- Paperback: 496 pages
- Publisher: Granta Books; New edition edition (11 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1862075352
- ISBN-13: 978-1862075351
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 210,327 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Ninety Degrees North: The Quest For The North Pole
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The 19th-century equivalent of the race to land man on the Moon was the search for the Arctic pole, a story recounted in Fergus Fleming's Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole. The contest began with efforts to find Sir John Franklin, who had been lost searching for the Northwest passage, but soon became a hunt for the legendary "open polar sea" in which earnest Americans, methodical Brits, strong and silent Scandinavians and even a dashing Italian prince endured the ice for months (years in some cases) in the name of patriotism. In the end, as Fleming shows, there were no real winners, but merely disputes over whose navigational geometry was most authentic; the race became instead a competition for who could get there in the most original manner--be it with ironclad ships, balloons, skis, airships or motorbikes. Only in the last 40 years did it occur to the intrepid that two feet might be best. But unlike the with Antarctica, the real epic here was not the discovery of the North Pole, but outlasting the snows, floes and Eskimoes and returning with crew intact. This book isn't a patch on Francis Spufford's stylish and prizewinning I May Be Some Time: Ice and the English Imagination, but for bringing together the accounts of the best known of the Arctic adventurers, especially the Americans and the Swedes, Fleming is to be praised.--Miles Taylor
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Irish Independent
‘Ninety Degrees North is travel history at its brilliant best'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having enjoyed Fergus Fleming's account of the British Admiralty's quest to find the North-West Passage that formed the central theme of his excellent "Barrow's Boys", I was not disappointed by this brilliant follow up that takes from it's starting point the attempt to find out what happened to Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition. Whilst the earlier book centred around a host of intrepid and wonderfully eccentric British explorers, this book demonstrates that the next generation of American and European explorers were no less interesting. "Ninety Degrees North" describes the attempts to find the North Pole between the middle of the Nineteenth century up until the 1920's.
This book includes a cast of characters such as Peary (whose achievements come under scrutiny) and Strindberg who sought to reach the North Pole by balloon. The expeditions demonstrate both extraordinary human endurance as well as stupidity and are well told in Fleming's witty and ironic prose.
New readers to the works of Fergus Fleming should seek out the earlier "Barrow's Boys" before acquiring this as it is very much a sequel to the other. I would unreservedly recommend both books as being some of the most exciting and fascinating history I have read in recent years.I will guarantee that you will be unable to put both books down. "The sword and the cross" is also worth checking out.
This book includes a cast of characters such as Peary (whose achievements come under scrutiny) and Strindberg who sought to reach the North Pole by balloon. The expeditions demonstrate both extraordinary human endurance as well as stupidity and are well told in Fleming's witty and ironic prose.
New readers to the works of Fergus Fleming should seek out the earlier "Barrow's Boys" before acquiring this as it is very much a sequel to the other. I would unreservedly recommend both books as being some of the most exciting and fascinating history I have read in recent years.I will guarantee that you will be unable to put both books down. "The sword and the cross" is also worth checking out.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A word before I start. If you buy this you *must* buy Fleming's book "Barrows Boys" ; this is part 2 of 2, (even though you can't tell from the title)
This is an excellent book. It details Arctic history from 1848ish (Franklin search) through to Peary/Cook/Henson/no-ones discovery of the pole in 1908/9 (it does go on a little after that covering various flying expeditions).
Whereas Barrow's Boys (1818-1845) had a British focus, this book has a more American focus ; this is because of the explorers themselves, not Fleming himself.
Both books are basically sequential descriptions of each expedition - there is enough detail to get a good feel for each expedition (with the curious exceptions of Greely's expedition to Fort Conger and the Karluk expedition ?) in reasonable depth, and a bibliography for those who wish to read further.
The book deals with some detail wrt Cook and Peary, and concludes, basically, they both were not telling the truth about reaching 90 degrees, whilst praising their achievements.
It's slightly less humourous than Barrows Boys ; this is more than anything because the explorers had got a bit more competent by then and weren't going to the North Pole in swimsuits; and there are no digressions into African exploration.
This review probably sounds more critical than I feel ; the book is excellent, well researched and lively ; and both it and its companion volume are highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the Arctic, exploration, or just likes a jolly good read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
For those interested in polar history this is one book that must be on your book shelf. The content is remarkable! Sean Chapple author of No Ordinary Tourist and Polar Quest.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not light reading
I have to go against the flow here a little bit.
The book is technically excellent. The extent of Mr Fleming's research is impressive and he has mastered his sources. Read more
The book is technically excellent. The extent of Mr Fleming's research is impressive and he has mastered his sources. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Dev B
Very absorbing subject, superbly written
My second Fergus Fleming book, having read Barrow's Boys earlier. A completely absorbing set of stories, and simply superbly written. Brilliant. Read more
Published 3 months ago by moomoo
Where am I?
When you look up and wonder where you are on your bus journey then you know you have a good book. Fleming does not dissapoint, the pace and detail convey you with the various... Read more
Published 13 months ago by smurf
Good, but not quite as good as...
Barrow's boys. I thoroughly enjoyed Fleming's book on the search for the Northwest passage and so this was a natural next read. Read more
Published on 7 April 2010 by Sherlock
Best history lesson ever!!!!
'Ninety Degrees North' by Fergus Fleming, is without doubt one of the best reads anyone will ever have. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2010 by Mrs. Alison Burns
fantastic
a a reader of barrows boys i was already a fan of mr flemming
and he didn't disapoint
the rivalry between cook and peary read great as this was all new to me
and he didn't disapoint
the rivalry between cook and peary read great as this was all new to me
it even... Read more
Published on 1 Oct 2005 by masspecguy
Nutters or Pioneers, read this and make your own mind up
The other reviews of this excellent book have laid its premise very well. A sequel of sorts to the superb "Barrows Boys" I too would recommend that you read that first as that way... Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2004 by russell clarke
Excellent history of the Antarctic's poor relation
Ninety Degrees North - The Quest for the North Pole, by Fergus Fleming
THE ARCTIC has always been the poor relation of its southern counterpart; the conquest of the North Pole... Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2001
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