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To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration
In theÌýspirit of bestselling adventure narratives In the Kingdom of Ice, In the Heart of the Sea, and The Lost City of Z, Pulitzer Prize–winning historianÌýEdward J. Larson's To the Edges of the EarthÌýbrings to life the climax of the age of exploration: in the year 1909 expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica, and Himalaya pushed human accomplishment to the extremes and setÌýrecordsÌýfor altitude and the farthest north and south.
In 1909, three daring expeditions pushed to the edges of the globe, bringing within reach, for the first time, a complete accounting of all the earth’s surface. In January, Douglas Mawson, as part of Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica, became the first man to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Soon after, Shackleton himselfÌýset a new farthest south record in pursuit of the Geographic South Pole. In April, American Robert Peary, with Matthew Henson, claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole. And in the Himalayas—the so-called "Third Pole," the pole of altitudeâ€� a team led by legendary mountaineer and dashing Italian Prince Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi,Ìýreached 24,600 feet, settingÌýa worldÌýaltitude record that would stand for a generation.
Drawing on both archival and on-the-ground research (he lived for two weeks in Shackleton's Antarctic hut),ÌýLarson interweaves the stories of these three expeditions into oneÌýdazzling adventure narrativeÌýthat illuminates the spirit ofÌýthe age.
In 1909, three daring expeditions pushed to the edges of the globe, bringing within reach, for the first time, a complete accounting of all the earth’s surface. In January, Douglas Mawson, as part of Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica, became the first man to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Soon after, Shackleton himselfÌýset a new farthest south record in pursuit of the Geographic South Pole. In April, American Robert Peary, with Matthew Henson, claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole. And in the Himalayas—the so-called "Third Pole," the pole of altitudeâ€� a team led by legendary mountaineer and dashing Italian Prince Luigi Amedeo, the Duke of Abruzzi,Ìýreached 24,600 feet, settingÌýa worldÌýaltitude record that would stand for a generation.
Drawing on both archival and on-the-ground research (he lived for two weeks in Shackleton's Antarctic hut),ÌýLarson interweaves the stories of these three expeditions into oneÌýdazzling adventure narrativeÌýthat illuminates the spirit ofÌýthe age.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 13, 2018
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About the author
Edward J. Larson
30Ìýbooks166ÌýfollowersEdward J. Larson is the author of many acclaimed works in American history, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the Scopes Trial, Summer for the Gods. He is University Professor of History and Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, and lives with his family near Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
April 25, 2024
3.5 stars
I found the parts of this book better than the whole. Larsen certainly tried hard to make the three poles attempted in 1909, North Pole, South Pole, and the Pole of Altitude linked to some way. I feel he did not succeed, and in fact the attempt to link felt very forced. Saying that, the individual attempts were interesting even though it did not seem like a race like the title of the book promised.
I liked how Larsen was able to portray the personalities of Peary, Shackleton, and Duke Abruzzi and the leadership skills required in their amazing adventures. We learn both the positive and the negative of these brave men and also some light is shed on those who accompanied them.
I found the parts of this book better than the whole. Larsen certainly tried hard to make the three poles attempted in 1909, North Pole, South Pole, and the Pole of Altitude linked to some way. I feel he did not succeed, and in fact the attempt to link felt very forced. Saying that, the individual attempts were interesting even though it did not seem like a race like the title of the book promised.
I liked how Larsen was able to portray the personalities of Peary, Shackleton, and Duke Abruzzi and the leadership skills required in their amazing adventures. We learn both the positive and the negative of these brave men and also some light is shed on those who accompanied them.
January 23, 2020
Actually DNFing at 68%. I can't stand hearing about gross Peary, and this is slower than I expected, given "race" is in the title, lol...
May 13, 2018
This was a well-written, thoroughly researched book about polar exploration. The author focused on the successful trips to the north and south poles, as well as the “third pole� of the highest mountain, in 1909. I felt that the third pole story didn’t fit well with the other two and seemed added in to emphasize public fascination with these explorers and the extremes that they went to. Overall, this was a fascinating book.
September 3, 2018
Nice narrative of these three bigwigs in exploration of the early 20th century, it was a good effort to put all these three narratives in perspective regarding the times their respective countries were going through. If you like exploration narratives and like polar exploration retelling then this is the book for you .
March 14, 2018
One hundred years ago the world was reeling from WWI. Every value and belief once the foundation of civilization was called into question by the war.
But before the 'War to End All Wars' didn't end war, men were going on quests to conquer the unknown regions of ice. They faced gruesome suffering--loss of body parts that had frozen, physical exertion in extreme conditions, starvation, threats of crevasses that appeared out of nowhere and thin ice over frigid water.
For what? For glory.
The polar regions offered no gold or marketable flora or fauna, no open land for civilization to claim, no sunny beaches for tourism.
The men who raced to the poles or up the tallest mountains did it for fame and pride and for God and Country. They had something to prove and overwhelming ambition.
To The Edges of the Earth 1909, The Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration recounts the explorers of 1909: Peary's expedition to reach the North Pole, Shackleton's expedition to reach the South Magnetic Pole, and the Duke of Abruzzo's reach for the 'Third Pole' in the Himalayas-- the dangerous K2.
I have loved exciting, thrilling, and horrifying adventure narratives since girlhood. One of my first heroes was Robert Falcon Scott after I read The Great White South about his failed expedition to the South Pole. I have also read books about mountain climbing and K2. I haven't a thread of adventure myself, preferring a comfy chair and a cup of tea while reading about someone else risking their life.
Edward J. Larson's account strips away myths about these men. Peary especially, who may have falsely claimed to have reached the North Pole and whose treatment of Inuit, including his teenage concubine, was by our standards appalling and predatory. And the poor Inuit dogs that Peary 'borrowed,' worked to death, then fed to the other dogs (or his men, as needed.)
Shackleton was better, but there was grumbling over his leadership skills, and he did decide to take ponies to the South Pole as well as an early gasoline engine car, both quite useless.
The rich, handsome Italian Duke seems to come off the best, with few negative stories about him, and his later siding with the Allied forces during WWII.
The explorers needed to raise money to fund the trips. Money was given by rich Gilded Age barons and in exchange, they could have landmarks named after them. Their stories were sold to newspapers and magazines and printed in books. They went on the Lyceum lecture circuit with magic lantern photographs.
Peary brought back Inuit for scientific study; when they died their bones were put on display! And he stole three, huge meteorites which the natives used for iron making.
Oh, the frozen toes! The shards of frozen snow that sliced through good English Gabardine! The suffering described is horrifying. (And to think, I don't read horror stories, or at least that is what I had thought. Turns out--I do!)
Shackleton failed to reach the pole, but he was knighted anyway. Scott was already planning his expedition to the South Pole, as was Admunson, and in 1911 Scott perished while Amundsen reached the pole. Shackleton was old news but still returned in 1914-16 on the Endurance. By then WWI had consumed the world and no one had interest in men fooling around in icy realms. Shackleton died of a heart attack on his way to try one more time to reach the pole.
No one really knows if it was Cook or Peary, or Peary's companion Henson, who reached the North Pole. Or if either reached it. With no solid land, the ice over open water offered huge challenges. There were ongoing battles over their claims and bad feelings which sullied Peary's reputation.
"The time was when the search for the North Pole stood for the very acme of uncommercialized heroism," wrote Dean Shailer Mathews of the University of Chicago divinity school. Those were the days, indeed. Today, the opening of the Arctic waters brings dreams of drilling for oil and dollar signs.
The 19th c saw the rise of the romanticizing of the Arctic-- the barren, uncharted expanses of ice captivating the imagination. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein retreats to the North Pole, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins wrote the play The Frozen Deep, Frederick Church painted icebergs and Albert Bierstadt glaciers.
Could anyone then have imagined the aqua lung enabling men to view the ocean's bottom or an Endeavor that went into space? Or that the Arctic glaciers would be melting, the Arctic Ocean open and iceless?
I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
But before the 'War to End All Wars' didn't end war, men were going on quests to conquer the unknown regions of ice. They faced gruesome suffering--loss of body parts that had frozen, physical exertion in extreme conditions, starvation, threats of crevasses that appeared out of nowhere and thin ice over frigid water.
For what? For glory.
The polar regions offered no gold or marketable flora or fauna, no open land for civilization to claim, no sunny beaches for tourism.
The men who raced to the poles or up the tallest mountains did it for fame and pride and for God and Country. They had something to prove and overwhelming ambition.
To The Edges of the Earth 1909, The Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration recounts the explorers of 1909: Peary's expedition to reach the North Pole, Shackleton's expedition to reach the South Magnetic Pole, and the Duke of Abruzzo's reach for the 'Third Pole' in the Himalayas-- the dangerous K2.
I have loved exciting, thrilling, and horrifying adventure narratives since girlhood. One of my first heroes was Robert Falcon Scott after I read The Great White South about his failed expedition to the South Pole. I have also read books about mountain climbing and K2. I haven't a thread of adventure myself, preferring a comfy chair and a cup of tea while reading about someone else risking their life.
Edward J. Larson's account strips away myths about these men. Peary especially, who may have falsely claimed to have reached the North Pole and whose treatment of Inuit, including his teenage concubine, was by our standards appalling and predatory. And the poor Inuit dogs that Peary 'borrowed,' worked to death, then fed to the other dogs (or his men, as needed.)
Shackleton was better, but there was grumbling over his leadership skills, and he did decide to take ponies to the South Pole as well as an early gasoline engine car, both quite useless.
The rich, handsome Italian Duke seems to come off the best, with few negative stories about him, and his later siding with the Allied forces during WWII.
The explorers needed to raise money to fund the trips. Money was given by rich Gilded Age barons and in exchange, they could have landmarks named after them. Their stories were sold to newspapers and magazines and printed in books. They went on the Lyceum lecture circuit with magic lantern photographs.
Peary brought back Inuit for scientific study; when they died their bones were put on display! And he stole three, huge meteorites which the natives used for iron making.
Oh, the frozen toes! The shards of frozen snow that sliced through good English Gabardine! The suffering described is horrifying. (And to think, I don't read horror stories, or at least that is what I had thought. Turns out--I do!)
Shackleton failed to reach the pole, but he was knighted anyway. Scott was already planning his expedition to the South Pole, as was Admunson, and in 1911 Scott perished while Amundsen reached the pole. Shackleton was old news but still returned in 1914-16 on the Endurance. By then WWI had consumed the world and no one had interest in men fooling around in icy realms. Shackleton died of a heart attack on his way to try one more time to reach the pole.
No one really knows if it was Cook or Peary, or Peary's companion Henson, who reached the North Pole. Or if either reached it. With no solid land, the ice over open water offered huge challenges. There were ongoing battles over their claims and bad feelings which sullied Peary's reputation.
"The time was when the search for the North Pole stood for the very acme of uncommercialized heroism," wrote Dean Shailer Mathews of the University of Chicago divinity school. Those were the days, indeed. Today, the opening of the Arctic waters brings dreams of drilling for oil and dollar signs.
The 19th c saw the rise of the romanticizing of the Arctic-- the barren, uncharted expanses of ice captivating the imagination. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein retreats to the North Pole, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins wrote the play The Frozen Deep, Frederick Church painted icebergs and Albert Bierstadt glaciers.
Could anyone then have imagined the aqua lung enabling men to view the ocean's bottom or an Endeavor that went into space? Or that the Arctic glaciers would be melting, the Arctic Ocean open and iceless?
I received a free ebook from the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
October 22, 2024
This book recounts three expeditions that took place in 1909: Robert Peary's attempt to reach the North Pole, Ernest Shackleton's effort to reach the South Pole, and the Duke of Abruzzi's assault on the K2 in the Karakoram. It is well-written and well researched. It puts the three expeditions in context by covering the history of previous polar explorations. It also covers Douglas Mawson’s attainment of the South Magnetic Pole, and Frederick Cook’s claim to have reached the North Pole, which was later debunked.
It is structured in an alternating narrative between Peary’s North Pole and Shackleton’s South Pole endeavors, with a separate later segment on the Duke of Abruzzi’s mountaineering. The author portrays both the strengths and faults of the leaders of these expeditions. I feel the structure got in the way a bit, and that the story of the “third pole� (altitude) does not really fit very well with the other two. While interesting, it seems extraneous.
Despite the rather arbitrary inclusion of a “third pole,� I found the content informative and entertaining. The author does not scrimp on the discomforts they faced, such as frostbite, starvation, unpredictable weather conditions, and threats of falling into constantly shifting crevasses, not to mention having to kill and eat their transportation. I am always amazed that the early explorers achieved so much despite the lack of modern fabrics and equipment. It will appeal to those interested in early explorations in the extreme cold.
It is structured in an alternating narrative between Peary’s North Pole and Shackleton’s South Pole endeavors, with a separate later segment on the Duke of Abruzzi’s mountaineering. The author portrays both the strengths and faults of the leaders of these expeditions. I feel the structure got in the way a bit, and that the story of the “third pole� (altitude) does not really fit very well with the other two. While interesting, it seems extraneous.
Despite the rather arbitrary inclusion of a “third pole,� I found the content informative and entertaining. The author does not scrimp on the discomforts they faced, such as frostbite, starvation, unpredictable weather conditions, and threats of falling into constantly shifting crevasses, not to mention having to kill and eat their transportation. I am always amazed that the early explorers achieved so much despite the lack of modern fabrics and equipment. It will appeal to those interested in early explorations in the extreme cold.
September 10, 2018
A fine cultural history by Larson (I also enjoyed his earlier book about the Scopes Trial, Summer for the Gods). I liked the rotating triple foci - Arctic-North Pole, Antarctica-South Pole, and "top of the world"-Himalayan peaks. One aspect that made this different from some of the other histories of Shackleton, Peary, Cook, et al. was the extent of Larson's attention to the animals on these expeditions. He appears to make an effort to always describe, mention, or devote sentences to the plight of the poor suffering dogs and terrified ponies that were used and abused (and consumed) on each trek. I could say it's my only complaint about the book (though not a true complaint, of course): I could never distance myself from these suffering creatures - Larson didn't allow me to compartmentalize their pain nor to conveniently forget the animals. Which made for painful reading.
January 11, 2019
To the edges of the earth drove me to the edges of patience. This book, while admirable in its aims, that of giving an account of the climax of the age of exploration, was both to broad and to narrow to create a compelling narrative. I kept thinking throughout that it could have been so much better then it has ultimately was. It either needed to be a more personal account, of fewer explorers, or a larger perspective on the state of the world that led to such prolific explorations. Moreover, it seems that all the author has done is take famous accounts and condense them into this book. That being said, I could still see this being a valuable book for those who don’t have the time or inclination to read much better works on the subject, like “Endurance� by Lansing, or “True North� by Henderson (though I have only heard second hand of its quality). Overall, it was a passable book, that I would not recommend.
January 3, 2018
I am not sure if the men in this book were extraordinarily brave or just a bit crazy. It probably is a bit of both. The conditions they experienced on their quests to be the first to the poles was mind blowing. I don't know how they could go back again and again trying to achieve their goals. Especially as others paid the ultimate price of their lives in their failed attempts. A perfect read for this colder than normal winter we are experiencing. It comes out on March 13.
June 9, 2019
One theme of this book is never give up. One example is that Peary, who was trying to reach the North Pole, tried 5 times before actually reaching the pole. Another example is that Shackleton, who was trying to reach the South Pole, had a horrid journey with lack of strength to move things and lack of food but still carried on. The only person who did not have any problems was the Duke of Abruzzi who reached the peak of K2 generally easy.
May 12, 2018
If it had been the first book I've read on polar exploration I would have given it 4 stars. Edward's blending of the stories read well with the intermingeling of the three expeditions. A very interesting year in exploration. I did learn about Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, whom I had no knowledge about and did throughly enjoy the read. After reading books like, In the Kingdom of Ice, Magellan: Over the Edge of the World, Aspley Cherry-Garrards The Worst Journey in the World, An Empire of Ice, etc. it may be a bit unfair to compare this book with the likes of those mentioned above.
March 9, 2024
Torn between 2 and 3 stars. On one hand it’s frustrating to hear turn of the century white men speak their mind (especially Peary), but on the other hand all of the Antarctic journey portions were very interesting. In the end, I think the author glorifies his subjects far too much.
June 14, 2020
A good book, but the format (covering a lot of ground while being locked into a single year) works against it.
April 27, 2018
I liked it. At least in an interesting and horrifying way. I can safely say that this book completely convinced me to never even consider Polar explorations. Too cold and brutal by far.
As for the book itself, I thought it focused way more on the North Pole than the South, and overall way more on the poles than on the mountain climbing. I think there were only two chapters on climbing K2 vs the other 9 for the poles? And the chapters switching focus from one pole to the next did make it hard for me to keep names and timelines straight. Though this could be entirely my fault, as I only had time to read about a chapter a day, and then only after a long day of work, so I was pretty tired when reading this one.
Overall, though, a very eye-opening and chilling (pun intended!) read. The first chapters were by far my favorite.
As for the book itself, I thought it focused way more on the North Pole than the South, and overall way more on the poles than on the mountain climbing. I think there were only two chapters on climbing K2 vs the other 9 for the poles? And the chapters switching focus from one pole to the next did make it hard for me to keep names and timelines straight. Though this could be entirely my fault, as I only had time to read about a chapter a day, and then only after a long day of work, so I was pretty tired when reading this one.
Overall, though, a very eye-opening and chilling (pun intended!) read. The first chapters were by far my favorite.
August 9, 2018
Interesting story of how Peary and Henson made it to the North Pole (or did they really?) and other explorers reaching the South Pole and "altitude pole" in the same year. The story jumps around so much though, that I found myself committing to just one storyline (the North Pole) and skimming over the others. Energizing read on human determination with some lessons we can put into our own lives today. Matthew Henson, who did most of the work and calculations in Peary's journey to the North Pole, really deserves his own biography. Edward Larson did a great job telling the stories of many of the often forgotten other explorers and their significant contributions. He also made the journey fairly interesting and exciting, despite Peary's admission in his diaries, "the only variation in the monotony being that it occasionally gets worse."
February 5, 2018
I enjoy books that that make me wonder what drives people to do things like this. This experience had to be miserable and to want to do it again makes me wonder what drives that thought process. I do wish I would have had some prior knowledge to these events before hand as it would help me understand things a little better. I won this great book on GoodReads and like I do with most my wins I will be paying it forward by giving my win either to a friend or library to enjoy.
November 30, 2018
Not as nearly as interesting or well written as Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. The narration of this audiobook was also quiet dry and I hated the details of animal deaths.
July 2, 2019
**3.5 Stars**
Before I read I wanted to have some sort of background information about the Cook-Peary "episode" and this book fits the bill.
I must admit, I didn't know much about the race for the other 2 Poles in this story-- in fact, I've never even heard of the Duke of Abruzzi -- but that doesn't distract from the storytelling at all. (But comparing Shackleton's exploits with the Duke's, there's no contest. Hell, I could go to the wilderness if I had 100+ servants catering to my every needs too!)
This is a good place to start if you're curious about a time where exploration was king, and discovery made you a universal hero. However, I wish Mr Larson would have been a bit more liberal in reminding the reader of the years when these other, background expeditions were taking place. After all, 1909 is in the title, but he goes back much further to highlight the previous voyages these men took in order to lay the groundwork for their final pushes to their respective Poles, and without reminding the reader every so often what year these journeys happened, the book can get a bit confusing.
Before I read I wanted to have some sort of background information about the Cook-Peary "episode" and this book fits the bill.
I must admit, I didn't know much about the race for the other 2 Poles in this story-- in fact, I've never even heard of the Duke of Abruzzi -- but that doesn't distract from the storytelling at all. (But comparing Shackleton's exploits with the Duke's, there's no contest. Hell, I could go to the wilderness if I had 100+ servants catering to my every needs too!)
This is a good place to start if you're curious about a time where exploration was king, and discovery made you a universal hero. However, I wish Mr Larson would have been a bit more liberal in reminding the reader of the years when these other, background expeditions were taking place. After all, 1909 is in the title, but he goes back much further to highlight the previous voyages these men took in order to lay the groundwork for their final pushes to their respective Poles, and without reminding the reader every so often what year these journeys happened, the book can get a bit confusing.
November 19, 2018
I found myself more and more absorbed in the stories as I went along. Very well written and fascinating stories I knew next to nothing about.
My sole quibble is that the mountain climbing aspects seem a tad out of place in comparison with the polar explorations.
My sole quibble is that the mountain climbing aspects seem a tad out of place in comparison with the polar explorations.
March 6, 2020
Not sure why, but this couldn't grab my attention as much as Larson's other books.
June 14, 2023
the epilogue got really weird. and i hate peary but the author clearly doesn’t hate talking about him.
March 28, 2022
Wasn't a bad story, but it just wasn't clicking. There was no way that I was going to read the whole book and understand what I read, even if I tried. And trust me, I tried.
January 20, 2025
Not just one, but three gripping tales, full of suspense, even if you know the outcomes.
October 27, 2023
I was intrigued by this book, considering it covers not only the race to the North and South Poles, but also the third pole, the highest point on Earth. Mountaineering is absolutely adjacent to sad boat, so I was prepared to be quite fascinated. But alas, this book didn’t really pique my interest as well as I had hoped.
Part of the problem lies with Peary. I understand that it was a different time, but reading about how he took an Inuit lover who was literally still a child was absolutely infuriating. To add insult to injury, Mrs Peary was forced to stay with her husband’s lover and the child she bore him. I could not even conceive of that. Unfortunately, the main road on Naval Station Newport is named for Peary, so I will hear his name far more often than I would prefer to.
The other issue with this book is that it’s somewhat difficult to keep things straight. I would sometimes be confused as to whether this section dealt with the North Pole or the South, especially when Larson referred to the “northern� party, being the men seeking the magnetic South Pole. It also took me a few moments whenever Larson moved back to the North Pole to remember that the North Pole is nothing but frozen, floating ice.
The chapters on the attempts to summit K2 didn’t make much of an impact on me. While I can more easily imagine trekking across sea ice or a huge glacier, trying to imagine the route the Duke of the Abruzzi took to arrive at K2 and then his attempt to summit ended up as so much gibberish on the page. Photos interspersed into the text, instead of at the very end of the book, would really have helped the reader.
Having read other books about the races of the poles, this book adds very little to the narrative. It is interesting to note that both races took place in 1909, as well as the attempt to summit K2, making it a very eventful year, but I’m not sure it warrants an entire book.
And Captain Bob Bartlett still has my heart.
Part of the problem lies with Peary. I understand that it was a different time, but reading about how he took an Inuit lover who was literally still a child was absolutely infuriating. To add insult to injury, Mrs Peary was forced to stay with her husband’s lover and the child she bore him. I could not even conceive of that. Unfortunately, the main road on Naval Station Newport is named for Peary, so I will hear his name far more often than I would prefer to.
The other issue with this book is that it’s somewhat difficult to keep things straight. I would sometimes be confused as to whether this section dealt with the North Pole or the South, especially when Larson referred to the “northern� party, being the men seeking the magnetic South Pole. It also took me a few moments whenever Larson moved back to the North Pole to remember that the North Pole is nothing but frozen, floating ice.
The chapters on the attempts to summit K2 didn’t make much of an impact on me. While I can more easily imagine trekking across sea ice or a huge glacier, trying to imagine the route the Duke of the Abruzzi took to arrive at K2 and then his attempt to summit ended up as so much gibberish on the page. Photos interspersed into the text, instead of at the very end of the book, would really have helped the reader.
Having read other books about the races of the poles, this book adds very little to the narrative. It is interesting to note that both races took place in 1909, as well as the attempt to summit K2, making it a very eventful year, but I’m not sure it warrants an entire book.
And Captain Bob Bartlett still has my heart.
May 29, 2018
Earlier in the book, I would have rated it as either four or five stars. It was certainly exciting to read about the adventures of Robert Peary, Ernest Shackleton, Douglas Mawson, and others as they sought to be discoverers of the North and South Poles. Unfortunately, you only get snippets of what really happened, which is why it pays to read entire books of the above subjects. Author Edward J. Larson introduced a man I never even heard of, Italy's Duke of the Abruzzi, who attempted to climb one of the Himalayan mountains known as K2. There were only two chapters on him and didn't hold my interest. I almost stopped reading during the latter parts as the material seemed to just plod on, but I continued on until the end. I really enjoy reading about Arctic exploration, but this book was not up to the brilliance that I was expecting.
August 27, 2018
Larson is a talented writer; it must take a lot of talent to take such a fascinating topic and turn it into an awful book.
I was really excited to read this book, but as I read on, my rating kept dropping. The book was such a slog to get through, and I really should have given up, but like the explorers in the book, I persevered.
First, it was difficult for me to keep track of who’s who, and the timeline. The book kept jumping from one trek to another, and I got muddled up with the key players and the order of events. Second, not having an extensive knowledge of polar geography, it was difficult for me to visualize and understand the explorers� routes. There were maps at the beginning of the book, but they were small and not particularly helpful.
All in all, the book was a jumbled mess, and I just couldn’t wait to finish it.
I was really excited to read this book, but as I read on, my rating kept dropping. The book was such a slog to get through, and I really should have given up, but like the explorers in the book, I persevered.
First, it was difficult for me to keep track of who’s who, and the timeline. The book kept jumping from one trek to another, and I got muddled up with the key players and the order of events. Second, not having an extensive knowledge of polar geography, it was difficult for me to visualize and understand the explorers� routes. There were maps at the beginning of the book, but they were small and not particularly helpful.
All in all, the book was a jumbled mess, and I just couldn’t wait to finish it.
November 14, 2018
I am sucker for books of this sort in which people do extraordinary things that I could never imagine myself doing. That said, the author does a fine job of bringing us along with Peary, Shackelton, and the Duke of Abruzzi in their quests to find the North and South Poles and climb K2 respectively. O the three, only Peary achieved his goal, although his claim was challenged and his accomplishment eventually mitigated. Still, their efforts are to be congratulated and celebrated.
My only quibble is that there weren't enough maps and/or enough detail in the maps provided for me to adequately follow the progress of these explorers. And I could have done without the bit of fuss about climate change in the last chapter.
But all in all, an exciting book about exciting times.
My only quibble is that there weren't enough maps and/or enough detail in the maps provided for me to adequately follow the progress of these explorers. And I could have done without the bit of fuss about climate change in the last chapter.
But all in all, an exciting book about exciting times.
May 26, 2019
An entertaining look at three of the most stalwart adventurers of the Age of Exploration. I've read about various polar expeditions before, but Luigi Amedeo and his ascent of K2 was new to me. The book is nicely written and well-researched. It's a fine starting point if you want to learn more about any of the topics covered.
I received an uncorrected proof of this book through Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways. I'm very glad to have gotten it. An entertaining and enlightening read indeed.
I received an uncorrected proof of this book through Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaways. I'm very glad to have gotten it. An entertaining and enlightening read indeed.
January 31, 2019
I certainly learned a lot, and I'm glad I read it, but this book was too ambitious. I expected three different expeditions to be difficult to combine into one book, but then there was also the history of each pole and all previous attempts. It was very well researched, but ultimately too dry and I had trouble following along with each of the attempts.
March 26, 2021
4.0 Stars
A great modern telling of the end of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. I enjoyed how Larson dealt with both the heroism and the faults of leaders like Shackleton, Peary and the Duke of Abruzzi. And as well how he emphasized the human drive to explore to the edges of the earth.
A great modern telling of the end of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. I enjoyed how Larson dealt with both the heroism and the faults of leaders like Shackleton, Peary and the Duke of Abruzzi. And as well how he emphasized the human drive to explore to the edges of the earth.
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