Buddy Levy

The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition

Labyrinth of Ice

altlovesbooks

"Did what I came to do."

Polar expeditions are my nonfiction guilty pleasure. In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette was my first, and I've consumed a few others since then. They never get old, and I never tire of reading about these brave people who want to go where nobody else dared.

What I liked about this book specifically is how well it dovetails with In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette. This book follows the Greely expedition, which departs after De Long and the Jeanette have gone missing but before word of their eventual fate reaches back home. One of Greely's goals, actually, was to uncover any information about the Jeannette, while also attempting to reach furthest north and discover a viable northern sea route. He does not actually discover anything, but I liked the way this book fits nicely with the other story of another doomed polar expedition.

I also liked how this book starts immediately at the beginning of the voyage. There's something to be said for cutting out all the "how did we get here" backstory that the other polar expedition books I've read had in spades, and getting right into the thick of things. It was refreshing getting to know the players of the voyage, while also almost immediately reading about their polar and personnel problems. 

If someone were to ask me for the one book about a polar expedition book I've read that I'd recommend to someone who had never read one before, I think this would be it. Action, drama, near misses, bears, attempted mutiny, food store pilfering, frostbite, insubordination, implied cannibalism, the eating of shoes, this book has all that and more. It's really entertaining!

Labyrinth of Ice The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition

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