Madhouse at the End of the Earth

March 1, 2021
A harrowing expedition to Antarctica, recounted by Departures senior features editor Sancton, who has reported from every continent on the planet. On Aug. 16, 1897, the steam whaler Belgica set off from Belgium with young Adrien de Gerlache as commandant. Thus begins Sancton's riveting history of exploration, ingenuity, and survival. The commandant's inexperienced, often unruly crew, half non-Belgian, included scientists, a rookie engineer, and first mate Roald Amundsen, who would later become a celebrated polar explorer. After loading a half ton of explosive tonite, the ship set sail with 23 crew members and two cats. In Rio de Janeiro, they were joined by Dr. Frederick Cook, a young, shameless huckster who had accompanied Robert Peary as a surgeon and ethnologist on an expedition to northern Greenland. In Punta Arenas, four seamen were removed for insubordination, and rats snuck onboard. In Tierra del Fuego, the ship ran aground for a while. Sancton evokes a calm anxiety as he chronicles the ship's journey south. On Jan. 19, 1898, near the South Shetland Islands, the crew spotted the first icebergs. Rough waves swept someone overboard. Days later, they saw Antarctica in the distance. Glory was "finally within reach." The author describes the discovery and naming of new lands and the work of the scientists gathering specimens. The ship continued through a perilous, ice-littered sea, as the commandant was anxious to reach a record-setting latitude. On March 6, the Belgica became icebound. The crew did everything they could to prepare for a dark, below-freezing winter, but they were wracked with despair, suffering headaches, insomnia, dizziness, and later, madness--all vividly capture by Sancton. The sun returned on July 22, and by March 1899, they were able to escape the ice. With a cast of intriguing characters and drama galore, this history reads like fiction and will thrill fans of Endurance and In the Kingdom of Ice. A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale.

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April 1, 2021

The Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-99) carried the first humans to ever spend the winter in Antarctica. The expedition's research vessel Belgica was trapped in polar ice for over a year, forcing the multinational crew of sailors and scientists to withstand crushing pack ice, subzero temperatures, and extreme isolation. During the months-long polar night, they fended off scurvy by scarfing raw penguin meat. Stuck in their claustrophobic quarters, they bickered, scribbled letters to each other, and battled mental and physical deterioration. Most--but not all--overcame the odds and survived. Sancton (editor, Departures) gives this extraordinary saga its first book-length treatment. Blue-blooded Adrien de Gerlache battled guilt over his men's plight and his own shortcomings as leader of Belgium's first polar expedition. Stoic Norwegian first mate Roald Amundsen (eventually the first explorer to visit the North and South Poles) befriended American physician and ethnographer Frederick Cook. With mock solemnity, Cook and Amundsen formed the Order of the Penguin, to which they invited the expedition's caring but firm Belgian second-in-command, Georges Lecointe. VERDICT Belying its sensational title, this detail-rich account is a sober and humane chronicle of relationships among the explorers and their struggle for survival in the long polar night. Armchair travelers will enjoy.--Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2021
In the grand tradition of such devastating polar histories as Andrea Pitzer's Icebound (2021) and Hampton Sides' In the Kingdom of Ice (2014), journalist Sancton provides a hair-raising study of Belgium's Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-99. Best-known for being the first crew to winter in the forbidding, uninhabited region, the group included later-to-be-famous Roald Amundsen and Frederick Cook. As Sancton graphically describes, however, the journey was also significant for its reported cases of polar madness, which afflicted some of the men while their ship, Belgica, was trapped in the ice. Drawing on an impressive array of materials, the author shows how the Belgica endeavor was yet another example of careful planning that quickly went awry as physical illness, natural disaster, and a breakdown in command derailed every good intention. The miracle here is that anyone survived, which was due in no small part to Amundsen and Cook. Sancton smartly focuses on these two men who would go on to legendary (in ways both good and bad) careers. This compelling narrative of an overlooked expedition is a sure-fire winner for armchair explorers.

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