In the Kingdom of Ice eBook Hampton Sides
Download As PDF : In the Kingdom of Ice eBook Hampton Sides 
In 1879 the USS Jeanette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds and a frenzy of publicity. The ship and its crew, captained by the heroic George De Long, were heading for glory and the last unmapped area of the globe the North Pole. But it was not long before the Jeanette was trapped in crushing pack ice. Amid the rush of water and the shrieks of breaking wooden boards, the crew found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies, facing a seemingly impossible trek across the endless ice. Battling everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms and frosty labyrinths, the expedition battled madness and starvation as they desperately strove for survival.
With twists and turns worthy of a thriller, In the Kingdom of Ice is a spellbinding tale of heroism and determination in the most unforgiving territory on Earth.
In the Kingdom of Ice eBook Hampton Sides
You can read the synopsis up top, so I won't bore you with that. I will, however, recommend that you read this. If you are here, I will assume you have an interest in either the author's work or, more likely, the history of polar exploration. I have not previously read any of Side's other books, but with a fairly strong interest in the history of the exploration of the poles, I can heartily recommend this.This is first-rate narrative history, well-written and paced to create a gripping account. "Novelistic" can be used as an insult to history writing, but I use it here as a compliment. This is a page-turner. Unfortunately, having read this in galleys, there is no index, nor are photos provided, but the end notes are thorough and this seems to be very well researched.
The letters written by Lt. DeLong's wife during the time he and the ship and crew were out of contact are hear-warming and -rending and provide an excellent counter-point and commentary on the main narrative, and the author's access to the surviving journals and letters of the other crew members allow him to paint full-bodied portraits of the men on the ice. You come very quickly to care about these men and their fates.
The story of the Jeannette is, like many explorations before and after it, one of extreme heroism, a good deal of heartbreak, and high adventure for those of us in armchairs. This is a fine addition to the literature.
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In the Kingdom of Ice eBook Hampton Sides Reviews
Hampton Sides is an American historian and journalist. He recounts the astonishing trials of a group of 33 dedicated seamen determined to be the first men to reach the North Pole. The story is fraught with the perils of nature and how it diminished even the heartiest explorer’s determination to survive.
The time was circa 1880; when the genius of Thomas Edison and Alexander Bell was still evolving, and when James Gordon Bennett Jr. was the owner, publisher and editor of the “New York Herald”; he was also the benefactor of the voyage of the USS Jeannette even though the vessel was inducted into the US Navy.
The story is distilled from the private writings and journal of the Commander, George De Long, various crew members including Melville the engineer and Ambler the ships medical officer. It is a captivating historical account that reveals the sorrow of separation of loved ones, the severe conditions under which the crew’s survival pivoted and the tragic end to the Jeannette and its commander, De Long, as well as a number of other crew members. Although the expedition was a failure in its quest, reaching the North Pole, it did provide scientific data that was preserved and returned with the survivors of the mission. If nothing less, the data dispelled the theory of the open polar sea as supported by Heinrich Petermann widely regarded as the world’s leading theoretical cartographer of the time and whose maps commander De Long depended.
While steeped in historical detail, Hampton Sides makes the recitation of the facts incredibly readable and the resulting story a “cannot put down” read. I highly recommend that you add this book to your reading list; you shouldn’t be disappointed.
Let me start by stating that Hampton Sides is clearly one of my favorite non-fiction authors. His previous books, HELLHOUND ON HIS TRAIL, BLOOD AND THUNDER, and GHOST SOLDIERS are among my all-time favorite recommended books. So when I learned his new book KINGDOM OF ICE was being released I had to pre-order it and dropped what I was reading to dig right in. My first thought as I began to read about the USS Jeannette and its ill-fated voyage of discovery in 1880 was that I had read about this incident before. And in a way I had but not the very same story or even about the same ship. Yet rather amazingly Jennifer Niven’s two books about the doomed 1913 polar voyage of the Karluk (THE ICE MASTER and ADA BLACKJACK) follow a similar story to Hampton Sides new book. Both stories are based on scientific voyages setting out via the Berring Strait to prove ridiculous theories about the North Pole in what were well prepared ships which got stuck and drifted in the ice before sinking. It appears that both these boats sank very near each other north of Wrangel island (the Karluk north east of the island and the Jeannetter north west). After their ships sunk both crews had to make heroic treks over ice and sea to the coast of Siberia. These three books make up a great trilogy of tragic Arctic scientific Exploration.
For those of you who have not read Jennifer Niven’s two earlier books I expect you will really enjoy the whole of Hampton Side’s most excellent telling of the USS Jeannette and its crew. Many of the newspaper reviews seem to indicate that the first part of the Side’s book is a bit slow to build up to the eventual survival story which occupies the second half of the book. But I found the opposite to be true as the first half is most interesting and has many interesting facts as to how the voyage was conceived and bios of its captain and crew as well as its financer James Bennett who was looking for a good story for his New York Herald newspaper. I just could not get over the fact that their seemed to be so many similarities between the two survival stories. As to the Jeannette voyage it appears they wanted to confirm what most scientific thought at the time. It was widely believed that the Polar sea north of the ice was warm and even perhaps a location of a lost civilization. No one seemed to care what Whaler’s thought who regularly sailed these waters. Wrangel Island (which plays a part in all the books discussed here) was thought to be attached to Greenland and a warm water current would take explorers through the ice to this warm water sea. It didn't take the crew of the Jeannette long to disprove then current thinking.
I probably will have to go back and re-read ICE MASTER because it seems hard to understand that after the results of the Jeannette voyage some 30 years later the Karluk would again attempt the same fool hardy voyage.
You can read the synopsis up top, so I won't bore you with that. I will, however, recommend that you read this. If you are here, I will assume you have an interest in either the author's work or, more likely, the history of polar exploration. I have not previously read any of Side's other books, but with a fairly strong interest in the history of the exploration of the poles, I can heartily recommend this.
This is first-rate narrative history, well-written and paced to create a gripping account. "Novelistic" can be used as an insult to history writing, but I use it here as a compliment. This is a page-turner. Unfortunately, having read this in galleys, there is no index, nor are photos provided, but the end notes are thorough and this seems to be very well researched.
The letters written by Lt. DeLong's wife during the time he and the ship and crew were out of contact are hear-warming and -rending and provide an excellent counter-point and commentary on the main narrative, and the author's access to the surviving journals and letters of the other crew members allow him to paint full-bodied portraits of the men on the ice. You come very quickly to care about these men and their fates.
The story of the Jeannette is, like many explorations before and after it, one of extreme heroism, a good deal of heartbreak, and high adventure for those of us in armchairs. This is a fine addition to the literature.
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