For 337 days, wildlife cameraman Lindsay McCrae lived among 11,000 emperor penguins in Antarctica, creating a revelatory photographic and verbal portrait of the continent's most extraordinary residents. As McCrae recounts here, he trailed them when they marched up to 100 miles over solid ice to reach their breeding grounds, as these durable birds braved temperatures of 60 below zero to bring forth the next generation into one of the most hostile climates on Earth. McCrae also reflects on having this childhood dream come true, and discusses the personal obstacles that—being over 15,000 km away from home—almost proved too much.

"Unforgettable…. Readers will laugh, cry, wince, and even bristle at the incredible word-pictures McCrae paints of the birds' courting, births, and deaths."—Booklist