In the Kingdom of Ice
In the Kingdom of Ice

Author: Hampton Sides

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2015-05-26

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0307946916

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A white-knuckle tale of polar exploration and heroism in the Gilded Age from the New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers. • “A splendid book in every way…a marvelous nonfiction thriller.” —The Wall Street Journal On July 8, 1879, Captain George Washington De Long and his team of thirty-two men set sail from San Francisco on the USS Jeanette. Heading deep into uncharted Arctic waters, they carried the aspirations of a young country burning to be the first nation to reach the North Pole. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the Jeannette's hull was breached by an impassable stretch of pack ice, forcing the crew to abandon ship amid torrents of rushing of water. Hours later, the ship had sunk below the surface, marooning the men a thousand miles north of Siberia, where they faced a terrifying march with minimal supplies across the endless ice pack. Enduring everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and labyrinths of ice, the crew battled madness and starvation as they struggled desperately to survive. With thrilling twists and turns, In The Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most brutal place on Earth.

Hell on Ice
Hell on Ice

Author: Edward Ellsberg

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2014-06-24

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 148049366X

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Based on a true story: the thrilling tale of a ship’s 1879 journey to explore the North Pole—and the crew’s desperate attempt to escape an Arctic ice pack. In the 1870s, newspaperman James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald drummed up excitement and publicity for his paper through highly publicized missions of exploration. In 1879, Bennett’s idea for a voyage was his most audacious to date: the North Pole. To do this, he hired a team of naval veterans in addition to a smattering of civilians with specialized knowledge in meteorology, whaling, and naturalism. The men on board the Jeannette set off in September of 1879. This would be the last time anyone saw them for two years. The product of devoted research into personal histories, memoirs, and classified congressional investigation records, Hell on Ice is a remarkable document: a novelization of history, turning the horrible ordeal of the brave men of the Jeannette into a riveting narrative. Written with a weathered seaman’s familiarity, the story brilliantly captures a most perilous voyage from the perspective of the ship’s chief engineer. The men of the Jeannette endure months trapped in an Arctic ice pack, and then begin a desperate trek for home.

Bound by Ice
Bound by Ice

Author: Sandra Neil Wallace

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press

Published: 2017-09-19

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1629799157

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A Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book This thrilling and terrifying true story of the 1879 search for the North Pole follows the frightening fates of the USS Jeannette crew as disaster strikes -- and the men battle to survive two years bound by ice. In the years following the Civil War, "Arctic fever" gripped the American public, fueled by myths of a fertile, tropical sea at the top of the world. Bound by Ice follows the journey of George Washington De Long and the crew of the USS Jeannette, who departed San Francisco in the summer of 1879 hoping to find a route to the North Pole. However, in mid-September the ship became locked in ice north of Siberia and drifted for nearly two years before it was crushed by ice and sank. De Long and his men escaped the ship and began a treacherous journey in extreme polar conditions in an attempt to reach civilization. Many—including De Long—did not survive. This true story for middle graders keeps readers on the edge of their seats to the very end. Includes excerpts from De Long’s extensive journals, which were recovered with his body; newspapers from the time; and photos and sketches by the men on the expedition.

Our Lost Explorers
Our Lost Explorers

Author: Raymond Lee Newcomb

Publisher:

Published: 1882

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13:

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From 1879-1881, a crew of thirty-three men, led by Lieutenant Commander George Washington DeLong, participated in an Arctic adventure that defines the limits of human endurance. The Navy-operated, but privately owned, steamer Jeannette left San Francisco, California, for the North Pole through what was then believed to be open water beyond the Arctic icepack. The Jeannette remained in the ice as it drifted to the northwest through the first half of 1881. During this time, the crew made scientific observations, hunted seals and polar bears. In May 1881, they landed on Henrietta Island, 600 miles from Wrangell. In June 1881 the ice parted and they hoped they might reach open sea, but on the 12th the flows closed in with such force that Jeannette's hull was crushed. Her crew removed three boats, supplies and some equipment and began a difficult trek, dragging the boats over the ice towards open water. They reached the Kotelnoi and Simonoski Islands in early September, after which the way was clear to sail to the Lena Delta. However, the three boats were separated in a storm. One, commanded by Lieutenant Charles W. Chipp and seven other men, was not seen again. The other two, commanded by DeLong with thirteen others and Chief Engineer George W. Melville with ten others, landed far apart on the delta. Melville's party was saved by local inhabitants. DeLong and his men trudged south over the desolate terrain. After one man died of the effects of frostbite and the others were weakened by exposure and hunger, Seamen Nindemann and Noros were sent ahead to find help. Before that materialized, the remaining eleven succumbed, with DeLong and two others surviving perhaps a few days beyond 30 October 1881, when he made his final journal entry. The bodies of ten were discovered in March 1882, as Melville conducted a search for the other members of the expedition, and were transported back to the United States in early 1884.

The Voyage of the Jeannette
The Voyage of the Jeannette

Author: George Washington De Long

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-06-07

Total Pages: 469

ISBN-13: 1108050174

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Based on De Long's private papers and editor's own recolleciton and notes.

Explorer's Wife
Explorer's Wife

Author: Emma Wotton De Long

Publisher: Read Books Ltd

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1473350743

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First published in 1938, Explorer’s Wife is a heartfelt autobiography by Emma Wotton De Long, widow to arctic explorer George Washington De Long, lost to the disastrous Jeannette Expedition, 1879-1881. This endearing and detailed account recalls the lives of Emma and George during their young courtship, the preparations of the Jeannette Expedition, through to its voyage and ultimate demise. Written from a woman’s perspective, her story chronicles the departure and loss of her husband through letters exchanged between the two, along with documents and anecdotes from the time. The Jeannette Expedition was captained by George Washington De Long, a US naval officer, and set sail for the arctic in 1879. Along with many of his men, De Long perished when their expedition ran into problems in the Bering Sea. Of the 33 crew members that departed on the voyage, only 13 arrived safely back on US soil. In this compelling account, Emma Wotton De Long provides a refreshing perspective on the naval catastrophe from a widow’s point of view. Explorer’s Wife is an excellent read for any interested in tragic maritime history and those looking to learn more about the arctic explorations of the past.

Labyrinth of Ice
Labyrinth of Ice

Author: Buddy Levy

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1250182204

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National Outdoor Book Awards Winner Winner of the BANFF Adventure Travel Award “A thrilling and harrowing story. If it’s a cliche to say I couldn’t put this book down, well, too bad: I couldn’t put this book down.” —Jess Walter, bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins “Polar exploration is utter madness. It is the insistence of life where life shouldn’t exist. And so, Labyrinth of Ice shows you exactly what happens when the unstoppable meets the unmovable. Buddy Levy outdoes himself here. The details and story are magnificent.” —Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington Based on the author's exhaustive research, the incredible true story of the Greely Expedition, one of the most harrowing adventures in the annals of polar exploration. In July 1881, Lt. A.W. Greely and his crew of 24 scientists and explorers were bound for the last region unmarked on global maps. Their goal: Farthest North. What would follow was one of the most extraordinary and terrible voyages ever made. Greely and his men confronted every possible challenge—vicious wolves, sub-zero temperatures, and months of total darkness—as they set about exploring one of the most remote, unrelenting environments on the planet. In May 1882, they broke the 300-year-old record, and returned to camp to eagerly await the resupply ship scheduled to return at the end of the year. Only nothing came. 250 miles south, a wall of ice prevented any rescue from reaching them. Provisions thinned and a second winter descended. Back home, Greely’s wife worked tirelessly against government resistance to rally a rescue mission. Months passed, and Greely made a drastic choice: he and his men loaded the remaining provisions and tools onto their five small boats, and pushed off into the treacherous waters. After just two weeks, dangerous floes surrounded them. Now new dangers awaited: insanity, threats of mutiny, and cannibalism. As food dwindled and the men weakened, Greely's expedition clung desperately to life. Labyrinth of Ice tells the true story of the heroic lives and deaths of these voyagers hell-bent on fame and fortune—at any cost—and how their journey changed the world.

Icebound
Icebound

Author: Leonard Guttridge

Publisher: Backinprint.com

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780595409815

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A superb account of the American Navy's boldest and most tragically ill-fated effort to reach the North Pole. "A gripping tale,"--The Washington Post "Truly exciting,"--The Atlantic Monthly "Beautifully executed narrative,"--Kirkus Reviews "...Uncovers intriguing new information, including the reason the expedition's full story was never revealed."--The Cleveland Plain Dealer "Uncommonly stirring,"--John Barkham Reviews "On all levels, a book worth reading,"--The New York Times Book Review

Hellhound On His Trail
Hellhound On His Trail

Author: Hampton Sides

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2010-04-27

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0385533195

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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel. The nation was shocked, enraged, and saddened. As chaos erupted across the country and mourners gathered at King's funeral, investigators launched a sixty-five day search for King’s assassin that would lead them across two continents—from the author of Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers. With a blistering, cross-cutting narrative that draws on a wealth of dramatic unpublished documents, Hampton Sides, bestselling author of Ghost Soldiers, delivers a non-fiction thriller in the tradition of William Manchester's The Death of a President and Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. With Hellhound On His Trail, Sides shines a light on the largest manhunt in American history and brings it to life for all to see. With a New Afterword