New York Timesbestselling author
Hampton Sides returns with a white-knuckle tale of polar
exploration and survival in the Gilded Age
In the
late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the
last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one
knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the
northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost
cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann,
believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at
the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever
could plant his flag upon its shores.
James Gordon
Bennett, the eccentric and stupendously wealthy owner
of The New York Herald, had recently captured
the world's attention by dispatching Stanley to Africa to
find Dr. Livingstone. Now he was keen to re-create that
sensation on an even more epic scale. So he funded an
official U.S. naval expedition to reach the Pole, choosing
as its captain a young officer named George Washington De
Long, who had gained fame for a rescue operation off the
coast of Greenland. De Long led a team of 32 men deep into
uncharted Arctic waters, carrying the aspirations of a young
country burning to become a world power. On July 8, 1879,
the USS Jeannette set sail from San
Francisco to cheering crowds in the grip of "Arctic Fever."
The ship sailed into uncharted seas, but soon was
trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage,
the hull was breached. Amid the rush of water and the
shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew abandoned the
ship. Less than an hour later,
the Jeannette sank to the bottom,and the
men found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of
Siberia with only the barest supplies. Thus began their long
march across the endless ice—a frozen hell in the most
lonesome corner of the world. Facing everything from snow
blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty
labyrinths, the expedition battled madness and starvation as
they desperately strove for survival.
With twists
and turns worthy of a thriller, In The Kingdom of
Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and
determination in the most unforgiving territory on Earth.
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