Every so often an author creates a book that propels one through time into a place where we can measure how far we have come and how arduous was the journey. Dr. Doumani has created such a work. Antarctica is a place as foreign to me as the moon or outer space, yet through skillful narrative with wholly human contacts and foibles, this geologist has given us all a vivid texture of a forbidden, wondrous continent. A place that I doubt I shall ever experience first hand but one which I feel has come to life through this book's fascinating story of early exploration. It is scientific without being burdensome, compelling without being pretentious, delightful and funny yet captivating in mystery and danger. Why do we want to have such a book by our side? As Dr. Doumani states: "One conquest was not enough. It never is. It is...a response to a challenge, a decisive test of man's endurance" which will always bind and attract us as long as our curiousity and love of life continue.

The Frigid Mistress is very well written, factually educational, and throroughly enjoyable. Dr. Doumani, a geologist of world repute and a veteran of several Antarctic expeditions, uses plain but powerful language to make the reader feel part of this remote and desolate corner of the world, so much so that I shivered as I read the book. Equally important, the visits to Antarctica delivered proof of many scientific facts which hitherto had been largely theories. For example, it was long suspected that the Southern Hemisphere continents had once been one large continent including Antarctica, and then, over geologic time, they broke up and drifted apart. Now there can be no doubt; it is a fact. This and many other discoveries described by Dr. Doumani provide scientific validations, and always in a fascinating way. For enjoyment, entertainment, and being eduated in the process, this licid, highly recommended reading deserves five stars--or more.

Dr. Doumani has written the best kind of an adventure tale. It is the story of hardship and scientific accomplishments, of human response to extreme and harsh conditions. But unlike so many adventure tales,the activity was not for self aggrandizement or promotion; it was a product of the need to collect scientific information about an area (Antarctica)of which little was then known. In 1957, at the start of the International Geohysical Year, more than half that frozen continent had never been seen by a human eye. Dr. Doumani takes the reader through several years of Antarctic exploration, but the emphasis is on the human aspect, on the behavior of individuals under stress of the severe climate and isolation in the most inhospitable of continents. This is not nature warm and fuzzy, but nature that will kill the unwary and guards its secrets well. The book is a tribute to the men, and I include the author, who collected the information and did the science while braving the hazards in spite of the toll it often took on their lives and their families. Also it contains descriptions of technology and ligistics utilized some 40 years ago, during a period of intense Antarctic exploration, and of the research and scientific discoveries of that time. I highly recommend this book on two counts: for the scientific discoveries that it describes, and for the human drama necessary to accomplish those discoveries.

This is the first sailing book that really beautifully combines adventure, travel-logue, family and humor all wrapped up in a simple, intelligent and creative narration. Dave Martin takes us truly on an epic journey, from Bermuda to Iceland, to Scotland and Norway, with countless stories of friendship and peril along the way. I laughed out loud probably 30 times reading this book, and felt tears welling up almost as many. I was a fan of Dave's ariticles in Cruising World while the Martins were circumnavigating, but this is much more mature. The book winds around and through your heart. I didn't want it to end. GREAT Book!!!!!

Five stars --all the reviews below say it all well!-- but was disappointed that the publishers included no photos of the Martin's amazing trip to the beautiful far north. And no technical specs on the boat or gear, that cruising sailors might want to know about. Great story full of life, adventure, fine people, and cruising.

A truly great cruising/life/adventure story, well reviewed by the folks below. The Martins have long been a source of inspiration, cruising/life information, and humor.

But too bad the publishers didn't think to put a few pages of photos in their unique book about their unique trip to the beautiful far north. And why no real specs on their boat/rig, cruising gear they used, etc.? Cruising sailor-readers would like to know about such things. Was a bit disappointed to find neither of these --especially photos!

This is (IMHO) one of the finest books ever written about arctic exploration (and I've read dozens). Berton is a superb writer, an unmatched storyteller, and a gifted chronicler of much-too-neglected aspect of recent history. The men and women of arctic exploration come alive under the author's perceptive pen, and before you know it you caught up in the world of Parry, Ross, Franklin, Back, Simpson, Amundsen, Cook, Peary, and host of lesser-known but intriguing characters. If you have a heart for history and the people that influenced it, you won't be able to put this book down! An added bonus is the respect with which the author treats the arctic native peoples, without whose help and support every kabloona (white man) who ever set foot into the arctic would have died tragically. I've read this book three times, and am looking forward to my fourth journey into the world of "The Arctic Grail."

If you like to read about the incredible world of Arctic exploration, this is a book you must read! Pierre Berton covers almost 100 years of man's effort to discover the Northwest Passage and the North Pole. Although it is a long read (over 600 pages) the author's wonderful storytelling style keeps you eagerly turning page after page. Each account seems to have been well researched and the facts are there for the reader to absorb. It is amazing to read how poorly the British were prepared for Arctic travel, how they refused to learn from the native people, yet how much they achieved in spite of their attitude. This book has a good message for us all. We can learn from others! Those explorers who did so, were a lot more successful in the long run. The book ends with Peary and Cook's claim to the North Pole. It is quite an account of two men who were more consumed with their image rather than the truth. Who was the greatest of the bunch? You'll have fun picking your winner. I vote for Roald Amundsen! This is a great book!

Years ago I had read an article about the discovery and autopsy of the remains of three seamen from the Franklin expedition. I was so taken by the arctic story recapitulated for that article that when I discovered Ice Blink I read it greedily, becoming a fan of arctic exploration. That find lead me to the current book, The Arctic Grail by Canadian historian Pierre Berton.

In reading Berton's book, one can hardly fail to notice the fact that most of the search for the Northwest Passage, which occupied many adventurous souls for the better part of the 19th Century, was conducted: 1) by Franklin expeditions, 2) in search of survivors of the last Franklin expedition, 3) in search of information as to the fate of the members of the last Franklin expedition, and 4) in search of relics and journals that might come from the last Franklin expedition. It also becomes apparent that almost every venture into that frozen land led to tragedy and often death. It seems that very little was learned either through the experiences of the survivors of the various expeditions or from the lifestyle of the natives of the area. One is amazed that after the disasters that followed each undertaking, yet another venture would be proposed, despite the loss of life and the evident uselessness of the pass itself. Each expedition met with nightmarish experiences, many of the men dying of starvation and exposure, and while the officers might receive promotion in rank and recognition in the history books for their discoveries, the enlisted men who did most of the work got little more than an increase in pay if they lived to get it.

Of the rush to the North Pole, all that can be honestly said is that the notoriety of superhuman effort and of the attainment of nearly impossible goals inspired some pretty disgraceful behavior on behalf of a number of, particularly American, explorers. It becomes obvious that the chicanery of ambitious men looking to make a fortune as celebrities did not start in the last half of the 20th century. Both Cook and Peary seemed driven men whose egos could sustain the possible blight of fraudulent claims disputed by the records but not of public failure. What is sad, particularly in the latter case, is that the actual attainments of the discoverer were pretty amazing as it was. No one since has achieved quite so much under the same conditions. While others have been to the pole successfully, it required air dropped supplies and a flight in or out of the area.

Throughout the entire book one is confronted with a sense of a major lack of real respect for nature by so-called civilized man. It is tempting to see this attitude as a peculiarly 20th (now 21st) century phenomenon, but it seems to have had a good start in the 19th century. The hubris that makes modern man feel that he can tame nature with his various gadgets may just be part and parcel of human nature. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

One of the particularly distressing aspects of the explorers accounts is of the callous treatment of the native population and of the total marginalization of their contributions. It's apparent from Berton's book that the safe return of many explorers was due largely to help from the Eskimos. I think a thorough narrative of Arctic exploration from their point of view-both their own conquest of the area and their take on the European and American explorations-might make very interesting reading indeed!

All in all the book is well written and well researched. It would definitely appeal to anyone with an interest in history, in man against nature, in man in nature, in geography, ethnography, and 19th Century culture. Anyone with a reading level of 6th grade or above should be able to comprehend it, and it might make interesting reading especially for young men.

Frank Worsley starts his book just as he realizes that his ship Endurance is doomed to be crushed in the ice, and that's a good place to start, for the adventure was only about to begin. Worsley not only discusses the events of the Endurance expedition but his own adventures in WWI, during which his Q-ship rammed and sank a German U-boat and his final expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1922 aboard the Quest. Read this, also read "Shackleton's Boat Journey" also by Worsley, and of course Shackleton's own book "South." My only complaint about this new edition of Worsley's book is the addition of a preface by the tendentious, currently trendy, wildly overrated Patrick O'Brian, who clearly doesn't have the faintest idea what he's writing about. Read the original intro by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe, ignore O'Brian, and then learn what courage and leadership truly are.

Frank Worsley begins his book just as he realizes that his ship Endurance is doomed to be crushed in the ice, and that's a good place to start, for the adventure was only about to begin. Worsley not only discusses the events of the Endurance expedition but his own adventures in WWI, during which his Q-ship rammed and sank a German U-boat, and his final expedition with Sir Ernest Shackleton in 1922 aboard the Quest. Read this, also read "Shackleton's Boat Journey" by Worsley, and of course Shackleton's own book "South." My only complaint about this new edition of Worsley's book is the addition of a preface by the tendentious, trendy, wildly overrated Patrick O'Brian, who clearly doesn't have the faintest idea what he's writing about. Read the original intro by Admiral of the Fleet Earl Jellicoe, ignore O'Brian, and learn what courage and leadership truly are.

An absolutely unbelievable expedition and survival story. Cleary the greatest exploration of all times. Fantastic and gripping description of the hardship that the Endurance crew of 28 men had to face for one year in the harshest terrian in the world.

There are many books written on the epic voyage of Edurance. This one written by F A Worsley, the captain of the ship, who was constantly by Shackelton's side is definitely a thorough description of the entire journey, their troubles, their struggle, their joys and hope thru the voyage.

A must read for everyone. especially those interested in adventure travel, exploration and expeditions.

Also a great book on leadership lessons.

This is one terrific story. But wait, its not a story as in fiction, this is real. An incredible journey to say the least. For those unfamiliar with the story, it basically is about Helen's solo journey to the magnetic north pole with her friend an companion, Charlie the Inuit Dog.

This isn't one of those I came, I conquered stories. Helen relates her adventure in a down to earth manner letting the reader truly get a sense of the adventure, challenge, fear, hardship, and joy that she experienced. Yet don't think of this as merely a woman against nature. Its also about friendship. The friendship that became of her and her new companion Charlie. Charlie saved Helen's life on several occasions by alerting her of polar bears and in some cases even defending her from them.

This is a great read for all. The story moves quickly as it captivates the reader. I think it would be especially inspiring for anyone though perhaps women might find it even more so as it just goes to show that you can accomplish anything they set their hearts to, with a little help from a friend like Charlie.

When I first read this book in 1994, I knew right away I wanted to use it in my middle school classroom (grades 7 & 8). Helen Thayer is exactly the kind of role model you want to present to children. She embodies all the character traits you want your students to emulate, among them perserverance, positive thinking, and courage. The thrilling story she tells of her encounters with polar bears, breaking ice, and a life-threatening Arctic storm will capture your students' attention immediately and will provide you with endless interdisciplinary activities. It's also a lot fun to watch your students' faces fall when you first tell them they will be reading a story about a 50-year-old woman who circumnavigates the magnetic north pole (oh, goody!), and then listen to their protests when the period ends each day and they want to keep reading! Now THAT'S a good book!

I have had the honor of meeting Helen Thayer and wonderful Charlie. I really felt as though I had taken every step with her....without freezing to death. There have been others who attempted the same journey and did not succeed due to the polar bear scare. I have given this book, as a gift, to almost everyone I know. Could I have gotten past the fear? I don't think so. She allowed me to mentally accompany her and I thank her for that.

Could you ever imagine a gorilla having a pet cat? In the book Koko's Kitten by Dr. Francine Patterson, there is a gorilla named Koko and she has a pet cat. In the book, Koko learned over 500 words of sign language. I never knew that a gorilla could learn sign language. This is a really interesting non-fiction book. Will Koko be a good pet owner? Read and find out!

The story of Koko, the gorilla who knows sign language, and her kitten, Ball, is told by Penny Patterson, her owner and mentor. Koko loved books about cats, and one day, she got a little gray, tailess kitten of her own. Koko named the kitty All Ball. There are wonderful photos of Koko cuddling and playing with Ball. Looking at them, it's easy to see that humans don't have a monopoly on love. A sad part leads to a happy ending for the wonderful Koko, who is now 31 years old. This book is especially recommended for anyone learning sign language!

I loved this book as a child, and now, as a first year teacher, i plan to use this book in my classroom. The book is informative and sweet, and the pictures are adorable.

This book has the capacity to touch you intellectually and emotionally. It is a well written book on explorers and exploration. This book brings to life those searching for the Northwest Passage. Their struggles and hardships are well documented.

I loaned this book to a friend, who is somewhat of a stoic, and inquired how he liked it. He responded the book brought tears to his eyes. He was able to clearly envision the hardships these people endured. Amazingly, they willingly faced those hardships again to assist others.

This book takes you to a time when extrodinary hardships were dealt with as a fact of life.

I found this book a very interesting read. The photos were wonderful. It covers the varied expeditions on the quest for the Northwest Passage. Lots of people lost their lives and ultimately it was not, of course, a really usable shipping route.

The Franklin expedition and the various search parties is well covered. The one existing daguerotype of Franklin, which I had not seen, is included, as are the recent discoveries and theories about what happened.

At a bargain price, this is a nice gift book. Mine came without the tell tale black "bargain stripe" on the spine.

Wondrously illustrated with photographs, artwork, and maps, James Delgado's Across the Top Of The World: The Quest For The Northwest Passage tells of the courageous yet ultimately doomed search for a Northwest Passage across the North American continent. From the Frobisher party in 1547 to the first successful navigation in 1903-6, to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police schooner that set the stage for modern exploration using icebreakers, this historical volume portrays the pain, the toll, the struggle, and the quest of man vs. nature in absolute detail. The narrative text is exhaustively researched and so detailed as to metaphorically transport the reader along with the famous journeys. Across The Top Of The World is enthusiastically recommended public library American history collections and for anyone with a keen interest in this fascinating part of American history.

This is one of those rare books that will stand larger with time. Waterman's journey through the Arctic Circle becomes a circling through both a culture and through the soloist's heart, a sort of Odyssey by kayak and with shotgun. There is everything to admire about this thoughtful book, the writing, the almost transparent self protrait, the ineffable scholarship, the raw adventure, and - refreshingly in this day of chest-thumping adrenaline junkies - an ethic of self preservation vs. summit-fever risk taking. Ironically, as the author set out upon this solitary epic, his stated intention was to avoid an epic. He judges the sea currents the way he judges bear tracks, with an eye to not only surviving, but thriving. His storytelling is pitch perfect. In presenting the Inuit, he gives us an ancient hunter culture stripped of the noble savage. He sketches the overlay of post-modern Western civilization in the "wastelands" without a preachment, only a fenceline in the middle of nowhere and surly guards on alert against no one. As icebergs metamorphose into animals, and animals shape-shift into driftwood, we grow into an alternate reality, one where trees are like magical trespassers. He shows this immortal land as entirely mortal and vulnerable, nothing new there. But where he finds a long dead Western explorer, it is cautionary, for it is himself - and us - that lie in the barrens without a witness. All in all, Arctic Crossing is a haunting book, beautifully written, utterly authentic, wise, poignant, and warmed throughout by one man's quest for the human condition.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me because I have always been interested in the native people of Alaska and Canada. Jonathan Waterman, in "Arctic Crossings", is very sensative to the Inuit story, not only their history, but also the tenuous circumstances of their lives today. Also, I was very touched by the sharing of his tender emotions about being alone on a long voyage. AND, I loved his descriptions of the wild life, especially the bears, throughout the book. Included are extrordinry color photographs of wildlife as well as different passages of the trip. The Banff Book Awards agreed: This book was choosen and the Best Adventure Travel Book of 2001.

I like Jon's writing, it's filled with thought and insight into the place where he is. Wether he's preparing to climb the mountains of Alaska, kayak the gulf of Baja, or traverse the frigid Canadian Arctic, Jon does his homework. I am impressed by the degree of research he puts in prior to embarking on a trip. For it is not just the how of adventuring, the going from point A to B that concerns him, but rather who has been there before, who is there now, what was this place like and how has it changed for better or worse.

In this, his eighth book, he tells us about his 1997 2,200-mile journey across the Arctic, much of it alone. Here are his first-hand observations of the Inuit - their life, language, beliefs, and their reactions to global assimilation. He also reveals the extreme physical risks and psychological dangers as he kayaked and skied the legendary Northwest Passage. This book recently won the 2001 Banff Mountain Book Festival Best Adventure Travel Book Award.

You can't go wrong with any of Jon's books. I look forward to his next work!

Among all Shackleton's achievements and triumphs, great as they were, his one failure was the most glorious. By self-sacrifice and throwing his own life into the balance he saved all of his men.
This is how Worsley ends his book that describes exactly how Shackleton was able to save them all. Though for this part of the journey, the amazing boat trip to South Georgia, perhaps it was not so much Shackleton as Worlsey who saved them all. Written by a down-to-earth practical man it is easy to get completely caught up in the story. Even after finishing the book, you will find it hard to stop thinking about this fantastic achievement of navigational skills.
Before reading this book, I strongly recommed the book "Endurance".

Frank Worsley's description of the boat journey he made with Shackleton and two other crewmen of the Endurance is remarkable not only for the adventure it tells, but for the language it is told in and the largeness of spirit that it demonstrates. When I first read this--a battered copy in the local library--I felt that every teenager in the United States should have the opportunity to experience the strength of character, understanding and fine prose style Worsley demonstrates in this tremendously exciting adventure story. His description of Shackleton's leadership qualities is insightful and generous. His own navigational miracle of bringing this tiny craft across the wildest seas in the world to the relatively small island of South Georgia is understated. This book is inspirational in the best sort of honest and clear way. I have been to Elephant Island and S. Georgia and my admiration is increased by the experience.

Frank Worsley, the Captain of Shackleton's Endurance, is a surprisingly competent writer with a style that has a knack for the wonderous details of nature as well as the humorous side of things needed in desparate situations.

The book begins with the 3 boats making the dash towards Elephant Island. Most of the book naturally details the journey of the James Caird to South Georgia. Worsley, though very quirky in personality, was an incredibly resourceful, couargeouse man and a navigator without peer. Without him there would have a loss of all lives.

Though at times Worsley may confuse the non-sailing reader with his descriptions of their sailing technique(especially the venacular terms), he nevertheless manages to make you feel you are right in the boat with them. His descriptions of waves, icebergs, etc. are brilliant. He also has a wonderful sense of humor. He has an ability to coin a phrase in that Edwardian period style that is almost poetic. He came from an educated family in New Zealand and it shows.

He also brings great detail to the shorter but still dramatic crossing of South Georgia.

Overall, it is a wonderful book that is alive with details and personal perspectives from a man with a superb mind and great heart.

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OK, just go order this book right now and read it.

Now that we have that out of the way. Wow what a story! Ernest Shackleton what a man. Since the south pole had already been "discovered", in 1914 Shackelton decided to dog sled across the continent of Antarctica! Unfortunately opon reaching the east coast his ship became locked in the ice eventually completely demolished by the ice flow. Cast out they lived on a floating ice pack for five months! When they were down to one small berg they abandoned the ice and sailed in very small lifeboats to a barren rock Elephant Island. Here the majority stayed behind and Shackleton and small group sailed again in one of the lifeboats over 600 miles to a whaling port! Talk about endurance, the word pales in the accomplishment of these men. And mostly in the fortitude of will that one man Shackleton had.

Some enlightening aspects:

The men on Elephant Island so desperate for cigarettes they smoked the inside packing of their boots.

Shackleton dirty, stinky and having just climbed over impassible mountains knocking on the door of the whaling portmasters door and stating:

"My Name is Shackleton".

I highly recommend this white-knuckle, bone crunching, gut-wrenching adventure story that you will not be able to put down and will enthrall you. I was so excited I also bought the complete photo record by Frank Hurly.
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I literally couldn't put this book down. And that rarely happens. Yes, the story begins slowly as Lansing has to give us some background on the crew and some context for the expedition, which goes as planned for the first few months. But both the story and Lansing's telling of it become increasingly compelling as the events become more and more unbearable.

I mean, think about being stuck on a floating island of ice for 5 months, eating seals and penguins, exposed continually to sub-freezing (even sub-zero) conditions roughly 1000 miles from civilization's last outpost. And the truly horrendous conditions are yet to come! The story pushes you well into the territory of the unimaginable... and just keeps going. There seems no end to their trials, no constraints on the degree of their suffering. And yet all survive.

Others have said the Lansing version is the best, and I was very satisfied to read it first. It has narrative power. But I would also recommend you buy Caroline Alexander's book as a companion, mainly for Hurley's amazing photos but also for even more context on the flawed aspects of most expeditions during this period and the class differences among the Endurance's crew.

Still, this a story everyone should know. It really stretches the limits of what one imagines is humanly possible for one to endure. It's as if Shackleton and his men made definitive claim, for all time, to some capacity for survival that should make us all potentially much stronger than we tend to think we are.

The story of the ill-fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, bent on glory, but ultimately humbled to the barest thread of survival. The Endurance becomes locked in an ice pack in the Weddell Sea, and is eventually crushed and sunk. The ship goes screaming into the icy deep. The men scurry for safety onto the surrounding ice. And that's just the beginning. I'm frankly surprised ANYONE survived this horrendous ordeal; if this were a novel, I'd say it's far-fetched. But it happened, and all hands survived. Imagine an acute scarcity of food, months on end in darkness, an interminable landscape of featureless whiteness, no sanitary facilities, and all through this you're cold and wet, and it's windy, and the temperature's below zero. You eat your sled dogs. You're nauseated from undercooked food. Your face and hands are frostbitten. You shiver even in your sleep. And no one knows you're marooned. Your only escape is to travel by open boat through the gale-wracked Drake Passage-the most treacherous body of water on Earth. Imagine your fingers are frozen numb, and yet you must chip off ice from the sail, and raise the sail, and tie the lines fast. Otherwise you'll sink and die. These men did the impossible-and they lived to tell about it.