To the edges of the Earth : 1909, the race for the three poles, and the climax of the age of exploration

Title:

Author:

Larson, Edward J. (Edward John), author.

Summary:

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, an entwined narrative of the most adventurous year of all time, when three expeditions simultaneously raced to the top, bottom, and heights of the world. As 1909 dawned, the greatest jewels of exploration--set at the world's frozen extremes--lay unclaimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called Third Pole, the "pole of altitude," located in unexplored heights of the Himalayas. Before the calendar turned, three expeditions had faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet to plant flags at the furthest edges of the Earth. In the course of one extraordinary year, Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson were hailed worldwide as the discoverers of the North Pole; Britain's Ernest Shackleton had set a new geographic farthest-south record, while his expedition mate, Australian Douglas Mawson, had reached the south magnetic pole; and at the roof of the world, Italy's Duke of the Abruzzi had attained an altitude record that would stand for a generation, the result of the first major mountaineering expedition to the Himalaya's eastern Karakoram, where the daring aristocrat attempted K2 and established the standard route up the most notorious mountain on the planet. Drawing on extensive archival and on-the-ground research, Edward J. Larson weaves these narratives into one thrilling adventure-story. Larson, author of the acclaimed polar history Empire of Ice, draws on his own voyages to the Himalayas; the Arctic; and the ice sheets of the Antarctic, where he himself reached the South Pole and lived in Shackleton's Cape Royds hut as a fellow in the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. These three legendary expeditions--overlapping in time, danger, and stakes--were glorified upon their return, their leaders celebrated as the preeminent heroes of their day. Stripping away the myth, Larson, a master historian, illuminates one of the great, overlooked tales of exploration, revealing the extraordinary human achievement at the heart of these journeys."-- Jacket.

Edition:

First edition.

Contents:

Preface: The wonderful year 1909 -- The aristocracy of adventure, circa 1909 -- The audacity of adventure, circa 1909 -- The allure of adventure, circa 1909 -- The great game -- The Peary way -- Beyond the screaming sixties -- The savage North -- Poles apart -- On top of the world -- The third pole -- Returnings -- The last biscuit.

Physical Description:

xx, 329 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm

Genre:

True adventure stories.

Personal Subject:

Peary, Robert E. (Robert Edwin), 1856-1920.

Henson, Matthew Alexander, 1866-1955.

Shackleton, Ernest Henry, Sir, 1874-1922.

Savoia, Luigi Amedeo di, duca degli Abruzzi, 1873-1933.

Conference Subject:

British Antarctic Expedition (1907-1909)

Subject Term:

Mountaineering expeditions.

Geographic Term:

Polar regions -- Discovery and exploration -- History -- 20th century.

Himalaya Mountains -- Discovery and exploration -- History -- 20th century.

K2 (Pakistan : Mountain) -- Description and travel.

Publisher:

William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers,

Publication Date:

2018

ISBN:

9780062564474

Publication Information:

New York, NY : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2018]

Call Number:

919.8 LARSON

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003314179	Adult Nonfiction	919.8 LARSON	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Winner of the National Outdoor Book Award

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, a "suspenseful" (WSJ) and "adrenaline-fueled" (Outside) entwined narrative of the most adventurous year of all time, when three expeditions simultaneously raced to the top, bottom, and heights of the world.

As 1909 dawned, the greatest jewels of exploration--set at the world's frozen extremes--lay unclaimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called "Third Pole," the pole of altitude, located in unexplored heights of the Himalaya. Before the calendar turned, three expeditions had faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet to plant flags at the furthest edges of the Earth.

In the course of one extraordinary year, Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson were hailed worldwide at the discovers of the North Pole; Britain's Ernest Shackleton had set a new geographic "Furthest South" record, while his expedition mate, Australian Douglas Mawson, had reached the Magnetic South Pole; and at the roof of the world, Italy's Duke of the Abruzzi had attained an altitude record that would stand for a generation, the result of the first major mountaineering expedition to the Himalaya's eastern Karakoram, where the daring aristocrat attempted K2 and established the standard route up the most notorious mountain on the planet.

Based on extensive archival and on-the-ground research, Edward J. Larson weaves these narratives into one thrilling adventure story. Larson, author of the acclaimed polar history Empire of Ice, draws on his own voyages to the Himalaya, the arctic, and the ice sheets of the Antarctic, where he himself reached the South Pole and lived in Shackleton's Cape Royds hut as a fellow in the National Science Foundations' Antarctic Artists and Writers Program.

These three legendary expeditions, overlapping in time, danger, and stakes, were glorified upon their return, their leaders celebrated as the preeminent heroes of their day. Stripping away the myth, Larson, a master historian, illuminates one of the great, overlooked tales of exploration, revealing the extraordinary human achievement at the heart of these journeys.

Author Notes

Edward John Larson (born in 1953) is an American historian and legal scholar. He is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. The book argues that Inherit the Wind (both the play and the movie) misrepresented the actual Scopes Trial.

Larson was born in Mansfield, Ohio, and attended Mansfield public schools. He graduated from Williams College and received his law degree from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin--Madison. In 2004, Larson received an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from The Ohio State University. He held the Fulbright Program's John Adams Chair in American Studies in 2000-2001. In 2015 his biography The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789, became listed on the New York Times bestseller list.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Maps	p. ix
Preface: The Wonderful Year 1909	p. xv
Chapter 1 The Aristocracy of Adventure, Circa 1909	p. 1
Chapter 2 The Audacity of Adventure, Circa 1909	p. 22
Chapter 3 The Allure of Adventure, Circa 1909	p. 47
Chapter 4 The Great Game	p. 74
Chapter 5 The Peary Way	p. 97
Chapter 6 Beyond the Screaming Sixties	p. 120
Chapter 7 The Savage North	p. 145
Chapter 8 Poles Apart	p. 163
Chapter 9 On Top of the World	p. 191
Chapter 10 The Third Pole	p. 215
Chapter 11 Returnings	p. 238
Epilogue: The Last Biscuit	p. 265
Notes	p. 283
Credits	p. 315
Index	p. 317

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Table of Contents