Overview

In 1897, at the height of the heroic age of Arctic exploration, the visionary Swedish explorer S. A. Andree made a revolutionary attempt to discover the North Pole by flying over it in a hydrogen balloon. Thirty-three years later, his expedition diaries and papers would be discovered on the ice.
Alec Wilkinson uses the explorer's papers and contemporary sources to tell the full story of this ambitious voyage, while also showing how the late 19th century's spirit of exploration and scientific discovery drove over 1,000 explorers to the unforgiving Arctic landscape. Suspenseful and haunting, Wilkinson captures Andree's remarkable adventure and illuminates the detail, beauty, and devastating conditions of traveling and dwelling on the ice.

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9780307594808

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<p> Once in a while you come across a book that so fully transfixes your imaginative gaze, it ceases to become a book but simply a story. . . In 1897, three men in a cold lonely balloon float toward the North Pole--and to their deaths. A haunting book. --Jimmy So, The Daily Beast <br> A rare work of nonfiction whose sublimely understated writing rivals the inherent drama of the subject matter . . . Wilkinson gives us not only an exhilarating account of Swedish engineer S.A. Andree's ill fated expedition, he offers a finely nuanced psychological portrait of a unique race of men--the Victorian-era Arctic explorers--and the age that produced them. --Emily Donaldson, The Toronto Star <br> A gripping account of what has been called the heroic age of Arctic exploration. --David B. Williams, The Seattle Times <br> Entertaining and extremely well-written. This captivating story [is] essential for all avid readers of exploration and polar literature. -- Library Journal <br> Fabulous . . . Readers meet 'a parade of fanatics' who attempt to reach the Pole, discover what is there, and return alive. --Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe <br> [Wilkinson's] superb storytelling skills shine on every page. The descriptions that Andree and his expedition mates wrote about the harsh but stunning Arctic landscape, and the slow, agonizing march to their inevitable deaths make for riveting armchair reading. --Stephen J. Lyons, Minneapolis StarTribune <br> Wilkinson writes with insight and flair, artfully interleaving Andree's story with a brief history of Arctic exploration. . . . [His] prose style suits the spare polar landscape, making his occasional poetic touches even more effective . . . And Wilkinson doesn't get bogged down in too much detail. He understands that the value of polar stories isn't to be found in guy ropes and provisions. It lies elsewhere, in our endless love of discovery and the drama of being human. --Sara Wheeler, The New York Times Bookt

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