Within the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Horrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette

New York Occasions bestselling writer Hampton Sides returns with a white-knuckle story of polar exploration and survival within the Gilded Age

Within the late nineteenth century, individuals had been obsessed by one of many final unmapped areas of the globe: The North Pole. Nobody knew what existed past the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans.

James Gordon Bennett, the eccentric and stupendously rich proprietor of The New York Herald, had not too long ago captured the world’s consideration by dispatching Stanley to Africa to seek out Dr. Livingstone. Now he was eager to re-create that sensation on an much more epic scale. So he funded an official U.S. naval expedition to achieve the Pole, selecting as its captain a younger officer named George Washington De Lengthy, who had gained fame for a rescue operation off the coast of Greenland. De Lengthy led a crew of 32 males deep into uncharted Arctic waters, carrying the aspirations of a younger nation burning to change into a world energy. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds within the grip of “Arctic Fever.”

The ship sailed into uncharted seas, however quickly was trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was breached. Amid the push of water and the shrieks of breaking picket boards, the crew deserted the ship. Lower than an hour later, the Jeannette sank to the underside, and the lads discovered themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with solely the barest provides. Thus started their lengthy march throughout the limitless ice – a frozen hell in probably the most lonesome nook of the world. Dealing with all the things from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition battled insanity and hunger as they desperately strove for survival.

With twists and turns worthy of a thriller, Within the Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding story of heroism and willpower in probably the most unforgiving territory on Earth.