*A Newstatesman Book of the Year* 'Nimble; vital; unexpectedly affecting' Observer Bestselling travel writer Horatio Clare joins an icebreaker for a voyage through the ice-packs of the far north. 'We are celebrating a hundred years since independence this year: how would you like to travel on a government icebreaker?' A message from the Finnish embassy launches Horatio Clare on a voyage around an extraordinary country and an unearthly place; the frozen Bay of Bothnia; just short of the Arctic circle. Travelling with the crew of Icebreaker Otso; Horatio; whose last adventure saw him embedded on Maersk container vessels for the bestseller Down to the Sea in Ships; discovers stories of Finland; of her mariners and of ice. Aboard Otso Horatio gets to know the men who make up her crew; and explores Finland's history and character. Surrounded by the extraordinary colours and conditions of a frozen sea; he also comes to understand something of the complexity and fragile beauty of ice; a near-miraculous substance which cools the planet; gives the stars their twinkle and which may hold all our futures in its crystals.