Polar explorer and scientist Bruce Luyendyk’s memoir MIGHTY BAD LAND, A Perilous Expedition to Antarctica Reveal Clues to an Eighth Continent covers his first expedition to Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica. Unlike other books about the continent, Luyendyk embeds readers with his team of six as they face the elements, make discoveries, and work 800 miles from the next outpost. 

Like many scientific efforts, this one resulted in surprises. Through evaluating their discoveries, Luyendyk realizes that enormous submarine plateaus in the southwest Pacific, including New Zealand, are continental pieces that broke away from the Antarctic sector of Gondwana. He coined the term “Zealandia” to describe this new continent that only the top of its mountains reveals the nation of New Zealand. The area comprises a submerged continent, a stunning revelation with economic and geopolitical consequences.

MIGHTY BAD LAND, published by Permuted Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, is an unembellished and dramatic tale of facing up to demons that surface under the extreme duress of a perilous experience. Along with Luyendyk’s many personal dilemmas with the crew, his fears, and an unrelenting wind bringing snow and freezing ice, are photos illustrating the vastness of this land, its emptiness, and its sheer beauty.