I am an avid reader of maritime and polar history
non-fiction, and this is one of my favourites in that genre. It follows the
frightening, dramatic and sometimes violent story of the Belgica as she over-winters in the dark Antarctic night.
Julian
Sancton tells the events in such a gripping and exciting way; it really feels
like a thriller novel. The individual crewmen are brought to life alongside the
hostile, brutal land of Antarctica which still, at this point in history, was
relatively unknown.
The book brilliantly encapsulates how very much humans are
at the mercy of the elements, but also how we can have ingenuity in the face of
survival.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing” (The New York Times) true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry—with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter
“The energy of the narrative never flags. . . . Sancton has produced a thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal
In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica.…
History
is full of incredible tales; it is why I love writing and reading about it. I was
so inspired by the recent re-discovery of Shackleton’s ship, the Endurance, in 2022.
I loved
the image of her beneath the Antarctic ice, ‘Endurance’ emblazoned across her
stern. This book captures the drive and the power of the human spirit under
hardship. Shackleton and his men’s open boat journey across the worst seas in
the world is an amazing story, one that seems almost unreal.
Ranulph Fiennes’s
experience in such extreme environments really gives an additional, sensitive
layer to the narrative. Fiennes’s Captain
Scott is another incredible book, this time of a gruelling journey that
ended in tragedy rather than survival.
Discover the story Ernest Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition and loss of the Endurance, told by the world's greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes - one of the only men to understand his experience first-hand . . .
'For anyone with a passion for polar exploration, this is a must read' NEW YORK TIMES
'THE definitive book on Shackleton and no one could have done it better . . . An authentic account by one of the few men who truly knows what it's like to challenge Antarctica' LORRAINE KELLY
To write about Hell, it helps if you have been there.…
It seems my 2023 was
full of non-fiction polar exploration books! I love them for the same reason I
love science-fiction and space exploration books: the unknown, the isolation,
and the endurance required.
This book tackles the mystery of the Franklin
expedition, lost in the Arctic during the nineteenth century. It focused on the
figure of Francis Crozier, somewhat of an underdog: a talented officer who did
not receive the same accolades as other polar heroes due to his background but
who tried to lead the survival of the doomed Erebus and Terrorcrews.
The book was touching, poignant, gripping, and very human, and its use of maps
to illustrate the labyrinth of the Canadian Arctic ice was an additional,
striking element.
Captain Francis Crozier was a major figure in 19th century Arctic and Antarctic exploration who led the doomed Franklin Expedition's battle to survive against the odds. It is a compelling story which refuses to be laid to rest and recent discovery of his lost ships above the Arctic Circle gives it a new urgency.
The ships may hold vital clues to how two navy vessels and 129 men disappeared 170 years ago and why Crozier, in command after Franklin's early death, left the only written clue to the biggest disaster in Polar history.
Drawn from historic records and modern revelations,…
1800. Captain Hiram Nightingale is a veteran
of the wars that have raged across Europe and the Americas for the past
decades, but a grand victory at the Battle of the Nile comes at a devastating
cost.
Plagued by wounds, both physical and mental, he attempts to recover by
accepting command of HMS Scylla. His
task is to hunt down the mutinous ship, Ulysses,
and bring the crew to justice. However, it soon becomes clear that Ulysses is just one danger in an immense
web.
On this journey, Nightingale must confront his own demons and
long-repressed feelings stirred by his handsome, popular lieutenant, Arthur
Courtney. For it seems, during his dangerous adventure, his greatest enemy
might be himself.
