From Pole to Pole

by Sven Hedin

Our journey begins at Stockholm, the capital of my native country. Leaving Stockholm by train in the evening, we travel all night in comfortable sleeping-cars and arrive next morning at the southernmost point of Sweden, the port of Trelleborg, where the sunlit waves sweep in from the Baltic Sea. Here we might expect to have done with railway travelling, and we rather look for the guard to come and open the carriage doors and ask the passengers to alight. Surely it is not intended that the train shall go on right across the sea? Yet that is actually what happens. The same train and the same carriages, which bore us out of Stockholm yesterday evening, go calmly across the Baltic Sea, and we need not get out before we arrive at Berlin. The section of the train which is to go on to Germany is run by an engine on to a great ferry-boat moored to the quay by heavy clamps and hooks of iron. The rails on Swedish ground are closely connected with those on the ferry-boat, and when the carriages are pushed on board by the engine, they are fastened with chains and hooks so that they may remain quite steady even if the vessel begins to roll. As the traveller lies dozing in his compartment, he will certainly hear whistles and the rattle of iron gear and will notice that the compartment suddenly becomes quite dark. But only when the monotonous groaning and the constant vibration of the wheels has given place to a gentle and silent heaving will he know that he is out on the Baltic Sea.

162 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Sven Hedin was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer, and illustrator of his own works. During four expeditions to Central Asia, he discovered the Transhimalaya (once named the Hedin Range in his honor) and the sources of the Brahmaputra, Indus and Sutlej Rivers, Lake Lop Nur, and the remains of cities, grave sites and the Great Wall of China in the deserts of the Tarim Basin. In his book Från Pol till Pol, Hedin describes a journey through Asia and Europe between the late 1880s and early 1900s. While traveling, Hedin visited Constantinople (Istanbul), oil-rich Azerbaijan in times of the Nobel Brothers, Teheran, Mesopotamia (Iraq), lands of the Kyrgyz people, India, China, Asiatic Russia and Japan.

Reviews

[Sicofonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

"From Pole to Pole" is a book divided in two parts. The first one is solely dedicated to Hedin's expeditions which took him from Europe to Asia. It's a summary of all the places he visited during the late Eighteenth century and early 1900s.
Then, the second part deals with other continents and regions, and they are described by relating the voyages of the great explorers and adventurers of the past (namely Livingstone, Stanley, Shackleton, Franklin, etc.).

The book itself is intended as a description of the most relevant lands and their inhabitants in the world. And it is only in the first part when Hedin's own experiences and deeds are written. So, in that sense this is not a strictly work on Hedin's expeditions.

If you have never read a Hedin's book this might be good for you as an introduction to him. It might no be very detailed, because it tries to cover a lot of things in a single volume. However, there's enough material that could leave you wondering about Hedin's adventures, and probably it will leave you wanting to know more about his ever amazing stories.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sven Hedin war ein Verehrer Hitlers und auch nach dem Ende des 2. Weltkrieges dessen rassistischen Ideen immer noch positiv gegenüber eingestellt. Hitler wiederum fand Hedin und dessen Reisen für sich und seine Zwecke hilfreich.
Somit muss man Hedins Reiseberichte aus einem anderen Blickwinkel betrachten und mit entsprechender Distanz lesen. Sie waren durchaus ein wirkungsvolles Propagandamittel für die Jugend.