The first-written of Verne's "Voyages Extraordinaires" series, this novel traces the quest of a group of four Englishmen and one American to be the first to reach the North Pole. Without giving away any spoilers, it is notable that Verne, a Frenchman, plays upon the antipathy between England and America which, it seems, was still in evidence during the 1860s, when this work was written.
I have read quite a number of Verne's works at this point and am always impressed with the fact that he seems to have avoided many of the less-enlightened proclivities of his peers. To be sure, he does write tales of "manly men" which rarely leave room for female characters and do reflect the patriarchy which was his cultural context. Yet, even so, the author often leaves room for some emotional depth to his male characters, as he does in this instance.
On a similar note, Verne certainly had ample opportunity to present the Native Americans (here referred to by the now-obsolete term "Esquimaux") in a negative light, but instead generally limits his references to neutral statements of fact. If anything, he emphasizes their ability to survive in the Arctic as a useful source of practical knowledge, rather than choosing to portray them as some sort of ignorant primitives.
Verne's science, as usual is up-to-date, although, from our current perspective, outdated. This is only to be expected, but the author's devotion to plausible scientific rigor has helped his speculative fiction age gracefully. Some readers -- myself among them -- may have qualms with this story's denouement, which results from the titular character's Ahabesque tendencies; but, after all, authors do ultimately have license to do as they please with their characters. We hope that characters we like are treated well, but, as in life, so in fiction. And perhaps that, too, may be claimed as one of Verne's virtues?