In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette

In 1879, Lieutenant George De Long led the USS Jeannette toward the North Pole, fueled by the incorrect scientific theory of an Open Polar Sea. Backed by newspaper tycoon James Gordon Bennett Jr., the expedition quickly turned into a fight for survival when the vessel became trapped in heavy pack ice. For nearly two years, the crew drifted with the floes before the hull finally collapsed, forcing the men to drag small boats across the frozen tundra toward the Siberian coast. The narrative tracks their mechanical failures, the onset of scurvy, and the desperate navigation through the Lena Delta.

History enthusiasts and fans of survival literature read this work for its detailed look at nineteenth-century naval engineering and the geography of the Arctic. It provides a technical account of how men endure extreme isolation and the physical limits of the human body in sub-zero temperatures. Readers finish the book with a factual understanding of the Gilded Age's obsession with exploration and the specific logistical errors that led to one of the era’s most notorious maritime disasters.