Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen: Ambition and Tragedy in the Antarctic.

Thomson, David. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2002 [first published 1977].
  • Antarctic Reading: General
 Preview 

A revision of a pre-Huntford critical work on Scott, though he says he didn’t know he was writing a “debunking” biography in 1977. Doesn’t have the acerbic bite of Huntford, but has something critical to say about all three explorers.

The Noose of Laurels: Robert E. Peary and the Race to the North Pole.

Herbert, Wally. New York: Athenaeum, 1989.
  • 1891-1920 Robert Peary and the Search for the North Pole; 1908-09 US North Pole Expeditions under Robert E. Peary (aboard Roosevelt).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

A genuine attempt at an objective assessment of Peary and his North Pole claim, which Herbert eventually concludes to have been off the mark, probably by 50 miles. He carefully avoids anything that might be prejudicial against Peary, but he doesn’t seem to, the same restraint re Cook (but that itself might be prejudicial on my part). In the end he does seem to vindicate Peary as national hero (see Lisa Bloom).

Cruise of the United States Frigate Potomac Round the World, During the Years 1831-34, Embracing The Attack of Quallah Battoo…..

Warriner, Francis. New-York: Leavitt, Lord; Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1835.
  • 1831-34 US Circumnavigation (Downes aboard Potomac ).
  • Global Circumnavigations and Cape Horn Transits.
  • Maritime Reading
 Preview 

First destination on this US cruise was Sumatra where an American vessel had been attacked by Malay natives. The cruise is most well known for the Potomac’s vindictive and intentionally revengeful attack on those Malays, the people of Quallah Battoo for their earlier attacks. Much of the beginning of the book deals with the skirmishes between the Western and Malay forces, but they need not concern us. Rather we have here some passages dealing with instruction in literacy and religion, the reading of Scripture, and accounts of libraries on the cruise route.

Icebound in the Siberian Arctic: The Story of the Last Cruise of the Fur Schooner

Gleason, Robert J. Nanuk and the International Search for Famous Arctic Pilot Carl Ben Eielson . Anchorage, AK: Alaska Northwest Pub. Co., 1982.
  • 1928-29 Soviet Trading Voyage in Northwest Passage (aboard Nanuk).
  • Arctic Reading: Russia
 Preview 

The story of a fur trading vessel that wintered over at North Cape near the Bering Straits among Chukchi Eskimos, together with an account of the rescue attempt by air of Carl Ben Eielson, founder of Alaskan Airlines. In 1929, Eielson died alongside his mechanic Earl Borland in an air crash while attempting to evacuate furs and personnel from the Nanuk , then trapped at North Cape.

Son of the North.

Roberts, Osseannah. Boston, MA: C. M. Clark Publishing Co., 1908.
  • Arctic Reading: Canada
 Preview 

A fictional romance of North Canada about immigrants from Scotland, with a few reports of reading incorporated into the novel.

No Man’s Land: A History of Spitsbergen from its Discovery in 1596 to the Beginning of the Scientific Exploration of the Country.

Conway, Sir William Martin. Cambridge: University Press, 1906.
  • Arctic Reading: Europe including Scandinavia
 Preview 

A general history of the archipelago, based on Conway’s studies and his earlier visits. Although he reviews a number of books in preparation for his manuscript, he does not here reveal the thoughtful reader who appears in his earlier narratves

Island of the Lost.

Cooper, Paul Fenimore. (New York: G. P. Putnam’s sons, 1961).
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

This is an elegant little book posing as a biography of King William Island and a vehicle for telling its indigenous history, the story of the Franklin debacle (prior to discovery of the sunken Erebus), and a fairly brief account of the Franklin Search.

Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt: Only Survivor of the Crew of the Ship Boston, During a Captivity of Nearly Three Years among the Savages of Nootka Sound… .

Jewett, John R. New York: Printed for the Publisher [1840].
  • Whalemen's Reading
 Preview 

Jewett’s first voyage in 1803 involved some whaling and sealing in the Pacific Northwest, but it was a short time before the ship was captured by the Nootka people and most of the crew killed. Most of the book is devoted to his 28 months of captivity, and his analysis of the Nootka natives.

Journal of a Voyage to the Arctic 1901-02. S S Discovery.

Duncan, James. By J. Duncan. Typescript of Manuscript Journal. Dundee, Scotland: Dundee Art Galleries and Museums. Human History Section, 1973?.
  • 1901-04 British National Antarctic Expedition (Scott aboard Discovery).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Duncan was a civilian shipwright from Dundee who helped build the Discovery and joined the expedition as an able bodied seaman when the ship was completed. He served as carpenter and in other construction projects (e.g., the Wind Mill) and sometimes as cook, and returned with the Morning after one year. His spelling is phonetic at best (or was it the typist’s?) so that proper names become an interesting puzzle as presented in this transcript. When at sea the journal reads much like a deck log but there is some more substance in the entries made ashore. Here are a few examples of his journal style:

The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909

Berton, Pierre. New York, Viking, 1988. [Penguin Books ed., 1989].
  • Arctic Reading: General
 Preview 

The late Pierre Berton (d. 2016) was a Canadian writer on northern affairs combining a lyrical capacity to capture the history of the North with a critical sympathy and perhaps undue haste. Here he covers a century of exploration, ending in the middle of the “Heroic Age” with Peary’s last expedition.

Dead Reckoning: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage.

McGoogan, Ken. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2017.
  • Arctic Reading: General
 Preview 

McGoogan claims to bring a new integrative emphasis to the indigenous elements involved in the search for the Northwest Passage adding to the British focus on the Royal Navy. The work is a broad overview of this history but not so innovative as it seems to claim. His final chapter 32 is called “Erebus and Terror Validate Inuit Testimony,” citing the discovery of the two ships (2014, 2016) as Inuit Vindication.

N by E.

Kent, Rockwell. New York: Brewer & Warren, 1930.
  • 1929 Private US Voyage to Greenland (aboard Direction with Arthur Allen and Rockwell Kent).
  • Arctic Reading: United States
 Preview 

An account of Kent’s small-boat journey with Arthur Allen on the yacht Direction from New York to Greenland, its wreck, and other adventures.

Antarctic Hazard.

Cockrill, Ross. New York: Philosophical Library, 1957.
  • 1950-51 British Whaling Expedition (aboard Southern Venturer).
  • Antarctic Reading: Expeditions
 Preview 

Cockrill applied for the job of veterinarian on the British whaling expedition aboard the Southern Venturer in 1950-51, to evaluate the Antarctic whaling population, its health and welfare and the likely survival of the whaling industry in its postwar rebound. Cockrill has a charming style displaying admirable equanimity amidst fanatic whalemen. His ship was part of a large fleet of vessels making annual expeditions which typically killed 34,000 whales.

Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin and the Discovery of the Queen’s Ghost Ship.

Sandler, Martin. New York: Sterling Publishing, 2006.
  • 1848-59 The Franklin Search.
  • Arctic Reading: Great Britain
 Preview 

[ABEBOOKS Description]: Almost everyone knows the photo of John F. Kennedy, Jr. as a young boy, peering out from under his father's desk in the Oval Office. But few realize that the desk itself plays a part in one of the world's most extraordinary mysteries - a dramatic tale that has never before been told in its full scope. Acclaimed historian Martin Sandler - a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, winner of seven Emmy Awards, and author of more than 50 books - finally brings the entire story to light. This amazing high-seas adventure encompasses the search for the Northwest Passage in the early 1800s; a renowned explorer and his crew of 128 men who vanish during an 1845 expedition; 39 incredible, heroic attempted rescue missions; a ghost ship that drifts for more than 1,200 miles; a queen's gratitude; and that famous desk. Fascinating rare photographs, paintings, engravings, and maps illustrate the book throughout. It all began when, in one of the biggest news stories of the 19th century, Sir John Franklin and his ships the Erebus and the Terror disappeared while attempting to locate the fabled Northwest Passage. At the request of Franklin's wife, Lady Jane, the first mission set out from England in hopes of finding him; many others followed in its wake, none successful. Among these was the Resolute, the finest vessel in Queen Victoria's Navy. But in 1854 it became locked in Arctic ice and was abandoned by its captain. A year later, a Connecticut whaler discovered it 1,200 miles away - drifting and deserted, a 600-ton ghost ship. He and his small crew boarded the Resolute, and steered it through a ferocious hurricane back to New London, Connecticut. The United States government then reoutfitted the ship and returned it to the thankful Queen. In 1879, when the Resolute was finally retired, she had the best timbers made into a desk for then-President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is still used by U.S. presidents today— one of the most celebrated pieces of furniture in the White House.