HAMPTON SIDES is an award-winning editor of Outside and the author of the bestselling histories Hellhound on his Trail, Blood and Thunder and Ghost Soldiers.
"Enthralling... In the Kingdom of Ice is a brilliant explosion of
narrative non-fiction detailed, moving, harrowing, as gripping as
any well-paced thriller but a lot more interesting because it is
also true... Too often American heroism is presented at
one-dimensional success against the odds... This is a much more
subtle and rewarding book, an account of magnificent disaster, of
courage devoted to attempting something that could not be
done."
--The Times of London "As our knowledge of the world increases, it
must be difficult for audacious explorers to find terra incognita
to match their passion. Surely the same frustration holds true for
writers in that worthy genre, exploration literature: Haven't all
great stories been told? Never underestimate the ingenuity of a
first-rate author. Hampton Sides's In the Kingdom of Ice The Grand
and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette, which recounts the
astonishing tribulations of a group of seafarers determined to be
the first men to reach and reconnoiter the North Pole, is a
splendid book in every way... It would be malicious to ruin the
suspense about the fate of the Jeannette's crew... The book is a
marvelous nonfiction thriller."
--The Wall Street Journal "Compelling....Sides spins a propulsive
narrative from obscure documents, journals and his own firsthand
visits to the Arctic regions visited by the Jeannette and its crew.
In the Kingdom of Ice makes for harrowing reading as it recounts
the grim aspects of the explorers' battle for survival: illness,
crippling frostbite, snow-blindness and the prospect of starvation.
As grisly as the details are, you keep turning pages to find out
how DeLong and his men pull themselves past each setback -- even
though there's always another one looming ahead."
--USA Today
"[Sides] brings vividness to In the Kingdom of Ice, and in the
tragedy of the Jeannette he's found a story that epitomizes both
the heroism and the ghastly expense of life that characterized the
entire Arctic enterprise...With an eye for the telling detail, he
sketches the crew members as individuals...The bare facts of what
happened to the Jeannette's crew are easily Googleable, but if you
don't already know the story, In the Kingdom of Ice reads like a
first-class epic thriller. De Long and his companions became
explorers of not only unknown geographical territory but also
extremes of suffering and despair. In his stoic endurance of
disappointment and pain, De Long rivals Louis Zamperini, the hero
of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken..."
--Lev Grossman, Time Magazine "First-rate polar history and
adventure narrative...wonderfully evocative.... Sides vividly
recounts the horrors [of the voyage]. In the Kingdom of Ice is a
harrowing story, well told.
--The New York Times Book Review
"Unforgettable...a pulse-racing epic of endurance set against an
exceedingly bizarre Arctic backdrop...[Sides'] descriptions of the
physical challenges the men face and the eerie landscape that
surrounds them are masterful. As De Long and his crew attempt to
save themselves, the story grows in suspense and psychological
complexity...More strange and fantastic turns follow, involving
uncharted and uninhabited lands, and it pains me that I cannot
describe them without spoiling the pleasure of those who have not
yet read In the Kingdom of Ice. Sides' book is a masterful work of
history and storytelling."
--The Los Angeles Times
"America's own brush with epic polar tragedy, the subject of
Hampton Sides' phenomenally gripping new book, is a less well-known
affair...What ensued -- a struggle to survive and a nearly
1,000-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean and into the vastness of
Siberia -- stands as one of the most perilous journeys ever. Sides
works story-telling magic as he evokes the pathos and suffering of
what unfolded: De Long and his crew endured hardships that boggle
the mind. But there is also beauty here... [Sides] writes superbly
on the geography of Siberia and the Arctic, and the abundant bird
and animal life the explorers encountered on their travels, which
took them across ice, storm-tossed seas, treacherous tundra, rocky
seacoasts, and volcanic islands."
--The Boston Globe
..".harrowing and impeccably paced."
--The New Yorker
"A dazzling page-turner....."
--Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author of In the
Heart of the Sea, Bunker Hill and Sea of Glory "[A] stunningly
vivid account....."
--Mark Bowden, New York Times Bestselling author of Black Hawk Down
"An astonishingly good story...."
--Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of The Destiny
of the Republic and The River of Doubt
"Hampton Sides conjures the doomed USS Jeannette and her courageous
crew with haunting power...."
--Caroline Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The
Endurance and The Bounty
"A spellbinding tale...."
--David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City
of Z
"Hampton Sides is one of America's most expansive and engaging
storytellers, and he proves it again with the incredible saga of
the USS Jeannette...."
--Scott Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Lawrence in
Arabia "A vivid tale of exploration set in a howling, deadly
wilderness."
--T.J. Stiles, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The First Tycoon:
The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt From the Hardcover edition.
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