The literature published on this subject since 1962 is reviewed. Ant attempt has been made to survey the hundreds of relevant items listed in the bibliographies of the Journal of Glaciology and the Polar Record. The discussion is divided into the following sections: 1) Our knowledge of the present Antarctic ice sheet; 2) Techniques used in studies of the history of the ice sheet; 3) Results of these studies, chiefly by regions; 4) Results of these studies, chiefly in historical order; 5) Theories of the ice sheet and its history; 6) Sections 3 and 4 and section 5 compared; and 7) Suggestions for future work.