A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton

4.0

I think sub titles for books like this should “White Men Doing Stupid Things When They Should Have Asked Natives Instead”.

Because honestly, it would have been much easier if they had just followed the Inuit.

This massive book is about the discovery and exploration of the Arctic. There is much analysis of why the white men were so stupid (and Berton, who was knighted, is very quick to point out not only how famous explorers treated each other, but how they disregarded and mistreated the Inuit). It is rather engrossing, and this is helped because it is split into sections that are split into smaller “chapters”. Well worth the read if you are interested in the whole freezing the cold thing.