The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)A season in the Arctic is a great test of character. One may know a man better after six months with him beyond the Arctic circle than after a lifetime of acquaintance in cities. There is something--I know not what to call it--in those frozen spaces, that brings a man face to face with himself and with his companions; if he is a man, the man comes out; and, if he is a cur, the cur shows as quickly. -Admiral Peary
One's first impulse is to dismiss this book as just another quickie attempt to cash in on the Endurance craze, but the story of the Karluk and its crew is quite amazing in its own right and first time author Jennifer Niven does a terrific job telling it. One year before Ernest Shackleton and Endurance set out for Antarctica, Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson, working under the auspices of the Canadian government, assembled an expedition intended to prove that a continent lay beneath the Arctic ice.On June 17, 1913, the H.M.C.S. Karluk, captained by Robert Abram Bartlett, set sail from British Columbia with a complement of 25, including Stefansson, sailors, scientists, and Eskimos (including a mother and two young daughters), plus sled dogs and a cat. Within the six weeks the ship was frozen fast in the ice north of Alaska and Stefansson, taking three men and several sleds with dogs, had abandoned the rest of the Canadian Arctic Expedition, setting out for the mainland to continue his exploration.
For the next five months, the Karluk drifted westward with the ice floe, before finally being crushed and sunk on January 11, 1914, just east of Wrangel Island, which lies north of Siberia. With the crew facing the predictable difficulties caused by brutal weather, a diet of pemmican, seal, and the like, snow blindness, etc, and no reason to believe that anyone even knew they were still alive, let alone where they were, Bartlett and Kataktovik, one of the Eskimo guides, set out across the shifting ice for Siberia to get help. Meanwhile, with the departure of Bartlett, the remaining crew splintered into rival camps and added to the struggle with the elements was an atavistic struggle against each other, ending in betrayal, thievery and maybe even murder.
The story of who survives and how and of the feats that survival requires, makes for compelling reading. Stefansson is the main villain of the story, his inadequacy as a leader beginning with his purchase of the Karluk at a bargain price, even though it was clearly not suited to ice breaking, and ending with his doctoring reports of the expedition to cast aspersions on Bartlett while portraying himself in a favorable light. Bartlett on the other hand, the Ice Master of the title, emerges as a truly heroic figure. There are plenty of other heroes and villains--one of the more interesting of the former is Seaman Hugh "Clam" Williams, whose nickname is more than justified when he stoically sits through having his frostbitten toe cut off with a pair of shears--and myriad instances of courage and cowardice.
The reader can't help being torn between questioning the common sense of the men who followed the obviously incompetent Stefansson and admiration for the fortitude that many of them displayed in the face of disaster. And just as you're coming to grips with this quandary, the author provides a helpful endnote where she reveals that various survivors fought in WWI, returned to Arctic exploration and one even joined a colonization party that Stefansson later sent to Wrangel Island, with predictably tragic results. It all makes for thrilling reading, side by side with alternately troubling and uplifting glimpses of the deeds of which humans are capable when they are pushed to their limits.
GRADE : A

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors

Click here for more information about The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk and the Miraculous Rescue of her Survivors

The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Apsley Cherry-Garrard was only 24 when he set out on Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. He was the youngest member of the group and, for my money, the best qualified for the later task of writing the complete story. Why? The Worst Journey in the World is an awe-inspiring adventure, told in such a way that you feel the young man's wide-eyed wonder as your own.
Very few novels have gripped and excited me as this book has, and far fewer nonfiction works. Cherry--as his friends called him--writes with a vigor and attention to detail and drama usually reserved for thrillers. The blizzards, storms at sea, killer whale attacks, sub-zero temperatures, and exhausting struggles with sled dogs, ponies, and yawning crevasses are vividly depicted. By the end of the book, you almost feel as though you've been on the journey with him. The "you are there" phenomenon is something I encounter very seldom in a book. This book actually managed to make me cold.
The Worst Journey in the World is not solely devoted to the adventure and the final tragedy of finding Scott and his men frozen to death. Cherry takes time out to comment on the scientific significance of their work in Antarctica, of the need for exploration regardless of immediate results, and, in conclusion, of why Scott's return from the Pole ended so bitterly. These sections of the work put the adventure into perspective, so that not only do you experience the good and bad times with the expedition, you learn what ideals drove them and what was at stake with every piece of bad luck.
The book isn't perfect, of course. Some of the scientific information Cherry relates is, of course, now outdated. The book starts off rather slowly, and the reader must pick up and remember the names of the other expeditionary members on their own--Cherry does not list or describe the others in detail until somewhere near the middle of the book.
That said, The Worst Journey in the World is still an outstanding nonfiction adventure. Once I started this book I could read nothing else. Anyone with an interest in the Antarctic, history, or exploration in general will find this book fascinating.
Highly recommended.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics)

The Worst Journey in the World recounts Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Apsley Cherry-Garrard—the youngest member of Scott's team and one of three men to make and survive the notorious Winter Journey—draws on his firsthand experiences as well as the diaries of his compatriots to create a stirring and detailed account of Scott's legendary expedition. Cherry himself would be among the search party that discovered the corpses of Scott and his men, who had long since perished from starvation and brutal cold. It is through Cherry's insightful narrative and keen descriptions that Scott and the other members of the expedition are fully memorialized.

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about The Worst Journey in the World (Penguin Classics)

I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Fascinating exploration of how the romantic movement nurtured the creation of an ideal vision of arctic/antarctic ice that ultimately contributed to a sense that it was nobler to suffer than survive. I found the book a well-written survey of popular opinion and response to polar exploration in England that presents an interesting thought: the idea that the ultimate source of Scott's disaster in the Antarctic may not have been stupidity, ego, arrogance, or any of the character flaws with which Robert F. Scott has been charged so much as hopeless romanticism (a character flaw all its own, true enough, which may contain elements of All Of The Above).

Click Here to see more reviews about: I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination

Get 33% OFF

Click here for more information about I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination

The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Michael F. Robinson's "The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture" focuses on the public perception of American Arctic exploration to illuminate developments in the political and cultural history of the United States between 1850 and 1909. He approaches the Arctic as "a faraway stage on which explorers played out dramas that were unfolding very close to home" (p. 3). He unpacks the political and cultural demarcations of American culture and uses the polar explorers as a means of illuminating U.S. society and culture. Most important, Robinson finds that the explorers offered an unequivocal statement of American exceptionalism that all could embrace. In the end, he asserts that Americans used the Arctic as a surrogate for other controversies and dramas played out far from the snow-covered region.
There is much in "The Coldest Crucible" to admire. Robinson makes a succinct, well-structured argument, using Arctic exploration as a stage on which to dramatize what he thinks are the core elements of the American nation in the nineteenth century. Robinson is at his best when he documents the manner in which the Arctic served as a unifying theme in a nation divided by slavery in the 1840s and 1850s. At a critical level stories of the search for Sir John Franklin's lost expedition diverted the public from the more serious issues taking place on the national stage. I immediately thought of the many diversions of minor stories in the media in the 2002-2003 time period rather than focusing on the huge story of the nation's politicos lumbering toward what became the quagmire of Iraq.
But diversions were no less useful in the post-Civil War era, but Robinson tends to interpret Arctic exploration differently in that era. He seems to emphasize its role more as an expression of anxiety about a loss of masculinity present in the rise of urban America. But I find his unifying theme valid there as well, and would suggest that the race of Robert Peary and Frederick Cook to the North Pole was just as attractive a feature of Americanism writ large as the pre-Civil War efforts in the Arctic.
While I quibble with the details of his thesis, Robinson's study is superb. It effectively demonstrates his central contention that the exploration of the Arctic was effectively invoked by observers to further ends on the continental American landscape far removed from the ice. His innovative approach will have to be dealt with in the historiography hereafter, and no one will be able to deny that Robinson has made his case that our culture gave rise to the polar expeditions undertaken by Americans in the nineteenth century. As he demonstrated, the quest for the Arctic for Americans represented a unique synergy between culture and exploration, each one playing off the other.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture

In the late 1800s, "Arctic Fever” swept across the nation as dozens of American expeditions sailed north to the Arctic to find a sea route to Asia and, ultimately, to stand at the North Pole. Few of these missions were successful, and many men lost their lives en route. Yet failure did little to dampen the enthusiasm of new explorers or the crowds at home that cheered them on. Arctic exploration, Michael F. Robinson argues, was an activity that unfolded in America as much as it did in the wintry hinterland. Paying particular attention to the perils facing explorers at home, The Coldest Crucible examines their struggles to build support for the expeditions before departure, defend their claims upon their return, and cast themselves as men worthy of the nation’s full attention. In so doing, this book paints a new portrait of polar voyagers, one that removes them from the icy backdrop of the Arctic and sets them within the tempests of American cultural life. With chronological chapters featuring emblematic Arctic explorers—including Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Hall, and Robert Peary—The Coldest Crucible reveals why the North Pole, a region so geographically removed from Americans, became an iconic destination for discovery.

Get 21% OFF

Click here for more information about The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture

In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy harrowing stories of near-death polar adventures. It's amazing that Albanov survived. His book is a combination of excerpts from his detailed diary and elaborations he added after the fact, supplemented by an informational preface from the publisher who recently discovered his almost-forgotten manuscript.
If you have already read "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing, this book isn't quite as good, but it is an interesting contrast. (If you haven't, put Endurance on your must-read list!) The challenges faced were similar, though not quite as extended in Albanov's case.
This story starts in much the same way as the Endurance - a ship trapped in pack ice (though in this case in the Arctic). But this is where the story diverges. The biggest difference that you learn up-front is that only two people survived (compared to the whole crew on the Endurance!)
Albanov is the navigator but does not get along with the captain. As a result, after two winters (!) enduring their relationship and the worsening conditions, he asks for permission to build a kayak and sledge from scrap and set out on his own in search of land. Much to his disappointment, however, half the crew (even many of the weaker ones) ask to accompany him.
Their destination is "Cape Flora" about 120 miles away across pack ice. According to a polar explorer's diary from decades ago, Cape Flora once had a shelter and supplies. But they really don't even know if it still exists and exactly how to get there. And if it is still there - what then? But Albanov is able to focus on the immediate goal and not worry about the what if's.
Interestingly, the crew was not a group of explorers anticipating adventure, but opportunists looking to make money in the walrus-hunting trade. This could have contributed to their low survival rate. Albanov complains about his companions a lot - their laziness, stupidity. But from Albanov's first hand account, the reader can infer that he was a loner. I couldn't help but wonder whether a leader like Shackleton could have brought out the best in the group and had a higher chance of surviving.
Anyway, it is truly amazing that Albanov and one of his companions survive all the crazy challenges they are delt - snowblidness, hunger, cold, scurvy, lack of maps, drifting pack ice, angry walruses, almost drowning, and so on.
This is a short book, and a good page-turner. Although it's not as good as Endurance, it's still a good read.

Click Here to see more reviews about: In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This slim volume details the plight of the Antarctic expedition of the Australian explorer Douglas Mawson in 1911. Seemingly few people are aware of this particular foray into the polar south, as the Scott tragedy looms largest in the public consciousness and there is a new vogue for the remarkable exploits of Ernest Shackleton in this same time frame. However, this is a story worth telling.
For those who are not obsessively interested in accounts of polar exploration, this books serves as a good introduction to the genre. It's almost novelistic in its easy yet vivid narrative flow, and unlike more encylopedic works, it avoids getting bogged down in excessive side treks about rival explorers or earlier achievements in the mapping and scouting of the continent.
Even so, it has a glaring weakness in its lack of footnotes or a bibliography. Bickel recounts entire conversations verbatim and even details the thoughts of several individuals, all without documenting the sources for such material. Since some of the quoted individuals died on the journey, one can only assume that the author is drawing from their expedition journals, and yet there is only a vague allusion to this in the afterword. More annoyingly, Bickel describes the immediate events preceding the death of one of the men from the point of view of the soon-to-be-deceased explorer, even though his two surviving comrades weren't even eyewitnesses to the moment of the tragedy. This gives rise to the suspicion that poetic license may have been somewhat abused in the composition of this book.
There are a number of photos of expedition members, their ship, and their camp. Sadly, no map is provided, making it difficult for the reader to follow Mawson's progress.
Bickel certainly does good work in shedding some light on this little known expedition, especially on the causes of the death of the second explorer. But the lack of notation of sources is a serious drawback.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written

Australian Sir Douglas Mawson chose not to go with Robert Scott to the South Pole in 1911, but instead set out on a less prestigious expedition to chart Antarctica's coastline. Mawson was not inexperienced - in 1908 he had led an important expedition to the South Magnetic Pole - but nothing could have prepared him for what happened on this trek. Mawson's task was to chart 1,500 miles of coastline and claim it for the British crown. Setting out in a party of three, he faced mountains, crevasse-filled glaciers, and 60-mile-per-hour winds. Six weeks and 320 miles out, one man fell into a crevasse, along with the tent, most equipment, and all but a week's supply of food. After losing his other companion and the dogs, Mawson fought his way back home alone through horrific wind, snow, and cold to leave his own mark in history.

Get 32% OFF

Click here for more information about Mawson's Will: The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written

Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Simply one of the best books on the quest for the North Pole. Fleming has done it again. Following success with `Barrows Boys' and `Killing Dragons' Fleming has written the epic compilation of the quest for the North Pole. Although `Arctic Grail did a good job on this subject it had one mighty failing, it concluded with Peary's march to the Pole. Mr. Fleming uses new evidence to show that Pearys and Cooks march to the pole were both illusions and probably outright frauds. Simple analysis of their log books makes this clear. Fleming goes on to write about the many airborne attempts at the pole and the actual successful walking attempt in 1968. Simply the most up to date and wonderful book on the Pole attempts, it covers everything from Franklins doomed expedition for the passage to the Jeannete, Nansans Farthest North and Mr. Peary's illusion. A must read for arctic enthusiasts, extreme adventure readers and anyone interested in diverse topics.
Seth J. Frantzman

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

Click here for more information about Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

The Great White South: Traveling with Robert F. Scott's Doomed South Pole Expedition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Ponting's book is an absolute must for anyone interested in Scott's Last Expedition. His narrative is witty and engaging throughout, whether it be concerned with his fellow travellers and their experiences, or related to the native wildlife - his chapters on seals and penguins are a particular delight.
The only downside to this edition is that the publishers unaccountably saw fit to provide a platform for another of Roland Huntford's incredibly tiresome and bitter rants about Captain Scott himself, by inviting him to contribute an unworthy, though mercifully short, introduction. Huntford's by now largely discredited iconoclasm despoils some of the dignity and freshness of Ponting's own work. Just ignore it and enjoy Ponting himself.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Great White South: Traveling with Robert F. Scott's Doomed South Pole Expedition

175 photos illustrate this account by photographer Ponting of his journey with Capt. Robert Scott to the Antarctic, a voyage from which Scott did not return.

Click here for more information about The Great White South: Traveling with Robert F. Scott's Doomed South Pole Expedition

The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As a resident of Barrow, Alaska, high in the Arctic, I have found Berton's book both accurate and easy to read. I'm so glad it has been reprinted. My only concern is that my old paperback version is falling apart, maybe because I have read and re-read it so much. Berton pulls together a wide variety of topics and quests, especially the quest for the North Pole and Northwest Passage. And he correctly adds a skepticism about many of these expeditions being funded in the name of science, but focusing on reaching the pole, or completing the passage, and fame instead.
The section on Edward Parry's near-completion of the Passage in 1819 is superb, as are those on the tragic Franklin Expedition, and the very flawed quest for the North Pole on the part of Cook and Peary (which was the most corrupt? A good question.)
The Arctic is a fascinating place. My wife Chris and I have lived in Barrow for over two decades, and we still get a thrill when we see the Arctic Ocean on our drives or walks around town. but the Arctic is often misunderstood. Berton sets the record straight, about the explorers, the Native people who had so much to teach the outsiders, and the fascinating, but fragile, part of our globe. buy this new edition before it gets out of print. Earl Finkler

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909

Culled from extensive research of handwritten diaries andprivate journals, Arctic Grail is the definitive book on the age ofarctic exploration and adventure.Journey across the ice with a Who's Who of polar explorers, men of every temperament, including the pious and ambitious Edward Perry, the first explorer to probe deep into the Arctic labyrinth; Adolphus Greely, a Civil War veteran who had to watch his men starve to death on Ellesmere Island; Robert McClure, who claimed that he was the first to find the fabled Northwest Passage; and the flawed hero John Franklin, a meek naval officer whose expeditions were responsible for the deaths of more men than those of any other Arctic explorer. Travel with the adventurer Roald Amundsen, the cool Norwegian who completed a voyage in a tiny sloop that the British Navy failed to accomplish with its great three-masted ships; Frederick Cook, who lied about reaching the North Pole; and finally, the ruthless and paranoid Robert Peary, who claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909.As much about the explorers who braved impossible odds as it is about each expedition, Arctic Grail is an epic account of the Golden Age of Exploration at the top of the world.

Click here for more information about The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909

Icebound: The Jeannette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Leonard Guttridge has managed to recreate with astonishing accuracy truly one of the most incredible stories of human endurance that I have ever known. I can only wonder why this story has not found its way onto the silver screen. Presenting real-life facts that need no embellishment, Mr. Guttridge paints an enthralling picture of the enormous hardships endured by thirty-three men trapped in the artic in the late 19th century. These men had set sail from San Francisco in the "Jeanette," a small ship by today's standards, in search of the North Pole, where they hoped to find an warm, ice-free polar sea. However, several set-backs caused them to leave later in the year than intially planned, causing the Jeanette and her crew to become caught in the pack ice of the arctic ocean. After spending two winters trapped aboard their tiny prison, suffering through many shipboard ordeals, the Jeanette sank in the treacherous, frigid waters. The crew then for months made their way over ice and open water in horrendous weather. Some perished in the journey and some made it to land in northern Siberia. More died of exposure and starvation, lost in the maze-like delta of the Lena River, while miraculously some made it to civilation and safety. (This knowledge does not spoil the ending of the book, as these facts are made known to the reader early in the tome). The story of these men would be incredible if it happened today, with all of our modern equipment, but is even more so given the relatively primitive means at hand in the 1880s. Not only is this work a great story about some very courageous and determined men, but it is a reflection of the determination and heroism under extreme circumstances embodied in many persons of that era - characteristics that many feel lacking today. Furthermore, this is a poinant reminder of just how strong is man's will to survive.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Icebound: The Jeannette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole

Get 1% OFF

Click here for more information about Icebound: The Jeannette Expedition's Quest for the North Pole

Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This book is not only a wonderful look at the fascinating men who were obsessed with reaching the North Pole, but with the fascination that unknown lands have on the human imagination. I was impressed with how foreign the concept of the North Pole was until it was reached. It was as mysterious to people back then as Mars is now, if not more so. Some theorists believed a whole other world was located in the center of Earth, accessible only by the Pole, and which housed a whole different race of people. The hardships that these men willingly endured just to be able to put their flag up and name a spot on the map and for the glory of it, simply amazed me. A terrific read without a slow spot in the whole thing. On top of it Fleming is a terrific wordsmith who has a really funny take on things at times. Get it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

In the nineteenth century, theories about the North Pole ran rampant. Was it an open sea? Was it a portal to new worlds within the globe? Or was it just a wilderness of ice? When Sir John Franklin disappeared in the Arctic in 1845, explorers decided it was time to find out. In scintillating detail, Ninety Degrees North tells of the vying governments (including the United States, Britain, Germany, and Austria-Hungary) and fantastic eccentrics (from Swedish balloonists to Italian aristocrats) who, despite their heroic failures, often achieved massive celebrity as they battled shipwreck, starvation, and sickness to reach the top of the world. Drawing on unpublished archives and long-forgotten journals, Fleming tells this story with consummate craftsmanship and wit. Ninety Degrees North is a riveting saga of humankind's search for the ultimate goal.

Click here for more information about Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

Race to the Pole: Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have not had the chance to post many reviews at Amazon for some time now but after reading this excellent biography I had to sit straight down and start typing. This new biography on Captain Scott by Ranulph Fiennes will rank in my top ten books for 2003 (released in Australia last year). I have to confess that I have no in-depth knowledge on artic travel and exploration other than having read a few good books on the subject.
Having said that, out of the books that I have read on the subject this has to be the best so far. In any book I read I always have a look at the background (or pedigree) of the author. In this case Ranulph Fiennes has the personal experience of many years of artic travel & exploration to back up his claims and theories in his account of Captain Scott.
By referring to his own experiences in the same areas and similar circumstances you get a much better idea of what was possible and why and what wasn't possible and why. He also is able to put to rest many of the myths and fairy tales surrounding Scott's South Pole expedition and the fate of himself and his companions.
After finishing this book I really felt I had a much better understanding of what these brave men attempted and why they failed or didn't fail depending on your point of view. As other reviews have indicated, maybe the author tends to lean to Captain Scott's defence too much but then again maybe Captain's Scott's reputation needs to be picked up from the dust of history and given a good polish again, its well deserved.
I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to anyone who wants to know what really happened to Captain Scott. Anyone who enjoys accounts of adventure, of man overcoming adversity or just a decent history book to read, this will suit them down-to-the-ground. I am indebted to the author for passing on his passion for this man, I have learnt a few things and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to read such a well-researched and well-written book, well done to Mr Fiennes!
From the back cover: "The real story of one of the greatest explorers who ever lived by the man described by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's greatest living explorer."


Click Here to see more reviews about: Race to the Pole: Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest

Get 26% OFF

Click here for more information about Race to the Pole: Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest

True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)More like a snow opera - this is the real-life saga of jealousy and professional hatred between Peary, the supposed discoverer of the North Pole in 1909 and his former colleague, Cook who said he discovered it in 1908.
Bruce Henderson ably lays out all the information at hand, including secondary accounts from supporters of both men. The issue seems to lie more in the personal aspects of both men who had once been colleagues but fell out very quickly in their first expedition together. This seemed to set the stage for increasing animosity culminating in Peary's attack on Cook Personally when Cook claimed to have reached the Pole.
Peary treated the Pole as a personal possession and already resented Cook, even before he made his claim. Henderson questions whether this personal dislike and Cook's propensity to hide away when under attack, has meant that Cook has failed to make the history books as the first to reach the North Pole as he should have.
Certainly this issue appears to have been a contentious one in many circles for a while, although perhaps not publically. While Henderson appears to not take sides on it overtly, I get the sense in this book that he strongly believes that Cook did get short changed.
whatever the outcome this was a ripping good read, and highly enjoyable for one who enjoys Arctic and Antarctic accounts.

Click Here to see more reviews about: True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole

Get 26% OFF

Click here for more information about True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole