In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann, believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever could plant his flag upon its shores. James Gordon Bennett, the eccentric and stupendously wealthy owner of The New York Herald, had recently captured the world's attention by dispatching Stanley to Africa to find Dr. Livingstone. Now he was keen to re-create that sensation on an even more epic scale. So he funded an official U.S. naval expedition to reach the Pole, choosing as its captain a young officer named George Washington De Long, who had gained fame for a rescue operation off the coast of Greenland. De Long led a team of 32 men deep into uncharted Arctic waters, carryi

A dramatic account of the ill-fated 19th-century naval expedition to the North Pole cites the contributions of German cartographer August Peterman, New York Herald owner James Gordon Bennett and famed naval officer George Washington De Long in the team's efforts to survive brutal environmental conditions.

In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. No one knew what existed beyond the fortress of ice rimming the northern oceans, although theories abounded. The foremost cartographer in the world, a German named August Petermann, believed that warm currents sustained a verdant island at the top of the world. National glory would fall to whoever could plant his flag upon its shores.

In the late nineteenth century, people were obsessed by one of the last unmapped areas of the globe: the North Pole. James Gordon Bennett, Jr., the stupendously wealthy owner of The New York Herald, funded an official U.S. naval expedition to reach the Pole, choosing as its leader a young officer named George Washington De Long. On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail with De Long leading a team of thirty-two men deep into uncharted waters. After journeying north of the Bering Strait, they found themselves trapped in pack ice. Two years into the harrowing voyage, the hull was fatally breached, and the Jeannette sank to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, marooning the men on an ice cap. Thus began their long, fateful march across the frozen sea - an ordeal that ranks as one of the greatest struggles for survival in history. Facing everything from snow blindness and frost bite to ferocious storms and bewildering labyrinths of ice, the expedition battled madness and starvation as they de