Disaster at the Pole: The Crash of the Airship Italia [Hardcover]

Wilbur Cross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

The true story of the harrowing wreck of the dirigible Italia during a polar expedition and the heroic rescue attempts to save her and her crew.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is an intriguing, at times even heart-stopping, account of an almost-forgotten aviation disaster: a race to fly a dirigible to the North Pole, land the airship and then return to civilization. Led by Umberto Nobile, the Italian aeronautic engineer and airship designer who had crossed the North Pole in a dirigible just two years earlier, the crew of the airship Italia suddenly crashed and was stranded in the frozen north as an international team of rescuers tried, initially unsuccessfully, to save the few survivors. Cross, a former editor at Life magazine, spent more than 30 years researching the crash and its aftermath (interviewing the few living survivors, including Nobile, who had kept copious records, even while fighting against starvation at the North Pole); however, the detail never overwhelms an exciting, well-wrought story. What makes this work stand out among other tales of harrowing heroism is its political intrigue and Cross's deft handling of this added complexity. His presentation of Nobile's overtly unwilling participation in the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini, as well as the power struggles among the Fascisti for control of what was seen as the next great aviation powerhouse, adds a sad depth and pertinent humanity to Nobile's personal and professional ordeal. His "very real human flaws were greatly accentuated by the circumstances" of living in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In 1925, the renowned Italian aeronautical engineer and explorer Umberto Nobile flew over the North Pole in a dirigible, at the time a considerable feat both of engineering and scientific inquiry. All went well, and in 1928 Nobile attempted to repeat the feat, this time planning on stopping at the pole and landing parties. Unfortunately, Nobile was no longer in favor with the increasingly strident Fascist government and faced many political and physical obstacles. However, he managed to get the expedition airborne and reached the pole safely. On the return leg, the airship foundered in foul weather, stranding the survivors on the icecap. A bizarre tragedy ensued, with searchers from many nations looking for Nobile while the Italian support ship conspicuously failed to participate. A nearly forgotten episode comes to life in this popular history by Cross, a prolific author and former editor at Life. Interesting but probably not vital to public library collections.DEdwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585740497
• ISBN-13: 978-1585740499
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 'Apollo 13' of 1928!, June 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Disaster at the Pole: The Crash of the Airship Italia (Hardcover)

The Airship Italia disaster of 1928 has unfortunately been nearly forgotten today, but in its time captivated the world. I've read a number of books on the incident and this one ranks with the best (I even have an aviation text from that same year that was published after the accident, but before the rescue. The readers were left hanging!). While attempting to fly to the North Pole under the command of Italian Gen Umberto Nobile, land on the ice, and return, the airship Italia crashes on the pack ice hundreds of miles from civilization. The survivors are hurled to the ice and can only watch as 6 other survivors float off to their doom on the derelict airship. Legendary Norwegian artic explorer Roald Amundsen, flies off in a seaplane to attempt a rescue, and is never heard from again. The castaways confront sudden cracks in the ice, broken bones, polar bear attacks, and almost staggering incompetence from their base ship back in harbor, which didn't even bother to monitor the radio most of the time. 3 of the party set off in a desperate bid to reach land and lead back a rescue party. The Norwegian Dr. Malmgren is soon too exhausted to continue, and after stoically help dig his own ice grave, bids the other two, Zappi and Mariano, on after giving them his food. The duo trudges on, clearly seeing land on the horizon, while the drift of the pack ice cancels out all their efforts. 43 days after they started, the last 12 without food, the snow blinded Zappi and Mariano sit down to await their fate. But the Russian Icebreaker Krassen miraculously rescues them just hours from death. 48 days after the crash, and against all odds, all the survivors are finally rescued. First published in 1960, this book has the advantage that the author had personal one-on-one interviews with nearly every survivor. Ironically, after coming so close to death, each survivor lived to comfortable old age, while the majority of their rescuers met early deaths, either by accident, or in the case of the Russians, in Stalin's purges. Instead of receiving a hero's welcome, Nobile was slandered by Mussolini's fascist government, who perceived him as a threat. He only received the credit due shortly before his death. This story is just begging for big screen, big budget treatment (it was the subject to a not-well-known, but good, Sean Connery movie, The Red Tent, though). Hopefully, they wont take the U571 route and change the principle characters from Italian, Czech, or Norwegian to Americans!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange tragedy of explorers and Italian Fascisti, January 15, 2001

By 

Edwin B. Burgess "KS librarian" (Leavenworth, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Disaster at the Pole: The Crash of the Airship Italia (Hardcover)

In 1925, the renowned Italian aeronautical engineer Nobile flew over the North Pole in a dirigible, at the time a considerable feat of scientific inquiry. All went well, and in 1928 Nobile attempted to repeat the feat, this time planning on stopping at the pole and landing observers on the ice. Unfortunately, by the second expedition Nobile was no longer in favor with the increasingly strident Fascist government, and faced many political and physical obstacles. However, he managed to get the expedition airborne, and reached the pole safely. On the return leg, the airship foundered in foul weather, stranding the survivors on the icecap. A bizarre tragedy ensued, with searchers from many nations looking for Nobile while Nobile's Italian support ship, sitting at the dock in Norway, conspicuously failed to participate. Well worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A journey of courage and endurance, December 17, 2000

By 

Robert Oliver "Rob" (Salt Lake City, Utah) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disaster at the Pole: The Crash of the Airship Italia (Hardcover)

In the early years of the twentieth century, there were several explorers that journeyed to the North Pole. They went to vast desolate regions of terrible cold, to places of the earth that no man had gone to before. One of those explorers was Umberto Nobile of Italy. Nobile is not very well known today, but he was a man of great honor and courage. This book tells his personal story, and the story of his final polar expedition in 1928. Nobile chose a unique method for exploring the Pole: he used a lighter than air airship named the Italia. The Italia was similar in general design to the famous Hindenberg, but it was smaller and more flexible in flight. Nobile meticulously planned his exploration, but despite those preparations disaster struck and the Italia crashed onto the polar ice. The survivors then had to struggle with great endurance through desperate conditions. This is ultimately a book about courage, both from the crew of the Italia and those that tried to save them in one of the largest rescue efforts ever undertaken. Nobile had to also endure much unjust criticism and political pressure from the Fascist Government of Mussolini. His story shows how hard it can be to extend the frontiers of science; and the tremendous heart that is required to reach into the unknown.