Customer Reviews

Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole

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This book is not only a wonderful look at the fascinating men who were obsessed with reaching the North Pole, but with the fascination that unknown lands have on the human imagination. I was impressed with how foreign the concept of the North Pole was until it was reached. It was as mysterious to people back then as Mars is now, if not more so. Some theorists believed a whole other world was located in the center of Earth, accessible only by the Pole, and which housed a whole different race of people. The hardships that these men willingly endured just to be able to put their flag up and name a spot on the map and for the glory of it, simply amazed me. A terrific read without a slow spot in the whole thing. On top of it Fleming is a terrific wordsmith who has a really funny take on things at times. Get it.

Fergus Fleming's Ninety Degrees North is a wonderful synthesis of the many treks to be the first to the north pole during the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentienth century. Many recent books are available covering each of these individual expeditions in more detail but this is the best one for combining all of them in a focused well-presented manner which will allow the novice Arctic reader a chance to glimpse all of these men in all their derring-do and will also allow the more experienced Arctic aficionado the chance to follow the myriad of themes throughout the many, often very sad, trips to the top of the world. All of major characters are here. Particularly well presented is the controversies surrounding Cook and the quite awful Peary. A highly entertaing and enriching book.

A great book. Reads like a thriller (and, yes, some of the stories resemble horror-tales); the author surfs through a century of Arctic travelling, leaving the reader with a lot of information on these crazy guys who set out to search for the North Pole.

This is Fergus Fleming's finest work, in my opinion. What I found really interesting was that there was plenty of information about lesser-know explorations, such as the Abruzzi-Cagni expedition, the Sedov North Pole try or the magnificent role of Julius Payer in Artic exploration. Also, you will now understand fully what happened to the Jeannette and Norge Expedition.

The only thing I didn't like was the rather rough treatment Frederick A Cook got, when compare to Robert Peary.

All in all, an excellent book about the North Pole Saga.