A book about the endangered Arctic region has won the $35,000 Donner Prize.

Arctic Front: Defending Canada in the Far North (Thomas Allen Publishers) was named Canada's best public policy book at a gala event in Toronto on Thursday.

The book examines the history and future of the Arctic and argues for urgent political and environmental action to protect its resources and establish sovereignty.

The prize will be shared by four authors: Ken S. Coates and P. Whitney Lackenbauer of the University of Waterloo, Ont., William R. Morrison of the University of Northern British Columbia and Greg Poelzer of the University of the Arctic and University of Saskatchewan.

The winner was chosen from 69 submissions and a shortlist of five.

Other shortlisted books were:

• Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State by Tarek Fatah.
• Fixing the Future: How Canada's Usually Fractious Governments Worked Together to Rescue the Canada Pension Plan by Bruce Little.
• The Limits of Boundaries: Why City-regions Cannot be Self-governing by Andrew Sancton.
• Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation by Frances Widdowson and Albert Howard.

They each receive $5,000.

Jury chairman Grant Reuber called Arctic Front, "a very useful, topical and policy-relevant book.

"Unquestionably, this book deals with a subject of major public importance and interest," Reuber said Thursday in a release.

"This is a substantial and accessible book that should be widely read by everyone interested in an insightful introduction to this subject."

The call for submissions for next year's Donner Prize will go out in September.