Author(s): Alistair Dermer

Australiana

There are few places today that are truly wild. Macquarie Island - a small, wind-blasted rocky outcrop between Tasmania and Antarctica - is still one such place. In exquisite pictures and words, 'A Hostile Beauty' tells the story of this extraordinary Australian outpost teeming with life. Alistair Dermer's stunning photography takes us up close and personal with the inhabitants: gentle gentoo penguins, engorged elephant-seal bulls and scavenging skuas, and deep into a landscape that is as beautiful and life-giving as it is hostile and pitiless. Let these superb images, from the fury of the squalling Southern Ocean to the warm, trusting eyes of a seal pup, transport you to one of the most remote and spectacular places on Earth.