My Attainment of the Pole [Paperback]

Frederick A. Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2001

The record of the expedition that Discovered the North Pole on April 21, 1908 and its survival in remote Arctic islands for 14 months before returning to their Greenland base camp. Original authorized text with a new assessment by geographers, explorers, scholars and researchers in the 20th century. Afterwords by Polar historians and a field reconstruction in 1998 of the original journey. A new bibliography and expanded index and a 32-page photo section with new maps and charts.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cook must be considered an extraordinary personality in Polar history...he was a Bonaparte on the ice to his rival..." -- Jean Malaurie, author of "The Last Kings of Thule," explorer and director of the Centre de'Etrade Arctique

"Cook's descriptions of the Central Arctic are authenic..." -- Academician V. S . Koryakin, Polar historian of the Russian Academy of Sciences

"This book--in which Cook explained his accomplishment-- will no doubt rekindle the embers of the 90-year-old Cook-Peary controversy." -- Raimund Goerler, Archivist of the Byrd Polar Research Center and author of "To the Pole."

About the Author

Frederick Albert Cook (1865-1940) was the first American to explore both Polar regions and the first to spend forced winters in the Antarctic (1897-99) and the Arctic (1907-09). Surgeon on Peary's North Greenland Expedition in 1891-92 and second in command of the Peary Relief Expedition in 1901. Was commander of two expeditions to Greenland and headed two expeditions to Alaska's Mt. McKinley. Honored by European geographical societies and the Arctic Club of America and knighted by the King of the Belgians.

Product Details

• Paperback: 632 pages
• Publisher: Polar Pub. (March 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966561333
• ISBN-13: 978-0966561333
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,950,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I want to believe, May 14, 2010

By 

Marc Ranger "Baseball fan" (québec, canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Attainment of the Pole; Being the Record of the Expedition That First Reached the Boreal Center, 1907-1909 (Paperback)

I've read "The Polar Controversy resolved" by Bryce before reading "My attainment of the Pole" by Cook.

On the negative side, you can feel the hand of Everett Harry (or Harré) all through the narrative. He's the man who "organized" and edited the work for Cook. However, when the times comes to explain his case, when the times comes to convice the reader of his claim, Dr Cook does a mighty good job.

Every modern writer or historian agrees, even if Dr Cook may not have reach the Pole, his Polar journey of 1908-09 is one of the most remarquable feat of Polar exploration, North or South. On that basis alone, the book is worth reading.

Cook had an understanding of Eskimo's, he was deeply human in all his dealings. He was also a man of tremendous ressource, drive, strenght and courage.

Although I'm still not convince 100% that he did reach the Pole, he earned my admiration.

Doctor Frederick Albert Cook is a man who deserves to be know. Do yourself a favor, know him.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dr. Cook, first man to the North Pole, December 13, 2001

By 

Bernadette L. Gerber (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Attainment of the Pole (Paperback)

Excellent book and excellent adventure book. I especially enjoyed the updates provided in the book which is a reprint by the Cook Society. I am only vaguely aware of the controversy because of a friend who is invloved in high arctic camping. No matter what, Dr. Cook and his Inuit friends are cut of exceptional cloth to have endured so much, almost casually. However, I will say that Dr. Cook appears to be a more pleasant person than Admiral Peary.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I believe he made it !, June 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My Attainment of the Pole (Hardcover)

Although the Cook/Peary North Pole controversy still rages after over 90 years, I believe that this republication of Frederick A. Cook's My Attainment of the Pole should help immeasurably in eliminating all doubt about Cook's accomplishment.

The book not only is a faithful, easy-to-read republication of Cook's 1911 opus, it contains up-to-date data from well-established polar explorers and historians that validate Cook's original observations. It also confronts the Peary arguments (and what appear to be "dirty tricks") head-on, and emergesw victorious.

After reading the book, I was convinced that Cook was the first to attain the Pole and believe you will reach the same conclusion.