Polar Regions Books

I love this book. Could not put it down. The author has researched the facts and gives excellent detail to the history. It is a fascinating story and if you like to read about the real explorers you will not regret purchasing this book

I was always intrigued by the disappearace of the ill-fated Franklin expedition, having seen the NOVA presentation some years ago. So I sat down and read this book and couldn't put it down. The story in itself is tragic and heartfelt. The reasons behind it all the more tragic. The NOVA story focused on lead and botulism poisoning as well as scurvy. But having read this book, I've come to the conclusion the Cookman was too lenient on the Admiralty who employed Goldner. 29,000 cans of food is an astounding amount of food to the say the least even in this day and age of automation. In their race to find the passage, they didn't question where Goldner was going to obtain all this fresh meat he was contracted to provide. Not even Queen Victoria ha instant access to the gourmet food he offered. Canned Lobster? Curried rabbit? They didn't inspect his factory and being located in Whitechapel should have been enough to raise eyebrows. That's the place where Jack the Ripper plied his trade and where you wouldn't be caught at night! There was no quality control. No one in the Admiralty had the balls to question where all this fresh food was going to come from! He was contracted to provide fresh beef, roast beef, mutton, fresh vegetables ( all of which not even the very wealthy had access to at the time). All they knew was that he had this patented new process, he was cheap, and he was going to deliver on time. If Goldner was greedy, then the Admiralty was more so at wanting to save money on the deal. Though Cookman calls Goldner the culprit, he should have added the Royal Navy too! The chapter titled Houndsditch was quite disgusting and shocking. Goldner basically hired London's poor, dirty, bacteria riddled workers on the cheap, made the cans on the cheap, and put anything into dirty cans. He used what you and I throw out! The meat was poor quality ( he used any kind he could get his hands on, bones and cartilage even garbage!) rotten vegetables that he didn't wash and canned it and hoped his patented heating process would make everything okay! These were sailors and Royal Naval officers! You'd think a little more care would have been put into this by the Navy. Nope. I'll never look at another can of creamed corn again without thinking how fortunate we are that we've perfected the canning process to some degree and think how those poor souls should have gotten the same. Because of the faulty and careless canning method, most of the officers including Franklin most likely died from botulism poisoning and if you've read about it, it's not a pleasant way to die! Of the many things that killed the entire expedition one can also say that technological arrogance was partly to blame. The ships were huge! Why send so many men? With so many mouths to feed, didn't anyone question Barrow? The ships were heavy because of all that food they had to carry and most of their coal was depleted that first winter just heating the enormous things! The whole thing was a set up for disaster on the scale of the Titanic. It should have been planned more carefully and just like the Titanic (who couldn't sink because of the latest technology) but because of greed and faith in the latest technology, men got trapped and starved and turned to each other for food. I don't know of any disaster that shouldn't have happened but did all because no one thought these things through. I suppose if anyone's to blame, it is man's arrogance that he can defeat anything with anything. Canned food and steam engines would defeat the cold and the merciless artic. In the end, technology didn't amount to a hill of beans. They were poisoned by their food, ran out of fuel, didn't know anything about the land (save Crozier) and how to live off it, and were doomed from the get-go. If Crozier survived it was only because he knew the land and respected it for what it was. Hopelessly unforgiving. Great book, tragic story.

In 1845, Captain John Franklin and the crews of the Erebus and Terror sallied forth from England in search, once more, of the elusive Northwest Passage. Despite the best technology the time had to offer, not one soul returned from the voyage. In this book, Scott Cookman retells the known story of the voyage and adds some discussion regarding the potential causes of the voyage's failure. Most notably, Mr. Cookman spends several chapters discussing how food canning was done at the time and how it could have, oddly-enough, been the deciding factor in the mission's failure.

Mr. Cookman does a fine enough job extracting the story of the voyage from the relative sparsity of the historical record. Similarly the digression into the nauseating world of mid 19th century food supplying and preservation is enlightening and compelling. Where Mr. Cookman falters , though, is in his somewhat less than convincing attempts to find a single villan of the story. Indeed, much of the discussion of the voyage's food supplier, Stephen Goldner, while quite possibly correct, seems based almost entirely on conjecture or the writer's imagination. Mr. Cookman should be applauded for retelling this interesting story and for adding additional important context. However, unsupported conjecture shouldn't masquerade as history, even pop history.

The author often describes events with novelistic details that he actually has no knowledge about. Most frustrating of all is the protracted discussion of canning in the 19th century. He goes on much too long about such things as cleanliness of the employees in canning facilities, details he cannot possibly know, but only assumes. Though perhaps correct, the obviousness of the matter makes the reading tedious. And on and on it goes. Once the chapter is over, he mentions the points again in the next chapter. But he is not through with it. You'll read it again and again.

Other reviewers here have mentioned that the canning episode is well documented in the book. Some facts are but not all. I also fail to see why this is the main cause of the failure of the exhibition.

Couldn't the failure be that there really isn't a realistic North West Passage in the first place?

The book could have used a few more maps. How can one possibly understand the circumstances without a map showing what Franklin knew of the Arctic. A map showing the escape route and the location of some of the artifacts found could have been very helpful. I am a bit confused about what freezes over in the Arctic, blocking routes, and what does not. How about a map showing that?

The author mentions that the passage was actually found during the escape, that is between Canada's main land and King William's Island. This is the route that Admunsen took, conquering the passage for the first time. I wonder if Franklin took this course, if he really would have made it.

One reviewer has called the book "slightly speculative." That is too charitable. Cookman generally does not contradict known facts about the Franklin expedition, but he invents much more detail than he has evidence to support. The book is unsuitable for academic purposes, but it provides a compelling, though at times poorly written, story. I do not wish to be too harsh on the book. To its credit, many of Cookman's speculations are reasonable and provide information that serious historians withhold in their books on the expedition. It is best to read one of the many other books on the topic in order to know what parts of Ice Blink to trust, and which to take with a grain of salt.

I agree with other reviewers that this is only an average read. But the story of this Antarctic adventure is still remarkable and anyone interested in women's outdoor adventures will find this book enjoyable.

My bookclub chose this book this month and we were very excited by the subject matter. What a disappointment! I've never read such a poorly, blandly and simply written book about such an expansive, exciting and complicated subject! I felt like I was reading a book written for 4th graders, being talked down to to make it simple. I found no difference between the 2 voices of Ann and Liv and would have prefered a much more detailed account of their expedition. I have no doubt that their trip was fascinating in so many ways, unfortunately, they weren't able to translate that into their book. Maybe as educators of children they forgot that adults like a good story on a more sophisticated level.
Too bad.

Now I know what women can do, and it's great. These women seem just like me and yet they did this extraordinary thing. They're probably mad, but good on them.

These intrepid modern-day explorers dare to go where only penguins march on the ice-encrused terrain. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and highest altitude continent, with spectacular views but dangerous to traverse. These two women from opposite ends of the earth, Minnesota in USA and Norway, used to the extreme cold climates, tell their individual stories in this one book with the held of a professional writer, Cheryl Dahle, to piece the diaries together as a journey of their dreams.

The photo sections show them as they looked in their youth and on the various sections of their explorations. They give details of how they trained for this difficult adventure, and of the problems they endured getting the monetary sponsorships. Apple would not donate cash, but did provide $150,000 in computer equipment, phones, and technical support. One photo shows Liv making her regularly scheduled call to CNN out in the middle of nowhere with snow and ice everywhere.

From November 13 to February 18, the summer season when the sun shines twenty-four hours each day, they treked from the northernmost point about Queen Maud land to McMurdo, an American research base. It was quite a four-month feat, but they did it not just for the record but to show youth everywhere what can be accomplished. They were physically in their prime and had trained for years for this extraordinary walkand and skiing ordeal. Liv Arnesen and Ann Brancroft are to be commended; Ann was the first woman in history to cross the ice to both the North and South poles. Liv was the first woman to ski 745 miles to the South Pole solo during a fifty-day expedition. Together, they achieve the dreams both have held onto since young girls playing in the snow in their native homelands.

Norwegian Liv Arneson and American Ann Bancroft had a dream -- a strange dream. Each was called to the frozen continent of Antarctica. Liv (they use their given names throughout the book) had already made her mark as the first woman to ski solo to the South Pole, and Ann had skiied to the South Pole with three other women in a continent-crossing attempt that failed due to lack of funds. These two found each other and began to organize a ski trip from edge to edge, across the ice-covered continent.

Do you wonder why? Liv writes that everyone does, and her answer is that "an expedition is a work of art expressed on a canvas of snow, air, and time." She was inspired by Roald Amundsen's conquest of the South Pole, but both women were fascinated by Shackleton's Endurance expediton and the courage with which he gave up his mission to save his crew. Win or lose, they felt, the joy was in the journey.

Both Liv and Ann were former schoolteachers, and a big part of their dream was enlightening and inspiring school children around the world. Their first challenge was to build a support team and secure the huge corporate sponsorship needed to cover the expenses of their expedition. As they got to know each other and trained for the grueling trip, their company, yourexpedition, went on the sponsorship quest; the first part of the book covers the trials and triumphs of this two-year preparation phase. Major sponsorship was won from Volvo, Pfizer, Motorola, Apple Computers, and Continuum Control. During this phase a curriculum was developed and translated into many languages, and plans were made for communicating with school children during the trip. The logistics and expense of this journey were huge.

Liv and Ann took the ice in the Norwegian territory of Queen Maud Land, flying there from Capetown in November 2000. They had roughly 100 days before the Southern winter would close their "window" of traveling weather. With more than 2,000 miles to cover, their plan was to ski-sail across the continent to the Ross Ice Shelf; they were dependent on the wind, the weather, their equipment, and the state of the ice surface. They used satellite phones to communicate with their team and with some of the three million school children who followed their journey using the "Dare to Dream" curriculum.

No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women And Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica details the hardships that arose during the grueling trip. Injuries and equipment failure inevitably occurred in the intense cold and high altitude, but their greatest hardship was the erratic nature of the wind. Dragging heavy sleds and skiing behind sails in gusty wind is dangerous and difficult, but many days they had no wind and had to pull with crampons on their skis -- always in danger of falling into one of the many crevasses that thread through the ice.

Did Ann and Liv's mission succeed? Did they make it across the frozen beauty of Antarctica before winter closed their bolt-hole? It would be a spoiler to reveal the answer to these questions, but every reader will be touched by the magic generated among the children who shared their journey with them. This is a thoughtful and inspiring story of a mission that most of us would never dream of; but we all want to make a difference in the world and I thoroughly enjoyed Ann and Liv's story of their chosen journey. I've taken one star off because I thought the book might have been organized differently, with the expedition infrastructure spread throughout rather than concentrated in the first section. However the drama of the continent crossing more than made up for that organizational issue. Highly recommended.

Linda Bulger, 2008

Fiennes set out to rehabilitate Scott from the shadow to which he had been relegated. My sense of Scott derived from some (maybe
BBC) television dramatization comparing him to Amundsen. The image I retained is of a stiff-upper-lipped Englishman stubbornly mistreating his working class underlings, a kind of Franklin dragging his sea chests across the ice and assuming his gentleman's entitlement would somehow overcome the impious arctic conditions. Feinnnes shows that Scott was nothing of the sort but a fairly equitable and thorough man maybe more interested in the scientific results of his expeditions than merely achieving the record of being first to the pole. Although Fiennes doesn't explore Amundsen's personality thoroughly, Amundsen's desire to be first and the fact that he hides his intent from both Scott and the world makes him a lesser man than Scott. Also his use of dogs versus Scott's manhauling is not evidence of the humble explorer more connected to the environment. As the author shows both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages. And Scott abhorred both the working of ponies and dogs to death and their killing for food, although he did do it.

At first I found the author's interjecting of his own formidable experiences irritating, especially when he discussed personal dynamics. Later in the book when Scott makes his fatal trek to the pole, the author's comparison of the limitations and risks of various actions comparing them to his own experiences gave a better understanding of the events leading to Scott's and his companions death: that it was due to unusual weather rather than foolishness or misjudgment. In fact this portion of the book was very exciting. On the whole the book is valuable to those of us intrigued with exploration. While these sorts of explorations are usually sponsored to demonstrate the power of empire, it is extraordinary what humans can do when put in a punishing environment. It is a bit like extreme sports but as the author points out when he and a companion were rescued from inevitable death while manhauling across the Antarctic, they had available communications and planes which plucked them out of danger. Scott on the other hand, without such technologies, had to pay the existential consequences. This is a good read.

Charlie Fisher, author of Dismantling Discontent: Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World

Clearly, as has been stated, there is a de-constructive zeal that's been applied to almost all of our traditional heroes for decades, a trend I find deplorable and, I think, based on the most obvious of politically correct motives. At the end Fiennes identifies the national self-loathing and malaise that Britain has allowed itself to slide into, and into which America has been sliding for some time. A society and culture that despises itself can not have the will to defend itself. Fortunately in this case, Fiennes is one of the few on this planet that can speak with authority and from experience on the subject of polar man-hauling and general survival in those regions. Fiennes's de-construction of Huntford and subsequent biographers has changed my mind about Scott, a man about whom I had a most negative opinion since I read Huntford's "Scott & Amundsen" in 1990. Scott has been de-debunked and rehabilitated for me.

After reading Roland Huntford's The Last Place On Earth, it's difficult not to wonder whether any book sympathetic to Robert Falcon Scott is equally biased in the opposite direction. However, the beauty of Ranulph Fiennes' perspective is that he's actually HAD decades of experience in polar exploration and travel, unlike the armchair-critic, Brit-loathing Huntford. Overall, I found this book very informative (if perhaps slightly too critical of Roald Amundsen), especially its emphasis on the freak weather Scott's polar party encountered, en route to Cape Evans from the South Pole, as the primary cause of the disaster that ensued. However, the last chapter is absolutely priceless for its utter dismantling of Huntford and his various excesses and pretenses, and for that reason alone the book is a valuable addition to the history of polar exploration.

This is a great book. Scott and his men are true heroes. Their fortitude in the face of severe privation, relentless bone chilling cold and unimaginable pain and suffering is nothing short of awesome. Like the soldiers mentioned in the book who found inspiration in Scott's story, I too can now tap into an inner strength I didn't know I had. Thank you Sir Fiennes!

Having read "Last Place on Earth", this book, and the journals of Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Evans, and Cherry-Garrard, I can safely say that this book carefully cultivates on the most positive aspects of Scott, while hiding almost all of the negative; the little that was mentioned was casually dismissed as no fault of his own.

Fiennes, a seemingly obsessive fan of Scott himself, has gone to great lengths to recreate Scott's manhauling techniques (albeit with modern clothing, gear, and expedition food) in his own transarctic expedition, if only to show that it can be done today. He completely wallpapers over the mistakes in Scott's assessment of dogs, skis, clothing, nutrition, and caloric intake, as well as Scott's poor judgement in setting cairns, preventing fuel loss, staying in tents during moderately bad weather, navigating, and stopping for scientific samples when his time and supplies were running short. This clearly shows this work to be more propaganda than a neutral look at the evidence.

However, Fiennes brings out important background information on Scott not found in print today that proves helpful in better understanding Scott. For that, I bump up my rating to 2 stars.

A fascinating science book - I learned so much from this book about climatology and how ice in the arctic can affect my life on the beaches of Florida! I wonder what has been added to the theories the author presents since it was written, but this is a tremendous starting point for anyone interested in global climate change. I cannot give it enough stars! It needs ten, not five. I started to re-read it as soon as I finished it because I want to make sure I remember the important parts.
I mean like, before the ocean covers my home when the polar caps melt...

Myron Arms' "Riddle of the Ice" includes a collection of the most current theories used to try to explain the creation, movement, and distribution of ice in the Arctic, and not much else. For those looking for an adventure story, look elsewhere. If you're interested in the personal lives of the crew and the skipper, what you'll find is Arms' reflections on his own caustic nature and a few references to his encounters with shipmate "Blue," which convieniently lend Arms an avenue, as most of the rest of his accounts of contact with the shipmates do,to show the reader how, while he's gruff and abrasive, his propensity for always being right usually is justified in the end. As for the science behind "Riddle of the Ice," Arms left it up to the real scientists, providing the reader with a decent book report at best.

Myron Arms' "Riddle of the Ice" includes a collection of the most current theories used to try to explain the creation, movement, and distribution of ice in the Arctic, and not much else. For those looking for an adventure story, look elsewhere. If you're interested in the personal lives of the crew and the skipper, what you'll find is Arms' reflections on his own caustic nature and a few references to his encounters with shipmate "Blue," which convieniently lend Arms an avenue, as most of the rest of his accounts of contact with the shipmates do,to show the reader how, while he's gruff and abrasive, his propensity for always being right usually is justified in the end. As for the science behind "Riddle of the Ice," Arms left it up to the real scientists, providing the reader with a decent book report at best.

While researching for an environmental book, we had the great good fortune to come across Myron Arm's wonderful story of the mysteries of sea and ice. In lovely, leisurely prose, Arms takes the reader to the source of one of nature's greatest happenings: the unending collision between the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt and the mad southerly migration of Arctic ice. This epic rumination makes it incontestably clear that much of Earth's climate is driven by the two frozen chunks of ice at the Northern and Southern poles--both of which are melting at an astonishing rate. For me, the unstated question Arms leaves us with is, "So what happens when, within a hundred years or so, the ice sheets have melted so much that they can no longer counterbalance our furiously warming Earth?" As a planet, we better figure that out very soon.

There's just not that much here. As a travelogue, Arms does not have a whole lot to say, either about sailing or about the places he visits. It's not clear why he took the trip at all -- some sort of scientific investigation -- other than to see Greenland. If you want to read about a visit to the coast of Greenland and Labrador, I would recommend Rowing_To_Latitude, by a woman (whose name eludes me) about rowing these and other coasts. As for the science in Arms' book, there's not enough of that to satisfy, either. He's talked to some interesting people with interesting research, but there's about enough there to fill a long magazine article. He uses the device of jumping back and forth from the sailing trip to his discussions with scientists, but this feels forced, and eventually calls attention to the fact that his trip doesn't seem to advance the science at all. As another reviewer noted, his characterization of his fellow travelers makes them seem one-dimensional, at best, and if you read the afterword you'll see that there were two other people on board -- including his wife -- whom he omitted altogether.

In the only 250 pages of Skating to Antarctica, Jenny Diski manages to captivate her audience with stunning anecdotes and descriptions that send the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions until the last page where it ends; plain and simple, just like it began. Behind the guise of memoir she repeatedly lectures to the reader on the value of truth and its many bastardized forms. When all is said and done, this narrative leaves you wanting more, yet glad to close the back cover.
Diski's autobiography sets and maintains its direction right from the start. Her dedication to her daughter naturally flows into the first sentence, "For Chloe without whom...I am not entirely content with the degree of whiteness in my life." From here Jenny springs into her love of everything white, which originated from her time spent institutionalized for mental disorders. In the end she travels to the greatest white canvas on Earth, Antarctica. Diski meshes stories from her past with those of the present in a frame story format that at times is confusing, but portrays and fully explains her actions throughout her troubled years.
Jenny Diski was the child of sexually abusive dysfunctional parents. Her father was a con-artist, her mother a self-serving, mentally ill woman. Jenny's future hung in limbo. Her parents split up multiple times and both attempted suicide at one point or another. Diski's eventual mental hospitalization stemmed from problems at home. This book attracts readers because often the reader can relate to Jenny's desire for a "normal" childhood. Skating to Antarctica brings a person inside the head of one who was subjected to constant sorrow and lack of stability as a child. Jenny's account informs whoever leafs through her memoir of the importance of providing a good home life for one's offspring. Her less than perfect childhood and distaste for her parents is ever-present when numerous times Diski repeats the phrase, "my father died in 1966 and I haven't seen or heard from my mother since that date" (20). I found myself on the rollercoaster feeling sorry for Jenny at these points, but soon climbed to a state of anger when she remains a static character throughout her memoir.
When I think of autobiographies/memoirs, I envision someone's completed life retold to many awaiting viewers. Jenny's "incomplete" account shocked me. I flipped pages in hope that her problems would vanish and she would become a "normal" human being, but was disappointed that when by page 250, Jenny still had emotional and psychological issues. My hopes for a so-called happy ending vanquished, leaving me frustrated and glad to set the book aside. However a disappointment this may be, in hindsight this technique left a lasting impact. This unresolved ending caused me to realize that some things do not and cannot vacate one's psyche, ever!
Within her sorrowful narrative Jenny masterfully weaves imagery at its finest. She can describe white to an extent that it becomes a color or an emotion as she does here in a relapse of depression: "White walls, staring into peopleless landscapes, heading for the snow and ice. Not to stay, but to be in it for a while. Death, of course, as Melville knows, is what it is. A toying with the void that finally toys with us. In the face of the waiting I can't escape, I head straight for its image and rest there for a while" (191). Reading this passage chills me with how well it portrays someone with a mental illness, wanting to visit Death for tea time. Jenny also throws a curveball with some vulgar language in her "accurate" description of seals, which she names the "flaccid [male genitalia] seal." That sure came out of left field. Jenny maintains a delicate, easy-reading prose but then throws in phrases that make the reader do a double-take and reread to see if she actually said that. Words like "[bird poop]" and the "[fudge]-it factor" just jump off the page, but without delay we're back to the flowing narrative leaving me puzzled over what just happened.
Truth and doubt appear be focal points in Jenny Diski's writing. However, I found her views on truth to be almost hypocritical. When each of her parents shares the truths about their spouse, Diski brings up the point that truth is relative to a situation; this I found striking, yet understandable. She also brings up the idea of relative truth in stereotypes. Someone no learned of a particular culture would easily believe a fact from someone they trusted not knowing that it is false. Hypocrisy comes into play when Diski instills doubt in the mind of the reader regarding the validity of her narrative, which I think is bad. She says that there are "infinite ways of evading truth, including non-fiction" (229), and quotes "Malone Dies": "I wonder if I am not talking yet again about myself. Shall I be incapable, to the end, of lying on any other subject?" The reader is led to ponder what is fact or fiction within Diski's autobiography. Maybe she did meet with her mother between 1966 and her death, but chose to leave that out to strengthen her argument of an intolerable childhood. Only Jenny knows.
Despite some unanswered questions about Jenny's insanity, failed marriage, and future, she successfully writes both to relieve her internal pain, and, in my opinion, to inform the reader on the importance of being attentive parents and the value of seeking help when needed. Jenny's experience should never be repeated. Her novel flows taking the reader in and out of intense subject matter in a way that makes it palatable while expressing true emotion. Though jerks exist between mental jumps, Jenny pulls the reader back into her dismal life and continues on. Skating to Antarctica is a thought-provoking memoir that intertwines humor, anger, and sadness with ideas of truth, death, and depression that ultimately leaves the reader in shock and reflection, a reaction typical of this subject matter. My prayer for Jenny to rise above her troubles and become "normal" went unanswered, leaving me grateful to put this book back on my shelf.

Skating to Antarctica
by Jenny Diski

"I am not entirely content with the degree of whiteness in my life. My bedroom is white: white walls, icy mirrors, white sheets and pillowcases, white slatted blinds."(1)
Jenny Diski's book, Skating to Antarctica explores the meaning of whiteness in her life. Jenny clearly states her psychological need to have whiteness all around her, and it annoys her if that isn't so. This whiteness that she desperately wants represents her need to forget her past. Jenny says "White hospital sheets seemed to hold out the promise of what I really wanted: a place of safety, a white oblivion. Oblivion, strictly speaking was what I was after..." The meaning of oblivion, according to the Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary, means the fact or condition of forgetting or having forgotten. Throughout this book, Jenny searches for this white oblivion by traveling to Antarctica, but her past always seems to interrupt this search for pure whiteness.
Skating to Antarctica is a memoir about a woman who struggles with her sexually, physically, and verbally abusive parents. Jenny tells her story of her past, by weaving it together with her adventure to Antarctica. Eventually, the problems of her past resurface because of her daughter's inquisitive nature.
Through this idea of whiteness, Diski presents the novel in a clear precise, way. She paints the book in images of whiteness, and by doing so gives the reader an idea of the world that Jenny would like to live in, of pure whiteness. Diski sets the reader up to understand this need for whiteness, so her longing to travel to Antarctica does not come as a surprise because of the lack of colors that exist there.
Jenny's comments lead one to believe that a lot of objects that surround her in life remind her of her past. Diski allows the reader to see how color interrupts Jenny's world, and exactly to what extent it interrupts her world. Jenny said, "I wanted my white bedroom extended beyond reason. That was Antarctica, and only Antarctica." (Page five) Jenny's strength is giving her reader the sense of this desperate desire to get away from color, as if color was filling her brain and she needed to escape. By surrounding herself in all white she doesn't run the risk of running into any of those painful memories.
Diski describes the quantum theory of how one is able to put things into a box, and forget about what is in the box and not know if the things in the box exist or not. It is this very box that has interrupted the author's world of whiteness. Diski has creatively used the quantum theory in such a way that it reveals Jenny's state of mind.
On page fifty, Diski focuses on Jenny leaving to see a glacier. But what is interesting about this, is how Diski intricately places a "dead furry thing" (Page fifty) in her path. Diski demonstrates her creative skill of describing how the muscles of the animal are gone and how the legs are cocked at different angles. Jenny is unable to focus on the whiteness but on the problem set before her. One can see how Jenny is unable to get beyond her memories, and that they still interrupt her white oblivion.
After Jenny thinks of her mother, and the possible conclusion that she may be dead, she sees white in the sky. "..[A]nd all I could see was a shadowed white out there, unless I raised myself up and then I would see the inky sea and shadowed white." (Page eighty-three) Diski once again, subtly drives the meaning home about whiteness, that it is there, and that it just on the horizon, and she's about to reach that conclusion, that final peace of mind.
Diski's attention to details becomes a key element to this book. She allows readers to know more about the barriers that keep her from reaching oblivion, and how that affects her. On page 177, Diski repels the idea that her parents are caring and loving towards her by focusing on the behaviors and interactions of the penguins. She exudes the emotion that she wants this kind of relationship that the penguins have with each other. Another example of Diski's gift of attention is on page 221. She discusses how the ice burgs are blue and have many different levels making the parallel to her own life.
Diski's biggest weakness is not satisfying the reader's desire to see Jenny in Antarctica. The book has focused on her deep psychological desire to be there, and one is left wondering if she was able to get her whiteness and be engulfed in her oblivion. By stopping at this point, Diski leaves the reader wondering if these memories of hurt and sadness can never be erased, or if she went to Antarctica and embraced the whiteness of the land, and her oblivion.
Diski's grace and her skill of writing is what makes this book work. Her gentle and subtle way of depicting Jenny Diski's desperate desire to be overcome in whiteness and her "passion for oblivion" (Page 235) is relieving in the sense that she doesn't overbearingly reveal all of her emotions and feelings, and leaves room for implications to be made. Diski's ability to paint the world white, and splash color is incredibly delightful. Jenny Diski certainly does bring new meaning to whiteness in her book, Skating to Antarctica.

"The one truly generous act of my mother's that I could really put my finger on: her leaving me alone," says Jenny Diski in her memoir, Skating to Antarctica (28). Diski reveals herself to the world by taking the reader on a journey through her troubled childhood with sexually abusive and suicidal parents, drug abuse and psychiatric institutions, her daughter's search for her mother and a trip to Antarctica. It is a well-written and heartfelt, although sometimes too self-involved, book about the search for peace of mind.
The book alternates between Jenny Diski's journey to Antarctica and her past. The balance creates a link between the two stories and allows the reader to understand her thoughts and actions better in both settings. The detailed and approachable way that she describes the setting and her own feelings really helps the reader become immersed in the book. Although a very serious work, it is lightened by Diski's dark humor. She takes her poor relationship with her mother very lightly. She is able to describe a possible meeting with her mother on the street as and encounter with, "a wild, screaming old woman coming down the street, probably with a kitchen knife in her hand, yelling at me," with ease (29). Perhaps this is her way of dealing with bigger problems, but it adds interest and much needed humor to the book.
This memoir is a much more heartfelt and close view of Jenny Diski than her personality is described to be. She continuously reveals her need for nothing and shows her fear of closeness. She says that she avoids waiting, puts things off till another day like Scarlett O'Hara and cherishes distant and superficial relationships like with the Roths (83). Anything that gets too close might hurt her and she stays away from it. However, when reading this book one does not feel any barrier. She is very honest and upfront when telling her story.
A prevalent theme throughout the book is the distinction between memory and truth, fiction and nonfiction. She says, "Memory is continually created, a story told and retold, using jigsaw pieces of experience. It's utterly unreliable in some ways, because who can say whether the feeling or emotion that seems to belong to the recollection actually belongs to it..." (154). She is also very wary of the truth, saying that it is subjective (100-1). Regarding fiction and nonfiction she says, "There are infinite ways of telling the truth, including fiction, and infinite ways of evading the truth, including nonfiction" (229). Diski not only doubts the `truth,' she says that often it doesn't matter. For her, with so many repressed memories, mixed reactions and disbelief, it is better to simply remember things the way she wants to. She portrays this very well in the book so that the reader understands her perspective.
The fact that this is a memoir allows her to share her own reactions and feelings. The memoir genre enables her to express a greater degree of closeness and personal relationship with her audience than other genres would. She is given liberty to give her own interpretations of her memories instead of feeling obligated to stick to the straight facts. I also find her book to be a necessary release from the tension and pressure that her life has created. One gets the impression that Diski wrote this book more for herself than anyone. At times this gets in the way of her writing.
Even though the book is very well written and heartfelt, and Diski's messages are conveyed well, sometimes it becomes repulsively self-involved. At times it is difficult for the reader to relate and not be turned-off by self-pity and her self-involved approach to life. An example of her whiney attitude is shown when she is deciding if she wants to set foot on Antarctica. She says, "The rush of pleasure at not doing what is expected of you, of not doing what you expect of yourself. If it was originally about disappointing other people, it has become refined into a matter of pleasing myself" (228). Such self-centeredness can create a distraction for the reader. Despite the fact that it is a memoir and a portal into Diski's personal experiences and thoughts, at times the things she says are better suited for a journal than a publication.
Skating to Antarctica is really about Jenny Diski's search for peace of mind. Does she find it? I think she does. Although she may not completely deal with all of her issues, she definitely comes to a point of peace with her past. She said, "Some things I'll never get away from, not even in the farthest reaches of the South Atlantic, but, with a bit of effort, I can recognize them as a passing wind blowing through me, chilling me to the bone, an act of nature that isn't personal, or not any more. The past can still make me shiver, but no bones are broken" (175). One criticism of the book that I find completely invalid is that it lacks closure. It is true that she does not reunite with her mother and make amends. That is not the kind of closure needed. In addition to the quote on p. 175, on p. 250 Diski expresses contentment in knowing about her mother. This is a true account of a person's life, and it does not end in a fairy tale way. It ends in a manner true to Jenny Diski and true to life.

How long is too long to dwell on something painful? If it is a tragedy that has left your soul in shambles it may be hard to simply turn the memory away. In Jenny Diski's intensely personal tale, Skating to Antarctica, we read of the author's search into her broken past, and the journey she must travel to unveil the truth behind her tragic childhood. In this fascinating memoir Diski ventures to Antarctica to escape the realities that plague her heart. In an "all white, solitary and boundless" land Diski discovers that if she has the will, she can overcome her painful past and begin to experience the future (7). Skating to Antarctica is a brutally honest account of one women's exploration into a cold place; a land few choose to visit, a place too many ignore.
Published in 1997, Diski's memoir became a means of expression for her dispirited voice. Skating to Antarctica is the author's experience, a tale of her liking. "There are infinite ways of telling the truth, including fiction, and infinite ways of evading the truth, including non-fiction" (229). Diski reveals only what she wishes to reader, and we are therefore reminded that the book is an individual's report. Her story is unusual; however, her quest for truth in a world of uncertainty is common. Diski's bare writing exposes the significance of our childhoods and their effect upon our lives.
Facing "intolerable blankness" Diski addresses the period in her life where she endured the storms of depression, and touches upon a condition that is prevalent in our society today (190). Every person who picks up this book may not have been diagnosed with depression, but all have experienced feelings of utter loneliness at one time or another. Diski's vulnerability is revealed when she shares early on her desire to head north. She discloses a real helplessness in her opening paragraphs, and does not hold back or conceal these hopeless emotions. Instead, in her completely barren state, Diski shares her feelings and the reader begins to see how she pursues a controlled and simultaneously wavering lifestyle.
This memoir is far-reaching and impressive because it is truthful writing. Individuals who have fought depression or experienced broken childhoods will understand Diski's struggle to confront her past. By viewing this book as an honest report of one women's struggle to find answers, we can admire the author for her honest writing. "The choice on offer is the assumption that for thirty years I repressed curiosity about my mother's existence because thoughts of her were intolerable, or that, all unknown to me, I was contentedly, not to say harmoniously, living out a recognized phenomenon of the known physical universe" (24). It is with Diski's open tone that the depth of her pain is revealed, and the reader becomes involved.
One very impressive trait of Diski's style is her direct voice. Because the book examines intense and personal themes: painful memories, depression and guilt, hurt and longing, Diski is specific and concrete in confirming her ideas. "I've lived long enough to know it is a fact that most people find activity useful and conforming, but I am not one of those people; on the contrary, I find it alarming and alienating" (64). Diski's very clear and almost obvious style allows readers to peer into her soul, and search through the shattered pieces of the past, beside her.
Skating to Antarctica chronicles Diski's self-searching adventure. As a memoir, the book remains a means through which Diski discloses her thoughts, occasionally selfish or overly dramatic. Although Diski shows little appreciation for her parents, it is important to recall how deep her scars run. The few passages that describe Diski's self-pity are understandable and illustrate her transition into fully understanding her history. It seems only justified to allow Diski the opportunity to listen to her former neighbor, Mrs. Rosen, share memories of her as a child, and it is moving to read of Diski's self-discovery: "someone had been watching, it wasn't just me, myself and I waiting for it to end. I wasn't entirely a figment of my imagination, and up to that point, I could have been" (194). Diski's journey becomes a vulnerable account of the process of facing the truth about herself.
This book is a personal genre of non-fiction. Diski may travel to the end of the world, but if you are looking to learn about an individual's adventures in Antarctica-search elsewhere. The memoir shares not the explorer's experience at her destination, but instead the journey along the way. Skating to Antarctica was not written for the enjoyment of the reader. This book exists because it was Diski's method of breaking down the barriers of her past, and searching through the remains. Her story leaves you with questions, ideas only Diski herself can explain. For this very reason Skating to Antarctica captivated me.

"Antarctica. And along with it a desire as commanding as any sexual compulsion that Antarctica was what I wanted, and therefore I had to have it." So writes Jenny Diski in her strange, humorous and often painful memoir cum travelogue to the bottom of the world. "The Arctic would have been easier, but I had no desire to head north. I wanted white and ice for as far as the eye could see and I wanted it in the one place in the world that was uninhabited."

Ms. Diski weaves two voyages into one here - the longed for trip she made a few years ago to the white land of snow and ice and a parallel journey into her own heart, soul and past. Her descriptions of her fellow travelers, boredom, group activities and various ports of call are often quite witty and caustic. Her take on the natural world, elephant seals, variety of birds, penguins, and the barren landscape in different shades of white are vivid and, at times, haunting.

Also explored in "Skating to Antarctica" is Ms. Diski's past - her suicidal and abusive parents, stays in psychiatric institutions, an almost lifelong estrangement from her mother and her own search of her "memory-hardened heart." The reader is saved from depression at these revelations through the author's extraordinary use of humor at her desire to bury her childhood memories under, literally, tons of snow.

Diski's writing style is spare, clipped and very effective. Given some of the painful content it might sound ridiculous to write that I "enjoyed" the book - but I did. Her descriptive narrative of the trip to the world's southern-most continent are fascinating - not just another travel book, and her personal revelations are striking in their honesty.
JANA

This is the account of his journey across Antartica - on foot, pulling sleds - with Michael Stroud. In it Ranulph describes, not only his journey, but insights into the human mind. It is supported by extracts from the diaries of both men, as well as extracts from books of previous Antartic explorers. Some people feel the need to push themselves to extremes, others (like me) like to read about them, and this is an intelligently written, honest and interesting book.
There are absolutely no bears mentioned in it, and it is a pity that one reviewer felt the need to give it one star without ever having read it.

I have not read the book, but the booklist review says he was in danger of being eaten by polar bears. I sure hope he did not write that in the book! There are no bears in the southern hemisphere, bears evolved in the northern hemisphere. Somebody better check their review!

Polar masochism! This is sick. Why would anyone want to walk across a frozen desert the size of europe? To prove they can suffer? What is gained by freezing parts of ones body and then cutting them off? Who wants crotch rot, kidney stones, piles, and freezing cold misery? This is gruesome to the point of making me wonder if this man needs psychiatric help for self mutilation.

Much more fun are the people who do this (crossing Antarctica) using parachute (wind) pulled sleds, or even dog teams. But this book is something else. I get upset just looking at the pictures of the naked, emaciated author, close ups of necrotic tissue...YUK!

Englishmen Ranulph Fiennes and Mike Stroud together made four failed attempts on the North Pole. Their major success was an expedition both inwardly expected to fail - the unsupported (carry everything) crossing of Antarctica.

There had already been an unsupported trip to the South Pole. Indeed, as they were making their crossing, the Scandinavian explorer Erling Kagge - who claimed the first unsupported trip to the North Pole, disputed by his rivals Stroud and Fiennes - was making the first solo unsupported trip to the South Pole.

The crossing of the Antarctic continent, however impractical, was the next logical goal. This account, and another by Stroud entitled "Shadows on the Wasteland," stress the grinding wear and tear on the human body, the bleak, black thoughts that accompany every labored step, and the life-threatening hazards of weather, crevassed terrain and starvation.

The difference in their stories is entirely point-of-view and personality.

Fiennes, the leader, sounds a practical, matter-of-fact note - his appendices on leadership, equipment, history and topography are nearly as long as his personal account. Stroud, the younger and smaller man, is more volatile and impassioned, resentful of the very notion of leadership in a two-man expedition.

They began the trip unsure that they would even be able to budge their sledges - loaded with 485 pounds of food, fuel and equipment. "It would be so embarrassing if, once in our harnesses, our efforts came to nought and the sledges refused to budge," says Stroud.

After four hours they had moved only a couple of miles on their 1,700 hundred mile journey. And the next day they had their first equipment failure - a thermos that left one of the major respites of their day, hot soup, cold and full of gelatinous fat globs.

On they went. Sails, parachutes inflated by the wind, had been an early bone of contention between them. Stroud was insistent, Fiennes, dubious about their usefulness and the added weight, agreed reluctantly. On their first try both found them terrifying and exhilarating.

Says Stroud, "Compared with the toil of manhauling, to be pulled forward at high speed was a delight so intense that to ignore it, merely because it was difficult and dangerous, was near impossible."

And Fiennes, "After a hectic ten minutes of being dragged over ice ridges, crossing ski tips and being struck in the back by the sledge....I suddenly spotted a blueish shadow some forty feet ahead."

Fiennes threw himself to one side. Stroud, used to seeing his companion fall, started to go around. Going too fast to stop, he plunged into the crevasse. Says Fiennes, "Appalling thoughts crowded my mind: chiefly how I would explain Mike's death to his wife and mother."

But Stroud had landed on a precarious snow bridge. The description of extricating him and his sledge is harrowing. The sledge was permanently but not crucially damaged. On they went.

Black thoughts, with no other outlet, turned on one another. Their chief friction was pacing. Stroud believed Fiennes was going slower than necessary because of brooding over his age (47); Fiennes believed Stroud was wasting energy by going too fast and later attributed hypothermic episodes to this depletion. Both experienced intense anger toward the other, most of which they avoided expressing except in their diaries.

Consuming 5,200 calories a day, they were using 6,000 to 8,000, even 10,000. Slow starvation far outpaced the lessening of weight on the sledges. Because of Stroud's medical record keeping, (ironically described in greater daily detail by Fiennes) chemical changes and physical debilitation were documented with appalling exactitude.

Both were subject to digestion problems, chronic frostbite infections, sores from chafing clothing and harnesses, skin damage from the depleted ozone layer, blindness from white-outs and from the absence of anything to focus on. But starvation was chief among their troubles, leading to muscle loss (even of the heart muscle) as well as every bit of insulating fat.

When Fiennes finally called a halt after Stroud experienced several life-threatening bouts of hypothermia and hypoglycemia they had crossed the continent, although not the ice shelf which intervened between continent and ocean. They had succeeded, raising millions (at a penny per mile) for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, accomplishing major physiological research and being first to cross the continent unsupported. This, despite all the practical, idealistic reasons given, was their reason for going, a reason incomprehensible to most of us.

Both books are well-written, expressive of separate personalities undergoing the same grueling physical and mental hardships. Both acknowledge they could not have made it without the other, for mental reasons as well as physical. Both are riveting accounts of exploration in a place few of us ever wish to go.

As I read this book I found it hard to believe that what I was reading was actually written by one of the adventurers. I was sure that I must be reading an account of their expidition based on one of their diaries that was recoverd next to their bodies. That Fiennes and Strand found it withing themselves to keep going is hard to believe, even now, and yet they achieved their goal. I would rank what they did one of the most "out there" of human achievements. And for that reason alone this book begs to be read.

Dateline Annapolis 2005:
City dock is abuzz over this tale by David Mercy. The worlds' capitol for sailing has had several bookstores feature this book in storefront displays. It is a simple tale and the narrator moves seemlessly from a simple folksy style a la Hemingway to breathless descriptives evoking Wilbur Smith comparisons. It seems like a tall tale yet if you can find the documentary from Norway TV One you understand the book is understated. It is highly recommended and is a fast read.

This is an excellent book for those that enjoy realistic adventure stories. It's very hard to put this book down once you start reading it. You will be both impressed and dumbfounded by the author's bravery and disregard for the dangers he faced. All in all a very compelling tale of man vs. the elements of nature. Highly recommended

Its a mad, mad, mad, mad adventure. What a vicarious thrill. I'm still cold!

What a great story, all the more so because it is true! I could hardly put this book down and I enjoyed every minute reading it.

I highly recommend this book.

Yes it's quite an adventure, and at times the descriptions put you there in the Drake and on Antarctica. "Berserk" however, is lacking for a few reasons. Not only is David Mercy an inexperienced sailor, he doesn't seem to have the assistance of an experienced editor, meaning that all of his terminology and description of boats and sailing is painfully inaccurate and misleading (i.e. "we were on the tack," and "I hate jibbing"). If you know anything at all about sailing, this will become infuriating.

The writing itself is often awkward, reading like a day-by-day journal that was quickly fleshed out with a lot of filler. There are literary tricks that don't work, and the book is littered with pop-culture and literary references that become distractingly frequent and at times wholly inaccurate.

The author's personal journey is entirely unfulfilling. A supposed director with an aversion to cameras (or is that a hopeful author?) quits everything and travels the "hippy trail" in South America, seemingly with the means to go anywhere he wants (or at least the ability to call his dad if he's in trouble... at age 35). At one point eager to sail all the way to Africa, and the next yearning to explore the Amazon, he comes off as a shallow over-funded yuppie with a short attention span.

Even when waxing philosophical or reflecting upon his past, what he shares is insubstantial. He keeps saying how much the trip changed his life, never really saying in what way. We are set up to expect a major shift in his worldview, but when he returns home, it is just as shallow and empty as before the voyage. At least twice he refers to "becoming a sailor," but this impression also seems to have no lasting effect. In the end he attempts to wrap things up with a philosophical denoument, which comes from left field and entirely misses its mark, showing not only a lack of understanding, but a deficiency in writing.

I'm still jealous of the journey, but this book may be best described as an example of how not to get to Antarctica. One would do well to avoid the author's mistakes.

I met the authors on a recent cruise to Antarctica and could not wait to purchase the book. During the cruise, they gave insightful and interesting talks about the continent. Once they told us about the book I was first in line in Ushuaia, Argentina at the only bookstore where it was available as I was still away and the book was not available at Amazon.com yet. This book is a must for anyone thinking of going or is going to Antacrtica. It is a beautiful book and I went and saw a lot of the places in the book. It reads easily as there is plenty of information on the wildlife and various places to see, but there is not too much information to overwhelm you. It is also very compact and can easily be brought on a trip. My only regret is that I didn't have it before I went to Antarctica.

This book is quite interesting as an introduction to visiting Antarctica. The contents deals with the oceanography of the area surrounding the continent. Title could be misleading if one thought that the book was a guide to various "cruises" or cruise ships that go to Antartica.

I bought this book as a gift for a scientist who will be going to Antarctica next year. It was a mistake. It doesn't have the information I was expecting.
In addition, this is not a full-sized book. It's only 5 inches by 7 inches.
I don't want to ruin someone's livelihood so I will try to be fair. This book is not suitable for my purposes and might be right for a tourist to tuck into a suitcase.

This is a great guide book designed for people cruising to Antarctica. The person who gave it one star doesn't know what s/he is talking about. It's not meant to be a coffee table book or a gift book: 5x7 is the ordinary (and very convenient) size for a guide book.

I have always been interested in polar exploration. I enjoyed "Andree's Story" and looked forward to this book. But I found the author's pretentious and unscientific style (every third word is I, and he goes on ad nauseam about his archaeologocial expertise and the fact that he visited Danes Island) quite distracting.
Still, if you are interested in the topic and if you want to learn more about Walter Wellman's expeditions, this book may be for you.

For years I have been a fan of books on the history of polar exploration and mountaineering. I was really looking forward to digging into the stories behind these attempts to use airships to attain the north pole, and what interesting facts we might learn from the sites themselves....However I was very disappointed in the final result. The historical summary was adequate, however the later portion of the book was pretentious, drawn out, and extremwly dry reading. One would expect that archeology would be employed to answer some "big questions" or resolve some major controversy. Wrong! Instead we learn about the quality of the iron filings used to generate the gas for the balloons, that the car body had more wood in it than expected, and that there was not much on the site to suggest that advertizing was the real reason behind the later expeditions. Yawn! Unless you have some personal stake in the topic (like you visited the site explored by the author) I'd pass this one by...

In 1992 I visited Dane Island, in part, because of my interest in the pioneering efforts of Andre and Nobile. I walked the beach pictured on the dust cover of this book and photograped many of the artifacts so well described in it. The weather was typical of late August in the high Arctic. Rain, fog, snow squalls and a stark background of black peaks embedded in snow amidst an almost overpowering sensation of gloom and glacial cold. The earlier artifacts related to the Dutch whaling station of Schmeerenburg (Blubbertown) and the graves of long dead whalers buried in the permafrost and covered with mounds of stones to protect their remains from polar bears are readily identidied. For those interested in a unique aspect of Arctic history/exploration this is an extremely interesting and well written book. Until relatively recently, many polar explorers have been pictured in heroic format. Although some may disagree, this is most likely not the case with regard to Byrd or Scott. This book paints an authentic picture of Wellman, warts and all. In addition it allows the informed reader to appreciate the accomplishments of Umberto Nobile who deserves far more credit than he usually gets for the successful transpolar flight of the Norge and who subsequently utilized the Italia for meaningful scientific studies and geographical investigation of the Arctic.

With regard to the beautiful weather depicted on the dust cover of this book I would guess it was the only day like this the author experienced on Dane Island. I am envious of his opoportunity to have been there under such unusual conditions and thank him for sharing the beauty of this site with his readers.

I carried this book with me on a long trip. Repeatedly -- on planes and in airport waiting rooms -- strangers who caught sight of the cover interrupted my reading to ask questions about the book. The brilliant blue photo on the cover, and the title, would seem to explain their eager curiousity. Note the lower left hand corner, where there appears to be a fillet of a 100 year old dirigible, lying on the beach from which airships to the north pole were launched long ago. Actually it is the ruins of a huge airship hangar, though the author discovered in the rubble the remains of two airship gondolas.

The book is superb and special: good science, good writing, and a fascinating story about technology, courage, folly and grand showmanship.

An eerie thing about this beach from which the airships were launched. In prior centuries, it was a used as a slaughterhouse by whalers. The author discovered the spine of one ancient whale nearby. In here somewhere there is a strange, unscientific, unstated metaphor about the souls of whales arising into the air. As blimps.

An absolutely first rate adventure. The best book I have come across this year.

Read this book with hot coffee, cocoa or tea at hand, because you will feel the polar chill start to surround you.

I had little knowledge of Arctic explorations before Peary and not much more of the Antarctic besides the trio of Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton. This book filled in a lot of gaps, especially on early Arctic exploration.

Unfortunately, the question about whether Peary actually reached the North Pole or not -- and if he didn't, was it sextant mismeasurements or fraud -- is only briefly and tangentially discussed. Many polar authors and experts claim he didn't, but last year an explorer duplicated his fast-paced feat.

The contingencies of history are interesting, as this book shows. Amundsen had originally planned for the North Pole, but Peary's triumph led him to look south.

British humanity excluded dogs for the Antarctic mush; British stupidity refused to use Norwegian horse snowshoes, which might have let Scott beat Amundsen and return alive. If not stupidity and stubbornness, stupidity and sentimentality, leading Scott to add a fifth to his original four-man party, doomed him. The psychology behind this and the Scott-Shackelton dustup was also tred just lightly.

But, trying to reach the Arctic by ramming a ship into ice floes, or via ballooon? Read this book for for the lust for the poles, an addiction of human adventure.

If you are looking for an introduction/overview text on polar explorations, Maxtone-Graham's book is your ticket. I have always gotten the explorers confused. So,I found it a very helpful book. Like the other reviewers, I, too, was struck by the author's not including Shackleton's adventures in Anartica, probably the best story of them all.

Dress warmly while reading.

To write a book which covers the expansive history of polar exploration is a large undertaking. This book does this that. With a sometimes dim view of successes, the author methodically covers the major polar explorations of both the North and the South Poles. Although Graham can sometimes miss the glory of what some people did, Shackelton's Endurance expedition and Amundsen's Northwest Passage voyage, he does give a great overview of some of the lesser known facts of Polar exploration. If you are looking for a good place to start in learning about Polar explorers this is a good place to start