A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

An exploration of humanity’s relationship with ice since the dawn of civilization, Of Ice and Men reminds us that only by understanding this unique substance can we save the ice on our planet—and perhaps ourselves.

Ice tells a story. It writes it in rock. It lays it down, snowfall by snowfall at the ends of the earth where we may read it like the rings on a tree. It tells our planet’s geological and climatological tale.

Ice tells another story too: a story about us. It is a tale packed with swash-buckling adventure and improbable invention, peopled with driven, eccentric, often brilliant characters. It tells how our species has used ice to reshape the world according to our needs and our desires: how we have survived it, harvested it, traded it, bent science to our will to make it—and how in doing so we have created globe-spanning infrastructures that are entirely dependent upon it.

And even after we have done all that, we take ice so much for granted that we barely notice it.

Ice has supercharged the modern world. It has allowed us to feed ourselves and cure ourselves in ways unimaginable two hundred years ago. It has enabled the global population to rise from less than 1 billion to nearly 7½ billion—which just happens to cover the same period of time as humanity has harvested, manufactured, and distributed ice on an industrial scale.

And yet the roots of our fascination with ice and its properties run much deeper than the recent past.

"This book doesn’t just speak to the nerd in me, it invites him out for an evening of martinis and an utterly engaging ramble through the commoditisation and exploitation of cold. And if that sentence doesn’t appeal to you, we can no longer be friends.” - The Financial Times

"In his first book written under his own name, [Fred] Hogge gives ice its due in this fascinating natural history. Hogge writes with wit and flair, bringing natural history alive in a way that will have great appeal for those who enjoy the work of Mary Roach and Bill Bryson." - Booklist, starred review

"“[Fred] Hogge makes his solo debut with an illuminating and wide-ranging look at one of humanity’s most overlooked natural resources: ice. Hogge gathers an impressive collection of arcana. This sparkling history informs and entertains.”" - Publishers Weekly

"“Hogge makes many fascinating points and digressions in this casual history about applications of cold.” " - —Library Journal