This volume contains 21 research papers previously published in languages other than English which span the period 1909-1992. They have been selected as benchmark contributions from a group of 30 distinguished authors and have been translated into English for an international audience of glacial and periglacial geomorphologists. Some papers are acknowledged classics and have been copiously referenced since their original publication. Others contain insightful observations which are regarded as having been well ahead of their time and worthy of reproduction in view of recent advances in cold climate research.