Julian Sancton is a senior features editor at Departures magazine, where he writes about culture and travel. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New Yorker, Wired, and Playboy, among other publications. He spent most of his childhood in France and attended Harvard University, where he studied European history. He lives in Larchmont, New York, with his partner, Jess, and their two daughters.
Set against the backdrop of an Antarctic winter, this gripping true survival narrative recounts the misfortunes of an early polar expedition. The crew finds themselves trapped aboard their ice-locked ship, facing unimaginable challenges during months of darkness. The account delves into the harrowing experiences of the crew as they struggle for survival, showcasing themes of resilience and the harsh realities of exploration in extreme conditions.
The harrowing, survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly wrong, with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter The Belgica set sail from Europe on a sunny day in August 1897, intent upon becoming the first scientific expedition ever to reach the South Pole. But after setbacks slowed its progress, ice closed in and ensnared the ship. Temperatures plummeted, winds howled, perpetual darkness fell. The crew were to make history for a different reason: they were to be the first adventurers to face the brutal Antarctic winter, completely cut off from the world. What began as an audacious scientific mission morphed into an epic struggle for survival. As the men battled blizzards, hunger, depression, rats and scurvy, some became inconsolable, some mad, while others were consumed by infections that turned them into living corpses. It was down to the strongest characters to step up: namely the wild surgeon Dr Frederik Cook and the first mate, a young Norwegian adventurer by the name of Roald Amundsen. Could they devise a plan to break free of the ice and guide the ship back to open sea, against all odds?
