Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole
2 journalers for this copy...
I enjoyed this book when I first read it, so when I saw this fair-condition ex-library hardcover on sale at Better World Books I picked it up. (I've enjoyed other books by Fleming, including Barrow's Boys and Killing Dragons: Conquest of the Alps.)
This is an entrancing look at many (many, many) expeditions above the Arctic Circle, including some that have been treated in more detail and a few that I'd never heard of before. [Some of the Russian expeditions were not well-known at all until the thawing of the Cold War and the release of long-secret records.]
Fleming includes personal tidbits, such as the odd romance between Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane and faux-spiritualist Margaret Fox, but the focus is on the expeditions - why and how they were arranged, how they fared, who (if anyone) survived. And there are lots and lots of intersections here, form obvious ones such as the many expeditions sent out to rescue previous lost parties (Sir John Franklin's lost expedition alone triggered dozens of search missions) to those that were not explicitly connected but wound up sharing key personnel or crossing paths in unexpected places. [The meeting of Fridtjov Nansen and Frederick Jackson on remote Cape Flora is one of the more dramatic.]
The tragic elements are many and varied, from the fates of some of the Inuit people carried off to "civilization" as exhibits to those of the crews that wound up freezing and starving on the ice. Some expeditions seemed doomed from the outset due to incompatibility, poor leadership, and/or poor planning, while others may have begun well but run into insurmountable obstacles. There's heroism here, and also increasing desperation, fear, and cruelty; rivalry and friendship, loyalty and betrayal...
...and there's plenty of incentive to read further, via the extensive bibliography. I've already read a good many of those works, but I added a few titles to my wishlist anyway!
This is an entrancing look at many (many, many) expeditions above the Arctic Circle, including some that have been treated in more detail and a few that I'd never heard of before. [Some of the Russian expeditions were not well-known at all until the thawing of the Cold War and the release of long-secret records.]
Fleming includes personal tidbits, such as the odd romance between Arctic explorer Elisha Kent Kane and faux-spiritualist Margaret Fox, but the focus is on the expeditions - why and how they were arranged, how they fared, who (if anyone) survived. And there are lots and lots of intersections here, form obvious ones such as the many expeditions sent out to rescue previous lost parties (Sir John Franklin's lost expedition alone triggered dozens of search missions) to those that were not explicitly connected but wound up sharing key personnel or crossing paths in unexpected places. [The meeting of Fridtjov Nansen and Frederick Jackson on remote Cape Flora is one of the more dramatic.]
The tragic elements are many and varied, from the fates of some of the Inuit people carried off to "civilization" as exhibits to those of the crews that wound up freezing and starving on the ice. Some expeditions seemed doomed from the outset due to incompatibility, poor leadership, and/or poor planning, while others may have begun well but run into insurmountable obstacles. There's heroism here, and also increasing desperation, fear, and cruelty; rivalry and friendship, loyalty and betrayal...
...and there's plenty of incentive to read further, via the extensive bibliography. I've already read a good many of those works, but I added a few titles to my wishlist anyway!
Journal Entry 2 by 
GoryDetails
at Granite Town Rail Trail (see notes) in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Friday, October 10, 2014
GoryDetails at Granite Town Rail Trail (see notes) in Milford, New Hampshire USA on Friday, October 10, 2014
Released 9 yrs ago (10/10/2014 UTC) at Granite Town Rail Trail (see notes) in Milford, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book, bagged against the elements, on one of the big rocks at the trail head on Armory Road at around 4, while geocaching in the area; hope the finder enjoys it!
I found it at the trail head for the Milford Rail Trail. Gory Details had done a great job in placing it & weather protecting it too! Fun fact -- I found another book left by Gory Details about 4 years ago at the entrance to Ponemah Bog in Amherst, NH. Apparently he (she?) likes to hike and explore nature as well as read great books! Have not started it yet but very excited to find it & begin the saga!
Very interesting stories about the quest for the Arctic. The author has done a great job researching this book. I would recommend it.
