In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette

On July 8, 1879 the USS Jeanñette, under the command of George W. De Long, sailed from San Francisco Harbor bound for the Bering Strait and the Polar Ocean north of the Arctic Circle. Her mission was to explore and chart the little known waters north the Siberian Coast in order to verify, or invalidate, the "Open Polar Sea" theory and to determine if the newly discovered Wrangle Island was, in fact, part of much larger land mass, an unknown continent, stretching all the way to the North Pole. I really enjoyed this amazing book, it was by turn; engrossing, terrifying and impossible to put down! "In The Kingdom Of Ice" is my first book by historian Hampton Sides and he does not disappoint. Not a History Text Book but an "Historical Narrative" that is both well written and well researched. Using newspaper accounts, personal logs, official documents and family letters, Sides gives the reader an intimate look into the lives and adventures of these intrepid explorers. The first part of the book is mostly background material on the principle characters and the society that they lived in. Besides De Long and his team you will meet the famous scientist and newspaper men of the mid 19th Century. While the expedition was under US Navy command it was mostly funded by the wealthy newspaper mogul Gordon Bennett who had previously backed the Stanley and Livingston rescues mission. You will also get to know De Long's wife and her point of view as expressed in her personal letters written to her husband during his harrowing expedition. More than a sea adventure this amazing book documents what men will go through just to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth. The Jeanñette was trapped in frozen sea-ice for over two years and her supplies of food and fresh water were running out. Keeping warm was a never ending struggle as the stores of coal, heating oil and even wood to burn were slowly being exhausted. Then, an unexpected turn of events changed everything and suddenly the good Captain and crew were out of options. Now, to survive, they must somehow get away from the ice-pack, fight their way through treacherous sea-ice and navigate over a thousand miles of storm tossed Arctic Ocean before they could make landfall on one of the planet's coldest and most hostile coastlines: Siberia. For this final voyage they would need The Jeanñette's three surviving "life boats" and all the supplies they could carry. From here on out there would be no turning back, no second chances. But, even if they did somehow manage to make landfall, their prospects for survival would still be bleak. Just finding human settlements in this sparsely populated land would be hard enough and living "off the land" would also prove difficult. "In The Kingdom Of Ice" is a great read and a real "page turner". I think that anyone with an interest in American History and the early days of exploration should get a kick outta reading it. I know I did! I had no technical or downloading problems with this Kindle Edition. I also compared the print edition to the e-reader format and found them equitable. The book's maps and archival photos are included on the Kindle, in fact there are several "bonus" pictures added in. The only negative I could see was that both editions lacked a "cross reference index".Last Ranger

Hampton Sides makes the historical characters come to life. In this book, he builds up the cultural & historical context of this attempt to reach the north pole to a great degree. The ship doesn't launch until halfway into the book. Great stuff and so easy to read. I highly recommend.

Hampton Sides has written another good true-story in this account of the single voyage of the arctic explorer the USS Jeannette.It was a different time - when large personalities could steer national agendas and governments from the outside and where the "certainty" of science could commit resources, lives and attention (ok, these echo today with Donald Trump and Climate Change....).The voyage of Arctic Explorer USS Jeannette rested upon three personalities. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., owner of the New York Herald; Geographer August Heinrich Petermann, and; U S Naval Officer George W. De Long. In Petermann, the world had an expert, who led the argument for a popular certainy that the North Pole was a warm-water sea fed by the Gulf Stream and its Asian counterpart the Kuro Siwo. Those streams, in scientific thinking, flowed under an outer ice ring (long observed by whalers and northern voyagers) and melted the ocean around the North Pole producing a navigable body of water. U S Naval Officer George De Long, having participated in an arctic rescue, developed "arctic fever" and single mindedly focused on leading a voyage of exploration that would prove Petermann's theory. In Bennett, inspiration and exploration met money and will. Bennett, owner and publisher of the New York Herald, then the world's most influential paper, was fabulously wealthy and had an extraordinary talent for tapping into public interest with produced news chronicled in his papers that fed the public's appetite for adventure. He was the man who joined Stanley and Livingston, having sent his reporter Stanley to the heart of Africa to find the good Doctor. The resultant serials of the search and meeting sold a tremendous amount of newspapers. Bennett thought that an arctic voyage to the North Pole would be the follow-on to Stanley and Livingston and saw another chance at making history in the effort.The story of the voyage is heroic and tragic. Sides writes very well, and it is impossible to read this book without great sympathy for the men who willingly locked their ship in the ice and then endured privation that would sink most souls confronted with a fraction of the challenge the ship's crew endured for years. Sides does a very good job of bringing the personalities of the story to life and each character becomes known to the reader with well rendered stories that describe the essence of the individual involved. He does take a while to get to the actual voyage in the book, but the story of the personalities, preparation of the Jeannette as well as the recruiting of the crew is interesting and sets the table well for the adventure.(I would note that the current debate over climate change and the "certainties" of some scientists does make a fascinating juxtaposition to Petermann's and an earlier generation of scientists' "certainties" of an ice-free Actic Sea and the data that supposedly made it so. Every age experiences to some extent the "arrogance of the present" and overestimates its own knowledge and understanding. Perhaps unavoidable, but one of the great things about history is that it does give some pause to consider the human condition over time and perhaps learn to better confront the present and future).I read this book over a four day weekend - it moves and held my attention well. For anyone interested in adventure writing, pick this book up.

Storia e lavoro di ricerca eccezionale!

Having just read the excellent ‘ Madness at the End of the Earth’ by Julian Sancton I thought I would give this a go. The true account of the Voyage of the USS Jeannette is another great read of man against the elements this time swapping the Antartic for the search to find the North Pole. This is a tale of incredible hardship, determination, courage and endurance very well written about men and their heroic and, it could be argued, foolish exploits which have been largely forgotten by time. It is apparent that this group of men were exceptional in many ways and thanks to the author and his sensitive treatment and extensive research their story has been told and they can get the recognition they undoubtedly deserve. First class read!

Hampton Sides has written a phenomenal historical book on a polar expedition that I hadn't known of. This was like reading several books in one--a biography (two, actually), early history of cartography, and the story of the USS Jeann ette, captained by George De Long, trying to find a way to the North Pole. This is also a story of an extremely brave crew who did all they could to defy horrifying circumstances. One of the most harrowing reads ever that can be compared to Shackleton's Incredible Journey. I could not put this great book down...when I was finished, I just wanted to let it rest for a couple of weeks and start reading it all over again. I never want to let this book go. Kudos to Mr. Sides...this will be a bestseller for all time.

Learned a lot and was throughly entertained by the great story tellingWhat more can you ask for

Mind blowing real life story and every page is fascinating & thrilling ,I don't always care for review quotes mentioned on cover , but here it is 100 % accurate ....