Before Fridtjof Nansen's Greenland expedition of 1888, the vast impenetrable arctic regions exasperated nineteenth-century scientists. The twenty-six-year-old thought he knew better. Convinced that he would succeed by skiing, a sport practically unknown at the time, he put together a group of only six members to cross the arctic interior of Greenland for the first time. They would pull their own sledges and, on a shoe-string, arrange transport to Greenland on two steam liners to drop them off in the icy Arctic sea. They could only afford a basic camera to document their trip. Astonishingly, this audacious but much criticised plan succeeded! Nansen's riveting expedition classic including his diary entries are here republished for the first time in full. His words and captivating expedition photographs caught with a student camera set in motion a golden age of exploration.
By:
Fridtjof Nansen
Imprint: Gibson Square Books Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 267g
ISBN: 9781783342303
ISBN 10: 1783342307
Pages: 288
Publication Date: 30 November 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Map of Greenland 12 Introduction 13 1. The Equipment 26 2. Skis and Skiing 46 3. Voyage to Iceland 54 4. Cruising the Ice 60 5. Point of No Return 70 6. Danger 76 7. Adrift 87 8. Land in Sight, at Last 101 9. Cape Bille 116 10 An Icy Greenland Idyll 134 11. Rapid Progress 148 12. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 163 13. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 174 14. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 190 15. Snowstorms of the Interior 205 16. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 216 17. Water, but no Land 226 18. Rocks and Land 236 19. Splitting Up 247 20. A Change in Fortune 253 21. Ny Herrnhut 261 22. Civilisation 270 23. Winter Quarters 275 24. The Hvidbjörnen 282
Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930) was the spiritual mentor to Amundsen, Scott and Shackleton and single-handedly made polar expeditions as popular as they are now. Drawn to extremes, obstinate and a restless Faustian character, he was a gifted writer, scientist and diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922.
Reviews for The First Crossing Of Greenland: The Daring Expedition that Launched Arctic Exploration
'A modern Viking' Daily Mail 'The visionary Norse explorer' Jon Krakauer
