Icebound

Viac o knihe

The human story is one of perseverance against remarkable odds. One of the most astonishing survival tales is that of 16th-century Dutch explorer William Barents and his crew of sixteen, who ventured farther north than any Europeans before. On their third polar exploration, they lost their ship off the frozen coast of Nova Zembla to unforgiving ice. The men spent the next year battling ravenous polar bears, gnawing hunger, and endless winter. The narrative combines a gripping survival story with a sweeping history of the Age of Exploration, a time filled with hope and adventure. At its center is Barents, a remarkable navigator whose ambitions to chart remote Arctic regions ended in tragedy and glory. Journalist Pitzer conducted extensive research, learning to use four-hundred-year-old navigation tools, retracing Barents's steps on three Arctic expeditions, and visiting replicas of his ship and cabin. This visceral account, described as "full of tantalizing surprises," reenacts Barents's ill-fated journey, revealing how the human body functions at twenty degrees below zero, the history of mutiny, the art of celestial navigation, and the intricacies of building shelters. Ultimately, it offers a profound glimpse into the true nature of human courage.