Balchen, Bernt, 1899-1979—Norwegian/American Explorer and Pilot. From a very early age Balchen was fascinated by the allure of the Polar regions and the prospect of using aviation to explore them. From 1925 until well after World War II he was involved in many of the most dramatic and often dangerous exploits of many of the Polar explorers and he knew most of them: Amundsen, Nobile, Ellsworth, Byrd, etc. and he is widely believed to be the first person to fly over both Poles, with Amundsen in the North and Byrd in the South. He held dual citizenship of both Norway and the United States, and served in the US Army Air Force in secret operations supporting the Norwegian resistance during the World War II.
Come North with Me: An Autobiography.
Balchen, Bernt. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1958.
- Antarctic Reading: General
Preview
The Ice Museum: In Search of the Lost Land of Thule.
Kavenna, Joanna. London: Viking/Penguin Books, 2005.
- Greenland.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
Joanna Kavenna went north in search of the Atlantis of the Arctic, the mythical land of Thule. Seen once by an Ancient Greek explorer and never found again, mysterious Thule came to represent the vast and empty spaces of the north. Fascinated for many years by Arctic places, Kavenna decided to travel through the lands that have been called Thule, from Shetland to Iceland, Norway, Estonia, and Greenland. On her journey, she found traces of earlier writers and travellers, all compelled by the idea of a land called Thule: Richard Francis Burton, William Morris, Anthony Trollope, as well as the Norwegian Polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen . . . The Ice Museum is a mesmerising story of idealism and ambition, wars and destruction, survival and memories, set against the haunting backdrop of the northern landscape. Bookseller Inventory #0670913952
Of Whales and Men.
Robertson, R. B. New York: Knopf, 1954.
- 1950-51 British Whaling Expedition (aboard Southern Venturer).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
A delightful account of a ship’s doctor on an 8-month cruise of a whaling factory ship, with something of a psychological emphasis on the men he was with, and several references to his shipborn reading.
A Voyage Around the World with the Romanzov Exploring Expedition in the years 1815-1818 in the Brig Rurik, Captain Otto von Kotzebue.
Chamisso, Adelbert von. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
Preview
p. 27, a paeon to the son of Kotzebue, the German-born, Russian sea captain on his circumnavigation: How often in the far ends of the earth, namely on O-Wahu [O’ahu], Guaján [Guam], etc., have I been praised for my small share in the enterprise of his son, in order to cast a hem of the mantle of his fame over me. Everywhere we heard his name mentioned. American newspapers reported that The Stranger had been performed to extraordinary applause. All the libraries in the Aleutian Islands, as far as I have investigated them, consisted of a single volume of the Russian translation of Kotzebue.
Cruising in the Antarctic.
Solyanik, A. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1956.
- Whalemen's Reading
Preview
Recounts a whaling journey from Odessa to Antarctica in 1952-53 in a flotilla of 16 ships. Rather typical Soviet narrative with great harmony, a few problems heroically overcome, and excellent discipline:
The Polar Regions.
Richardson, Sir John. Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1861.
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
Richardson worked with Franklin in two overland expeditions much as Edward Wilson worked with Robert Falcon Scott on two Antarctic journeys, the last one fatal to both explorers. Naturalist, surgeon, explorer, and eventually librarian of Haslar Hospital. In this general overview of the [chiefly northern ] Polar Regions, Richardson shows his erudition while summing up his wide experience of the North.
Typescript of Orde Lees diary prepared by him for Shackleton.
Orde Lees, Thomas. SPRI MS 1605/5/1.
- 1914-16 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Shackleton on Endurance).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
Apparently Lees edited his diary, eliminating the first person, as grist for Shackleton’s book on the expedition—refers to himself in third person (Lees is our mess man) and Shackleton as Sir Ernest. Always seems excessively deferential to Shackleton, particularly in this typescript which Lees prepared for Sir Ernest.
Ice.
Jones, Tristan. Kansas City, KS: Sheed Andrews and McMeel, 1978.
- Arctic Reading: General
Preview
Narrative of the author's attempt to sail singlehandedly as close as possible to the North Pole.
Bob Bartlett: Master Mariner.
Green, Fitzhugh. New York: Putnam’s, 1929.
- Arctic Reading: Canada
Preview
A juvenile account of Bartlett’s life up to his late 20s. Chapters include introduction on Bartlett’s own skepticism about books in general and on him in particular; his abortive Methodist College divinity studies in St. John’s at age 15; his first command of a fishing boat; sealing; his maritime certification; Peary’s Windward in 1898; Ootark and building snow igloos; the first and nearly disastrous Roosevelt trip when they had to cannibalize the ship for fuel returning to Newfoundland; the polar sledging trip; Dr. Cook, the “faker”; Karluk; Morissey; and a final tribute to the natives: I feel that men like Ootark, Seegloo, and Inughitag should have their pictures and stories go into permanent form…. If he [Ootark] can’t go into the Hall of Fame, he at least ought to have his name on the vestibule list. (p. 208-09).
Shores of the Polar Sea: A Narrative of the Arctic Expedition of 1875-6.
Moss, Edward L. (London: Marcus Ward & Co., 1878).
- Arctic Reading: Great Britain
Preview
p. 9: While our two ships steamed northward along the west shores of Greenland, the novel charm of constant daylight was felt by every one. We all had our own ideas of what Arctic summer would be like, but ideas drawn from books rarely remain unchanged when brought face to face with reality. Although the passage into perpetual day was of course gradual, yet it was quite rapid enough to upset all regular habits.
Antarctica. By A. S. Helm and J. H. Miller. The Story of the New Zealand Party of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Helm, A. S. Wellington, NZ: R.E. Owen, Government Printer, 1964.
- 1955-58 TAE: Trans-Antarctic Expedition (Fuchs and Hillary).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
The official account of the New Zealand part of the Fuchs/Hillary expedition, the one based at Scott Base near McMurdo which in addition to its Trans-Antarctic work sponsored some sledge journey surveys of the Darwin Glacier and other areas.
Fourteen Men: The Story of the Antarctic Expedition to Heard Island
Scholes, Arthur. New York: Dutton, 1952.
- 1947-49 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (Heard Island and Macquarie Island).
- Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
Preview
An expedition of scientific research, chiefly meteorological and magnetic, but with an interest in Australian claims in Antarctica. Stokes was a radioman but also one of the “mets.” The Captain of the ship was Lt. Cmd. George Dixon; the leader of the shore party for Heard Island was Stuart Campbell. The ship was Ellsworth’s Wyatt Earp, where the officers and men were separated even for the alternate night movies. The trip to Heard Island (4000 kilometers southwest of Australia) was so full of weather-related dangers that references to reading do not occur until one third of the way into the book, and then not very many. Most winterover books have a central winter chapter (July/August) that discusses what the men did to pass the time. This lacks such a chapter, never talks about what the author himself read, and mainly recounts weather-related adventures during that period. Most of the last 150 pages deals with the fauna of Heard Island.
The Tragedy of the Italia, with the Rescuers to the Red Tent.
Giudici, Davide. New York: Appleton, 1929.
- 1928 Italian North Pole Flight of Umberto Nobile (aboard the airship Italia).
- Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
Preview
An account by an Italian reporter aboard a Russian icebreaker looking for Nobile after the airship had crashed.
Arctic Dreams: Imagination and Desire in a Northern Landscape.
Lopez, Barry. New York, Bantam Books, 1987.
- Arctic Reading: General
Preview
This is simply one of the best-written books of Arctic history and description: This is a land where airplanes track icebergs the size of Cleveland and polar bears fly down out of the stars. It is a region, like the desert, rich with metaphor, with adumbration. In a simple bow from the waist before the nest of the horned lark, you are able to stake your life, again, in what you dream. (Preface, p. xxix.)
Fatal North: Adventure and Survival Aboard USS
Henderson, Bruce. Polaris, the First U.S. Expedition to the North Pole. New York: New American Library, 2001.
- 1870-73 US North Pole Expedition of Charles Hall (aboard USS Polaris).
- Arctic Reading: United States
Preview
A mediocre recounting of the Polaris expedition, the poisoning of Captain Hall, the Tyson trip on the ice floe. Nothing about reading except one note on the presence of books.