Dimensions
130 x 198 x 12mm
This is the extraordinary account of Stefansson's Arctic Expedition of 1913 - 18 and the incredible survival of the crew members of the leading ship, "Karluk".
William Laird McKinlay was a twenty-five-year-old Scottish schoolteacher when he set out as meteorologist on a 1913 expedition to the Arctic. Barely before the expedition had begun "Karluk", their ship, was crushed and sunk in ice. He narrates the story of the crew's nightmare struggle for survival in the face of ignorance, lack of leadership and appalling conditions. They were left stranded in the Arctic ice while their leader continued his northern exploration, not returning for five years. Eight men died of malnutrition and the rest barely managed to keep alive until rescue came. The account of their ordeal is a deeply moving tribute to human courage and endurance and, above all, to man's overpowering will to live.