LABYRINTH OF ICE : THE TRIUMPHANT AND TRAGIC GREELY POLAR EXPEDITION
by Buddy Levy
In July 1881, Lt. Adolphus W. Greely took a journey to the Arctic with a crew of twenty-four scientists and explorers via a two-hundred-foot-long steamship called Proteus. There couldn't have been a better man than Greely to serve as commander. He had been in the army for two decades working his way up, and had gained formidable leadership skills. Greely was tough, would demand that his men would follow orders, and stick to them. The mission's formal name was the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition honoring Lady Jane Franklin. She was the wife of the renowned Sir John Franklin. He and his crew of 129 had vanished trying to find the Northwest Passage in 1845. Before the voyage even took off, the name would morph into the Greely Expedition. The goal of this group was to attain Farthest North. It's an area that was unmarked on maps. It would become one of the most terrible voyages ever to be taken.
Greely and his crew were burdened by ferocious wolves, subzero temperatures, months of complete darkness while they set about exploring, doing scientific experiments, examining flora, doing measurements, foraging for food (hunting any wildlife), and setting up a camp where they could live. The following May 1882, they reached the northern most point ever obtained (the British had held it for three hundred years). They returned to their camp to wait for the resupply ship. It never came.
Labyrinth of Ice has to be one of the most nail-biting books I have ever read. You are literally on the end of your seat with every chapter.Why anybody would want to do this is beyond me. Yet, I so enjoy reading about these harrowing adventures (there's quite a few of them in this blog) that it seems as if each one is better than the one before. Author Buddy Levy is a phenomenal writer, and apparently has quite a following from his previous books. (I plan to check into these.) At the end of this monumental tale, Levy has a Note on the Text and Sources, which is a virtual goldmine on Arctic literature. But then, there's even more great stuff in the Bibliography.
The story, the details, the characters, the drama are all laid out brilliantly. This book is a MUST read.
Very highly recommended.
