A pioneering work written by top experts in a wide range of fields, Into the Ice recounts pathbreaking expeditions, scientific research, commercial activity, and polar policy from the mid nineteenth century to the present day, when the polar regions have become the focus of inquiries into the state of the earth.
In the 1880s, few thought of Norway as a polar nation. Polar exploration was expensive, and hence the exclusive province of larger, richer nations. Fridtjof Nansen’s 1888 skiing expedition across Greenland changed all that forever. Soon Norwegians were among the pre-eminent figures in an increasingly intense competition to conquer unknown territory and set new records. Polar explorers became the heroes of their time, even as they played a key role in Norway’s expansion in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
Into the Ice takes the reader along on Nansen’s and Roald Amundsen’s legendary journeys, as well as on the daring airship expeditions. It also examines the impact of financial considerations on political decisions – as well as the risks Arctic sea captains faced in their hunt for riches.
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