Reviews

absolutely riveting..! a deeply engaging book that packs such a punch on every front: personal hubris and search for glory, discovery; nascent international cooperation in an era of fractious nation building; extreme isolation, fascinating psycho-social response to extreme isolation, dark and cold; innovation in face of the most extreme obstacles one could dream of. and all told with incredible detail backed by text.

I love historical non-fiction that seamlessly weaves impressions and descriptions and detail to a point that it inspires incredulity — I want to hear so much that I ask myself, okay, but how do we /know/? luckily, incredibly, this journey was thoroughly documented, and the book meticulously pulls from existing accounts, diaries, memoirs, archives etc. we have extensive personal rumination from not one but several people, and it adds so much. Everything quoted or paraphrased is backed by primary texts, and while the reliability of the accounts themselves is it’s own question (discussed in the book), this is just, to me, the gold standard for historical narrative writing, and doesn’t compromise on accuracy or citations to get the story through.

i also have to really applaud the book’s pacing. whereas the tale of a group trapped in ice slipping slowly into medical and mental decline could grow monotonous in the hands of another author, Sancton did /such/ a good job of presenting us with the fleshed out, complicated motivations and backgrounds of our officers and crew and so their plight is that much more compelling. of course it helps that the story of the journey itself is absolutely wild and mind-boggling.

TLDR: GREAT book, insane events and insanely great research, pacing and writing, would recommend to everyone !

dexterdoolittle's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Incredibly well researched and respected material on board the Belgica, this is a slowing burning book as it gathers momentum through the arctic sea of ice is when all hope is lost for the crew.