Matthew A. Henson's Historic Arctic Journey: The Classic Account of One of the World's Greatest Black Explorers (Explorers Club Classics) [Hardcover]

Matthew A. Henson (Author), Deirdre C. Stam (Introduction), Booker T. Washington (Introduction), Robert E. Peary (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 24, 2009 | Series: Explorers Club Classics (Book 5)

This 100th anniversary edition is enhanced with material from The Explorers Club’s archives, including photographs of Henson ephemera. It also contains a list of Henson’s honors and a bibliography of celebratory accounts of his achievements.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The fascinating and exciting diary of an extraordinary explorers." --Commonweal

 

"An original document. . . . One of the giants of polar exploration, Henson had the graceful modesty of genuinely big men. . . . The world would know even more about him now if his commander, Peary, had been less an egotist and more generous in sharing credit for his discovery of the North Pole." --Book World

From the Back Cover

From chapter one

“When the news of the discovery of the North Pole, by Commander Peary, was first sent to the world, a distinguished citizen of New York City, well versed in the affairs of the Peary Arctic Club, made the statement, that he was sure that Matt Henson had been with Commander Peary on the day of the discovery. There were not many people who knew who Henson was, or the reason why the gentleman had made the remark, and, when asked why he was so certain, he explained that, for the best part of the twenty years of Commander Peary’s Arctic work, his faithful and often only companion was Matthew Alexander Henson.

 “Today there is more general knowledge of Commander Peary, his work and his success, and a vague understanding of the fact that Commander Peary’s sole companion from the realm of civilization, when he stood at the North Pole, was Matthew A. Henson, a Colored Man.

 “To satisfy the demand of perfectly natural curiosity, I have undertaken to write a brief autobiography of my Arctic work.”
—Matthew A. Henson, 1912

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1St Edition edition (February 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599213087
• ISBN-13: 978-1599213088
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,171,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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