具体描述
"Katharine Scherman s [Daughter of Fire
is a succinct account of a unique and fascin-
ating island." Samuel Eliot Morison
"Both lively and authoritative, Daughter of
Fire reflects for us in a clear glass the total
culture of one of the most civilized countries
in tile world." -- Clifton Fadiman
Katharine Scherman s newest book,
Daughter of Fire: A Portrait of Iceland,
splendidly recaptures the insight, charm,
and bracing enthusiasm that have so
distinguished her previous works, in-
cluding the recent, highly praised Two
Islands. Daughter of Fire unfolds both a
natural and a human history of the mid-
Atlantic island of Iceland, from her first
emergence out of the ocean fifty million
years ago, through the shaping of her
landscape by the violent forces of vol-
canoes, glaciers, storms, and ocean, to the
formation of her remarkable farmers
republic by Viking warriors of the tenth
century and her turbulent history from
that day to the present. Scherman pays
particular attention to that outstanding
body of literature which flowered at the
time of Europe s Dark Ages: the famous
Icelandic histories, skaldic verse, family
sagas, and the incomparable Eddas. She
also reviews the island s natural history,
describing how Iceland s one hundred
and fifty live volcanoes impart a precari-
ous wild beauty to the scenery. The
author completes her story of the earth s
second-newest island with a perceptive
study of the Icelanders today, who live so
harmoniously with their strange, danger-
ous, often beautiful, often bleak land that
their country seems to an outsider the
last outpost of an uncluttered
civilization.
