Truly breathtaking, fascinating stories extraordinarily told

books:

	• The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole 1818-1909 (First Edtiion) Pierre Berton McClelland & Stewart, 1988 - 672 pages average customer review:based on 29 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The story of Arctic exploration

Before I picked up this book, I had no idea what a detailed and interesting history lay behind the explorations of the Arctic region. This is a truly fascinating book about man's determined quest to explore one of the last unexplored regions of the world.

This is a story of the search for the North west Passage, that elusive waterway that would let ships sail over the north of what is now Canada, instead of having to sail around the tip of South America. Even after the British had determined that the icy arctic conditions and the maze of islands made the Northwest Passage worthless as a commercial shipping route, they were still determined to find it anyway. Ship after ship headed to the Arctic to find the passage, sometimes spending two or three winters trapped in the ice, with only a few warm summer months each year in which to explore before the winter ice returned. Many men died, mostly because of the remarkable inability of the British Navy to learn from its mistakes, or more importantly, to learn from the natives, who had lived in the Arctic for thousands of years. The British sailors wore wool instead of fur and sealskin, refused to hunt (they didn't even know how), suffered from scurvy from their impractical diets, and hauled extremely heavy sledges over the ice with man power instead of dogs. Not only did the British fail to learn from the natives, but the natives also got less than their fair share of credit at the time for helping avert death and starvation for hundreds of expeditions over the years.

This is also a story of the quest to reach the North Pole. Early explorers held the belief that the top of the world was an open polar sea, and tried to sail all the way to the pole. Once that theory was abandoned, explorers tried other ways of getting there. One allowed his specially-designed boat to become trapped in the polar ice and then played a waiting game as the boat drifted with the ice. Another tried to float to the pole in a balloon. Many tried and failed to walk to the pole over the hundreds of miles of ice. And even when two explorers claimed to have seperately reached the pole in this fashion, their claims were dubious.

While this book is long and a bit heavy at times, it is worth it to stick with it. Pierre Berton has done his research, and he is an excellent writer. I look forward to reading more of his books.

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Epic tales of Arctic explorations

Published in 1988, the Arctic Grail, still remains a benchmark literary achievement. The book provides an in-depth chronicle of the major 19th and 20th century U.S., Canadian and European Arctic explorations. Pierre Berton, author and renowned Canadian history scholar, provides a first class documentation of the men and women associated with these daring explorations. His writing style, expert research and refreshing Canadian perspective makes the subject matter leap off the page. His attention to character,place and time adds an extra dimension to the reading experience.
The book is primarily sectioned into the chronicle of each major exploration. The trials and tribulations of the primary characters and supporting cast make for a shocking and fascinating story.
Examples include the 1845 disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his entire 129 member crew. The 1871 mysterious death of Charles Hall during his third Arctic exploration. The ill fated 1879 Jeanette expedition is another unbelievable tale. Salmon Andree' 1879 bizarre attempt to reach the pole in his hot air balloon, the Eagle, defies credulity. Roald Amundsen's 1905 successful discovery of the North west passage is a book within a book. The early 20th century race for the North Pole between Robert Peary and Frederick Cooke and its impact on their legacy proves riveting. These are but a few of the historical tales contained within the books 671 pages.
If this book was not historical fact, it would read as a first class piece of literary fiction.
As a final note, the reprints, maps and diagrams, contained within the book, add a major element to the enjoyment of following and related to these Arctic adventures. Highly recommended, both as a historical documentation and for pure adventure reading pleasure.

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Truly breathtaking, fascinating stories extraordinarily told

Very rarely the reader is so moved by a book that he simply starts thinking about it around the clock. It is such a powerful book. For two weeks I couldn't think about anything else than Arctic and those people confined by and in the ice for often several years.

It is the book you will never forget. It is so powerful narrative.

Reader get accustomed with names like Lancaster Sound, Admiralty Inlet, Gulf of Boothia, King William Island etc. Reader feels urge to see those strange locations on a map.

Folly and Courage

This hefty door-stopper details the first century of Arctic exploration, from the intrepid but failed first expedition of British Navy commander Sir John Ross to the flawed triumph of America's Robert Peary, whose expedition to the North Pole made him an international hero -- though it was revealed decades later that Peary had faked his data and probably never actually reached the pole.

Berton was a great writer and historian, and he makes each of the explorers and their expeditions come alive in fascinating detail.
Tragically, most of the expeditions were failures that resulted in strandings, lost ships, horrible deaths from scurvy and starvation, and the loss of countless seasons that could have been used to further human knowledge and instead were spent waging a desperate battle just to survive. The march of human folly is on display in page after page of this book.

If you like history and are interested in explorers and what makes them tick, you will enjoy this book.

Reviewers: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"

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A Lucky Find

My husband was cleaning out one of our closets last week and came across this book. I can't remember buying it, but I'm so glad I did...it's my new 'desert island book'. To be read, re-read and savored every time. The subject is fascinating and the way the author weaves together the explorers journeys, various other personalities and the history of the day makes it seem like you were (almost) there with them. Not only is it a terrific read, but it has a fabulous bibliography that will make a great jumping off point for further reading.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Berton brings the story of the remarkable adventurers in the history of the Arctic exploration to life in all their glories and eccentricities--including some shocking revelations about who really reached the Pole. Tour.

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