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Aside from a few testimonials at the beginning, 182 short captions sequestered at the back, and a concluding biographical essay on the photographer, there’s not a word of text throughout this monumental book. All to the good: Michael Poliza’s photo-essay on both polar regions will dazzle you with detail and give you plenty to think about. Most of his photographs tell stories about creatures we seldom get to see in the wild. One series shows polar bears sparring half playfully amid rugged drifts of ice. Another shot shows a group of Adélie penguins marching in platoon formation along a shoreline—with one contrarian bird enigmatically heading the other way. Poliza’s cinematic style conveys an indelible impression of two of the few places on Earth where humans are conspicuous by their absence.