arctic allies.

As climate change increasingly impacts the earth's polar caps, we also deal with the very real reality that Camp Century, once buried within the ice, could resurface and its radioactive waste could impact the now semi-independent Greenlanders.

This book is, indeed, the first truly comprehensive account of Camp Century, from former President Truman's vision of affirming military superiority in this strategic region to the modern-day concerns around climate change. While the Nielsens haven't necessarily been able to access every document desired, what they have accessed is remarkable in depth and detail including never before seen photos, top secret memos, high-level political conversations, ice core research, and more.

"Camp Century" is a remarkably and extensively written account translated from the Danish that captures both past and present with equal enthusiasm and accuracy. At times difficult to read for this decidedly non-scientific mind, I was still enthralled by the history being revealed and the powerful indicators of both politics and science for this camp that was shut down not long after I was born.

For history buffs, this is a slice of American and arctic history never before captured and not soon to be forgotten.