Into the Ice The Story of Arctic Exploration

The Far North has always been a place of mystery. Alien & wild, it has the powerful allure of the unknown, a call explorers have heeded for hundreds of years. First came the search for a route through the polar ice cap to the rich lands of Asia. The Northeast & Northwest Passages were painstakingly traced. Then the race was on to one of the remotest points on earth -- the North Pole. The desire for knowledge, wealth, adventure, & fame fueled expedition after expedition. Some arctic explorers met with success & celebrity; others found madness & death; while a few simply disappeared, never to be seen again. This book traces the slow unveiling of the secrets of this frozen region, a majestic place that has been traveled but never tamed. Full-color illus.