Review: The Godfather of Arctic Adventure
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 13, 2012
Starvation. Scurvy. Frostbite. Mutiny. Arctic hysteria. Just about every hardship that could befall a polar expedition found Elisha Kane and his men as they traveled the top of the world, searching for the lost explorer Sir John Franklin and a mythic sea that led to the North Pole. For two years the team was trapped in a frozen wasteland with little hope of escape. Their sled dogs perished, as did some of the men. Still, most of them managed to survive and make history in the process. I'd never heard of Kane and his amazing voyage, but it's clear from this book that the golden age of Arctic exploration wouldn't have happened without him. This is an incredible tale, a great followup to Todd Balf's earlier books The Last River and The Darkest Jungle. He's an undisputed master of miserable, marvelous adventure stories.