Bestselling author Hampton Sides returns with a white-knuckle tale of polar exploration and survival in the Gilded Age
A harrowing tale of courage and sacrifice at the limits of human endurance
A harrowing tale of courage and sacrifice at the limits of human endurance
‘A stirring story… a brilliant exposition of narrative non-fiction: moving, harrowing, as gripping as any well-paced thriller.’ The Times
The age of exploration was drawing to a close, yet the mystery of the North Pole remained. Contemporaries described the pole as the ‘unattainable object of our dreams’, and the urge to fill in this last great blank space on the map grew irresistible. In 1879 the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds and amid a frenzy of publicity. The ship and its crew, captained by the heroic George De Long, were destined for the uncharted waters of the Arctic.
But it wasn’t long before the Jeannette was trapped in crushing pack ice. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies, facing a seemingly impossible trek across endless ice. Battling everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition fought madness and starvation as they desperately strove for survival.
“'Masterful storytelling...”
‘Tells the extraordinary story of this little known expedition in Hampton Sides’ well-honed style – meticulous research shoring up a fast-paced narrative’.
Financial Times‘A stirring story… a brilliant exposition of narrative non-fiction: moving, harrowing, as gripping as any well-paced thriller but a lot more interesting because it is also true’
The Times'A splendid book in every way... a marvelous nonfiction thriller.'
Wall Street Journal‘[Sides] is a scrupulous researcher who has mined all the primary material, including extensive journals and medical logs carried home by survivors, and he quotes judiously, interleaving the narrative with heartbreaking extracts from letters written by De Long’s young wife’
Spectator'A vivid tale of exploration set in a howling, deadly wilderness.'
-- T.J. Stiles, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt'An astonishingly good story.'
-- Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of The Destiny of the Republic and The River of Doubt'Harrowing and impeccably paced.'
New Yorker‘Hampton Sides is a master storyteller, and here he has delivered a stunningly vivid account of perhaps the most dramatic polar mission you never heard of. Once you start, you won't stop.’
-- Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down'Reads like a first-class epic thriller.'
-- Lev Grossman Time‘Unforgettable…a pulse-racing epic of endurance set against an exceedingly bizarre Arctic backdrop… a masterful work of history and storytelling.’
Los Angeles Times‘Phenomenally gripping… Sides works story-telling magic.'
Boston Globe'Sides spins a propulsive narrative from obscure documents, journals and his own firsthand visits to the Arctic regions visited by the Jeannette and its crew.'
USA Today‘First-rate polar history and adventure narrative... a harrowing story, well told.’
New York Times Book Review'The history of polar exploration sets a high bar for extreme physical ordeal — think John Franklin, Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott — and the tribulations of De Long and his crew stack up with the worst of them.'
Washington Post'A dazzling page-turner.'
Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea The reader is drawn into the ice from the first page and will not want to leave until the fate of every man is known.'
'An Arctic thriller, an authentic narrative masterpiece.'
S.C. Gwynne, author of Empire of the Summer Moon'One of the greatest and most harrowing adventures of all time. Spellbinding.'
'Sides has brought together an absolutely marvelous cast of characters… All works of history should be half this much fun.'
-- Scott Anderson, author of Lawrence in ArabiaHampton Sides is the author of the bestselling histories Hellhound on his Trail, Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers, and is an award-winning editor of Outside magazine. He lives in New Mexico with his wife, Anne, and their three sons.
In 1879 the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds and a frenzy of publicity. The ship and its crew, captained by the heroic George De Long, were heading for glory and one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. But it was not long before the Jeannette was trapped in crushing pack ice. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies, facing a seemingly impossible trek across the endless ice. Battling everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition fought 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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