As the cover says, “This book takes the form of a series of letters, some in verse, written from Iceland in the summer of 1936. The recipients of the letters include Lord Byron, a tourist, an employee of Shell-Mex, a member of the Oxford City Council, a Cambridge lady don, an Icelandic journalist, and a well-known young painter. In addition, Mr MacNeice contributes an eclogue between two tourists and the ghost of Grettir, and Mr Auden some amateur photographs. There may be a good many other books about Iceland and about other expeditions, but this is the only book by Mr Auden and Mr MacNeice.”