Polar
Adventures
“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter
cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful.
Honour and recognition in case of success.”
--Ernest Shackleton, Daily Telegraph (1912)
Autobiographical accounts
910.916 De Oversize (New)
Antarctic
Odyssey: in the Footsteps of the South Polar Explorers, by Graham
Collier, Graham & Patricia Graham Collier
The author and his photographer wife, who both traveled several times
to both East and West Antarctica, recall the stories of earlier Polar explorers
such as Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen while telling of their own adventures
(1999).
917.19 Wa
Arctic
Crossing: a Journey through the Northwest Passage and Inuit Culture,
by Jonathan Waterman
Over three summers, the author searches the wilderness of the Northwest
Passage for solitude and adventure, encountering the Inuits and coming
away with a profound respect for their culture (2001).
998 Mo
Arctic
Explorations: the Second Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin,
1853, '54, '55, by Elisha Kent Kane
A 19th-century poet and explorer recounts his participation in the
Grinnell expedition in search of Sir John Franklin (1857).
919.8 Na
Farthest
North: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship “Fram”,
by Fridtjof Nansen
An account of the 1893-96 Fram expedition to the Arctic (1897).
998 Am
First
Crossing of the Polar Sea, by Roald Amundsen (1927).
574 Ca
Icebound
Summer, by Sally Carrighar
This is a naturalist's descriptive account of her summer in the Arctic
(1953).
919.804 Al
In
the Land of the White Death: an Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian
Arctic,
by Valerian Albanov
First published in Russia in 1917 and now in English translation, Albanov's
diary presents a harrowing account of being trapped in the Arctic ice for
two winters and the trek south over the frozen icecaps. The diary also
captures the beauty and the torment of the journey and the author's
extraordinary will to live (2000).
919.89 Fi
Mind
over Matter: the Epic Crossing of the Antarctic Continent,
by Sir Ranulph Fiennes
A fascinating account by the author and his companion who willingly
suffered through 1,350 miles of the Antarctic continent—on foot! (1994).
998.9 Sc
Scott’s
Last Expedition, The Journals, by Robert Falcon Scott (1996).
998.9 Sh
Shackleton
: His Antarctic Writings, by Ernest Shackleton (1983).
921 Shackleton, Ernest
Shackleton’s
Boat Journey, by Frank Worsley
The Endurance expedition as recalled by the ship’s captain (1977).
919.89 Ch
The
Worst Journey in the World, by Cherry-Gerard, Aspley
Classic account from a survivor of Robert Falcon Scott’s doomed expedition
(1997).
General Non-fiction
910.916 Os
Across
the Top of the World: the Quest for the Northwest Passage, by James
P. Delgado
A handsomely-illustrated chronicle of the many adventures and expeditions
in search of the Northwest Passage (1999).
910.941 Fl
Barrow’s
Boys, by Fergus Fleming
This book answers the question of how and why England sent out so many
explorers to the uncharted regions of the world including the North and
South Poles (2000).
998 Cr
Disaster
at the Pole: the Tragedy of the Airship Italia and the 1928 Nobile
Expedition to the North Pole, by Wilbur Cross
After the dirigible Italia crashed into an ice pack in the Arctic Ocean,
international crews attempted an ill-fated rescue with tragic results with
lives and reputations lost (2000).
998.9 Al
The
Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline
Alexander
Published in conjunction with the exhibit at the National Museum of
Natural History, this re-telling of the Endurance expedition features 170
stunning photographs by the expedition’s photographer Frank Hurley (1998).
919.804 He
Fatal
North: Adventure and Survival aboard USS Polaris, the First U.S. Expedition
to the North Pole, by Bruce B. Henderson
Disaster strikes when the American vessel reaches Arctic waters.
The captain dies mysteriously, the ship is wrecked colliding with an iceberg,
and crew members are stranded on an ice floe (2001).
919.89 Pr
First
Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole,
by Diana Preston
Another moving account of Scott and his expeditions (1998).
921 Wallace, Minik
Give
Me My Father’s Body, by Kenn Harper
The story of Minik Wallace, a young Inuit boy brought to New York by
explorer Robert Peary at the turn of the century (2000).
919.8 Sp
I
May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination, by Francis
Spufford
A study of the British obsession with braving the world’s harshest
climates and the romance of polar
exploration in the Heroic era (1997).
551.792 Bo
The
Ice Finders: How a Poet, a Professor, and a Politician Discovered
the Ice Age, by Edmund Bolles
Two 19th-century geologists and a poet "discover" the “Ice Age” (1999).
910.452 Ni
The
Ice Master: the Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk, by Jennifer
Niven
Another disastrous adventure, ill-conceived, poorly planned and staffed,
this Canadian expedition went north in search of a lost continent buried
under the polar icecap (2000).
910.091 Gu
Icebound:
the Jeanette Expedition’s Quest for the North Pole, by Leonard
F. Guttridge
The USS Jeannette sailed North in 1879 only to be trapped in the ice
for two years before her American crew attempted escape over hundreds of
miles of frozen ice to open water (1986).
998.9 Hu
The
Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen’s Race to the South Pole,
by Roland Huntford
A rich account of the polar expeditions that made a hero out of the
martyred Scott and deprived Amundsen of his glory as conqueror of the South
Pole (1985).
998.9 Ma
Mawson’s
Will: the Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written, by
Lennard Bickel
An account of Sir Douglas Mawson’s harrowing expedition to chart 1,500
of the Antarctica coastline for the British crown (1977).
538.768 Ja
The
Northern Lights, by Lucy Jago
A tale of Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland's courage and genius
that led to his discovery of the forces at work in the aurora borealis
(2001).
910.92 Po
Points
Unknown: a Century of Great Exploration
An anthology of disaster and survival stories by and about twentieth
century adventurers who were attracted to the extreme and the unknown (2000).
998.9 Gu
Race
to the White Continent: Voyages to the Antarctic, by Alan Gurney
An expert historian and storyteller spins a fascinating tale of Antarctic
exploration from the early days through the Heroic Age (2000).
921 Scott, Robert Falcon
Scott
of the Antarctic, by Elspeth Huxley
A thought-provoking study of the ill-fated explorer, Robert Falcon
Scott (1978).
910.916 Sa
The
Search for the North West Passage, by Ann Savours
An expert on polar expeditions, the author presents an exciting, exhaustive
account of the most important but often tragic expeditions in search of
the Northwest Passage (1999).
658.4 Mo
Shackleton's
Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer,
by Margot Morrell and Stephanie Capparell
The authors translate the story of Shackleton's heroic leadership to
the business world, using excerpts from his and the crew's own words and
diaries, to convey the skills and qualities needed to be a great business
leader today (2001).
919.804 Pa
Trial
by Ice: the True Story of Murder and Survival on the 1871 Polaris Expedition,
by Richard Parry
Using journals and testimony of the crew of the Polaris Expedition,
the author vividly tells the true story of the United States' entry in
the race to be the first to reach the North Pole (2001).
971.9 Ru
The
Unknown Shore: the Lost History of England's Arctic Colony,
by Robert Ruby
An exciting account of English explorer Martin Frobisher's three voyages
between 1576 and 1578 to find the fabled Northwest Passage to China and
a possible fortune in gold (2001).
Fiction
Alexander, Caroline
Mrs.
Chippy’s Last Expedition: A Memoir, 1914-1915
The Endurance expedition as told by the carpenter’s pet cat and ship
mascot, Mrs. Chippy (1997).
Arthur, Elizabeth
Antarctic
Navigation
A woman leads an expedition to Antarctica in an heroic effort to vindicate
Scott's Terra Nova expedition (1995).
Bainbridge, Beryl
The
Birthday Boys
Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova expedition through the eyes of Scott and
four of his crew members (1994).
Barrett, Andrea
The
Voyage of the Narwhal
Americans in search of John Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic
(1998).
Edric, Robert
The
Broken Lands: a Novel of Arctic Disaster
Brings to life Franklin's doomed Arctic expedition in search of the
Northwest Passage (2002).
Keneally, Thomas (Mystery)
Victim
of the Aurora
Murder and adventure on a turn-of-the-century Antarctic expedition
(1985).
McGregor, Elizabeth
The
Ice Child
An obsession with John Franklin's expedition leads to the death of
a modern explorer, leaving his survivors grappling with his unfinished
legacy (2001).
Marshall, James Vance
White-Out
During World War II a secret British expedition sent to Antarctica,
ostensibly to set up a weather station, is shelled by a surprise German
attack in this exciting thriller (2000).
Ruesch, Hans
Top
of the World
An extraordinary tale of adventure among the Polar Eskimos (1973).
811.54 Mu
What
the Ice Gets: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916 : (a poem),
by Melinda Mueller
In verse, for the first time, the epic story of Shackleton and the
Endurance
(2000).
812.54 Ta
Terra
Nova: a play, by Ted Tally
Features the famous, ill-fated explorer, Robert Falcon Scott (1981).
And on the WEB
The following WEB sites were highlighted in the May 1, 2002 edition
of Booklist:
The AAP Mawson's Huts
Foundation
(http://www.mawsons-huts.com.au/)
Dedicated to the huts originally built by Mawson in 1912 at Cape Denison
on Antarctica and the ongoing expeditions associated with them.
Antarctic Philately
(http://www.south-pole.com/)
Along with stamps this site offers a wealth of information on polar
explorers including a 1519-1959 timeline.
The Endurance
(http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/shackleton/)
This site is associated with the exhibit at the American Museum of
Natural History in 1999.
The James Caird Society
(http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/)
Named after one of the Endurance lifeboats and dedicated to
the memory of Shackleton, the site offers detailed information on his life
and exploits.
Kodak:
The Endurance
(http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/endurance/)
The site offers many images of the expediton and highlights the role
of Frank Hurley, the Endurance photographer, who used Kodak film
on the expedition.
Shackleton's
Voyage of Endurance
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/)
The site was created as a companion to the Nova/PBS program and IMAX
movie filmed in Antarctica in 1999 and 2000.
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