Arctic History

Uncover the gripping history of polar exploration and Indigenous survival in a relentless battle of man versus nature. Perfect for your morning commute or focused deep listening, this tense and immersive journey transports you to the earth's most extreme landscapes. Witness how a vibrant, lived...

The Great Polar Fraud explores the history of the three men who claimed the pole, their claims, and the subsequent doubts of those claims, effectively rewriting the history of polar exploration and putting Amundsen center stage as the rightful conqueror of both poles.

English explorer Henry Hudson had long searched for a quicker, northern sailing route from Europe to Asia. Three previous expeditions had failed. In 1610, he embarked again to find the fabled Northwest Passage. But when icy waters stranded Hudson and the Discovery in a bay for the winter, tensions flared. The crew lost faith in their captain’s leadership and began to plot...mutiny!

“James Rollins knows adventure.” —Chicago Sun Times Subterranean is the novel that launched the spectacular career of James Rollins, author of the mach-speed, New York Times bestselling blockbusters Map of Bones, Black Order, The Judas Strain, The Doomsday Key, and so many others. Rollins...

From the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author comes the spellbinding, fiercely told story of the deadly Arctic campaign of World War II. Battle of the Arctic is a wonderfully evocative history and largely unknown saga of World War II. As the Soviet Union played its role in the conflict, Ally...

Winner of the National Book Award This bestselling, groundbreaking exploration of the Far North is a classic of natural history, anthropology, and travel writing. The Arctic is a perilous place. Only a few species of wild animals can survive its harsh climate. In this modern classic, Barry Lopez...

As World War II raged across the Russian steppes, in Africa and especially in the skies over Europe, elite German and Soviet forces fought a bitter battle in an isolated northern corner of Europe. Here, the battle was for control of the ice-free port of Murmansk, where the Soviet Union received convoy after convoy loaded with British and American tanks, guns, fuel, small arms, food and aircraft. Supplies from the Allied convoys kept the Soviet Union alive at a critical time during the early stages of the war, and Hitler therefore tried every means to stop the convoys.

For readers of Karen Russell, Maggie Shipstead, and Eowyn Ivey, an exuberant, highly imaginative epic about a family that settles, against all odds, in the far reaches of the Arctic and the unexpected industry that keeps them afloat for generations. In the far reaches of the Territory of the...

New York Times Book Review’s "100 Notable Books of 2023" "Absolutely gripping… a perfectly splendid read—I highly, highly recommend it” -- Douglas Preston, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God A sixty-year saga of frostbite and fake news that follows...

'Thrillingly compelling' Daily Telegraph 'A compelling combination of betrayal, catastrophe, starvation, madness, mutiny, murder and revenge' Spectator 'Extraordinary ... An eye-opening, twist-filled epic of heroism, hardship and weapons-grade narcissism' The Times 'A fabulous tale of ambition...

"Damron's subtle pacing manages the tension perfectly." —AudioFile on Empire of Ice and Stone "Listen to this if you want to hear a narrator at the top of his game recount a fascinating—and at times disturbing—true story of adventure, disaster, discovery, cannibalism, and more. Will Damron...

In the 1990s, researchers in the Arctic noticed that floating summer sea ice had begun receding. This was accompanied by shifts in ocean circulation and unexpected changes in weather patterns throughout the world. The Arctic's perennially frozen ground, known as permafrost, was warming, and treeless tundra was being overtaken by shrubs. What was going on? Brave New Arctic is Mark Serreze's riveting firsthand account of how scientists from around the globe came together to find answers.

With shades of Water for Elephants and True Grit, a stunning debut novel set in the Australian outback about a female horse thief, her bid for freedom, and the two men trying to capture her. It is 1921. In a mountain-locked valley, Jessie is on the run. Born wild and brave, by twenty-six she...

Er galt als blinder Fleck, als Problem, als Ende der Welt und ewig ungelöstes Geheimnis: der Nordpol. Während andere rätselten und rechneten, schritt ein verrückter Zeitungsverleger auf der Jagd nach Sensationsgeschichten zur Tat. Er kaufte ein Schiff, erkor einen Kapitän und schickte im Juli 1879 dreiunddreißig Männer ins Eis - fest überzeugt von der Theorie eines offenen Polarmeeres. Doch nördlich der Beringstraße blieb die USS Jeannette im Packeis stecken.

Between 1941 and 1945, more than eight hundred shiploads of supplies were delivered to the Soviet Union protected by allied naval forces. Each journey was a battle against the elements, with turbulent seas, extreme cold, and the constant dread of torpedoes. These Arctic convoys have been mythologized as defenseless vessels at the mercy of deadly U-boats—but was this really the case?

1912 was an incredible year, marking the height of the Heroic Age of Exploration. Curiosity about Antarctica was at fever pitch, and between 1910 and 1914 five teams of intrepid explorers embarked on the greatest race of the era, to travel beyond the edges of the known world and conquer this...

The mesmerizing, larger-than-life tale of an eccentric adventurer who traversed some of the greatest frontiers of the twentieth century, from uncharted Arctic wastelands to the underground resistance networks of World War II. Deep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself...

Vilhjálmur Stefánsson left New York in April 1908 to begin his journey northwards and into the Arctic Circle. For the next two years, he made his way northwards to Victoria Island to study an isolated group of Inuit who still used primitive tools and had strong Caucasian features, and whom some believed were descended from Vikings. The journey into these remote areas was incredibly tough and being delayed by blizzards Stefánsson, along with his companions, were forced to eat the tongue of a beached whale that had been dead for at least four years.

Here Jonathan and Angela Scott tell the story of their modern day exploration of this extreme continent, a journey through the magnificent icy landscape, to explore the wildlife of this rare sanctuary, and reflect on the experiences of early explorers like Shackelton, Amundsen, Scott and Mawson, and on the relationship between man and wildlife in this remote and spectacular environment.

New York Times bestselling author Mark Synnott has climbed with Alex Honnold. He’s scaled Mount Everest. He's pioneered big-wall first ascents, including the north-west face of the mile-high Great Trango Tower, and skied monster first descents. But in 2022, he realized there was a dream he’d...