In the Land of White Death

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In 1912, six months after Robert Falcon Scott's tragic expedition in Antarctica, Russian navigator Valerian Albanov embarked on a disastrous journey. His ship, the Saint Anna, became trapped in the pack ice of the Kara Sea, compounded by an incompetent commander, lack of crucial nautical charts, insufficient fuel, and inadequate provisions that left the crew weakened by scurvy. For over a year, the twenty-five crew members, including one woman, faced extreme hardships as the icebound ship drifted north. Believing the Saint Anna would never be freed, Albanov and thirteen crewmen abandoned ship in January 1914, dragging makeshift sledges and kayaks across the frozen sea in hopes of reaching Franz Josef Land. Armed with a shockingly inaccurate map, Albanov led them on a perilous 235-mile trek, battling blizzards, disintegrating ice floes, polar bear and walrus attacks, starvation, illness, snowblindness, and mutiny. The survival of any team member is remarkable, and Albanov's diary documenting his ninety-day ordeal has been described as "astounding" and "as lean and taut as a good thriller."