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Title: In the Land of White Death by David Roberts, Jon Krakauer, Alison Anderson, Valerian Albanov, Valerian Albanov ISBN: 0-679-78361-X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 04 September, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (27 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: No stopping to smell the flowers on this hike
Comment: Navigating the Barents Sea north of Russia and Siberia can be a dodgy proposition. Nevertheless, in August 1912 the Russian ship "Saint Anna", with 25 men and one female nurse aboard, set sail from Murmansk for Vladivostok (7,000 miles distant via the Northeast Passage), with the expressed purpose of discovering new Arctic hunting grounds. By mid-October, the vessel was trapped in the ice, and, for the next 18 months, drifted helplessly northwards. In April of 1914, ten of the crew and the ship's navigator, Valerian Albanov, despairing of the vessel's eventual release, voluntarily left their shipmates in an attempt, with kayaks and sledges, to reach the Franz Josef island group somewhere to their south. IN THE LAND OF WHITE DEATH, subsequently written by Albanov, is based on his diary of the 3-month, 235-mile odyssey over the ice pack, frigid water and deserted island shores to reach Cape Flora on Northbrook Island, from which point he anticipated rescue.
There are many points of similarity between this book and ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON'S INCREDIBLE VOYAGE, by Alfred Lansing, which describes the same sort of gritty survival journey achieved by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 27 men after their ship, "Endurance" was trapped and crushed by Antarctic ice in 1915 during an abortive attempt to reach the South Pole. Notwithstanding the facts that Shackleton was a more charismatic leader, that Shackleton's men were of better mettle, and that their journey to safety was over a longer distance, the Albanov narrative remains a gripping, tautly told account of men against the elements. One of its chief attractions, for those with short attention spans or too many books to read, is its brevity --190 pages in small-format hardcover. Sadly, there is no photo section (as is included in ENDURANCE).
One might wonder why this tale took so long to be noticed by the reading public as opposed to various accounts of the Shackleton ordeal. Perhaps it's because it first had to be translated from Russian, or because Albanov, unlike Shackleton, died in obscurity, or because Shackleton was already a figure of some fame by 1915. Or because all of the Endurance's crew came back alive, while the Saint Anna's crew, well ... In any case, WHITE DEATH is a little gem of a book, and I unreservedly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: A tale of artic survival from 1912-1914
Comment: Albanov was a Russian navigator. In 1912 he set sail as second in command of the Saint Anna in the hopes of reaching Vladivostok across the Northeast Passage. His ship was locked in the pack ice in the Kara Sea and drifting northward. After 18 months locked in the ice, with supplies incapable of supporting everyone another winter, he asked for permission to build a kayak and sled to seek land to the south. Others decided to join him, encouraged by the Captain, who with the small remainder of the crew, hope to be spit out of the ice in the Atlantic many months later. They were never found.
Thirteen started the perilous journey and two survived. The remainder on the Saint Anna are perhaps still locked in an icy death above the artic circle.
The book was written in Russian and later translated to French. Only recently was in translated into English after a copy was found in the Harvard library, unread for 68 years.
Albanov's diary, the basis for this later book, describes the ordeal, the wildlife encountered, the snow blindness, and the fatigue that lead to the deaths of many of the men.
I found the book to be a quick read. I was unable to put it down until I finished it.
Strongly recommended.
Conrad B Senior
Rating: 5
Summary: A true account of survival in the Siberian Arctic
Comment: The Russian exploration vessel, the Saint Anna, set sail in 1912 to search for hunting grounds in the North Polar region. Within a few months, the crew of 33 had become icebound and spent the next year and a half trapped in the ice, drifting farther and farther North. In 1914, the navigator, Valerian Albanov, decided to risk a trek across the ice with the hope of reaching Franz Josef Land. 13 crewmen set off across the ice, with the remaining 20 choosing to stay on board the ship. Of the 13 crewmen, only two survived.
"In the Land of White Death" is the true account of the trek, as written by Valerian Albanov. Starting with the few days before leaving, he writes a remarkable story of survival in severely cold conditions, with supplies diminishing and morale quickly ebbing. It is very detailed with its discriptions not only of the terrain, but of the crew and their physical and mental states throughout the journey.
Translator David Roberts also includes in his epilogue some of the text from the other survivor of the journey, crewman Alexander Konrad. His take on certain events sheds a whole new lights on certain aspects of their voyage across the ice.
This is a remarkable book, both for its story of survival and its glimpse into human nature. One of the best non-fiction books that I've read.
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Title: Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World by David Roberts ISBN: 0743224310 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Ice Master : The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by Jennifer Niven ISBN: 0786884460 Publisher: Hyperion Pub. Date: 10 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Last Voyage of the Karluk : A Survivor's Memoir of Arctic Disaster by William Laird McKinlay ISBN: 0312206550 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 19 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Weird and Tragic Shores : The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer by Chauncey Loomis, Andrea Barrett ISBN: 037575525X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the Northwest Passage and The North Pole, 1818-1909 by Pierre Berton ISBN: 1585741167 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: August, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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