In this surprising and playful history of humanity's relationship with ice, you will learn something new on almost every page about everything from Neanderthals to ice creams, cocktails to glaciers, climate change to autopsies. Immense fun mixed with a tinge of melancholy, as we may be soon saying goodbye to the awe inspiring power of ice in an ever hotter world: this is the definitive, millennia-spanning account of humanity's ongoing conquest of freezing-cold nature.

I was intrigued by this and decided to take a chance and I am very glad I did. A warm telling of the human obsession with freezing things told in a light and compelling way. I was able to nod along wisely to a recent TV show on the invention of the household freezer as they told the tale of the "ice wars", described within this. If you ever wanted to know more about ice and even if you think you are not interested, try this, it is far more amazing than you can imagine. I wanted to give it 4 1/2 stars as I actually wanted to know more and felt the book could have been longer in some parts, otherwise, it is a cracking read.