Into the Great Emptiness: Peril and Survival on the Greenland Ice Cap

by David Roberts

Presidential Agent 103 is targeted by allies and enemies alike as the Nazis roll across Europe in this novel in the Pulitzer Prize-winning series. Europe, 1940. As war rages across the continent, America watches anxiously from the sidelines. And President Franklin Roosevelt has been keeping an even closer eye on developments in the Third Reich. At the president's personal request, Lanny Budd gained the confidence of the Nazi high command and began transmitting valuable information back to the White House. Espionage is a dangerous game, however, and Presidential Agent 103 soon finds himself a target of the French Resistance fighters he is attempting to assist. On a trip to London, Lanny avoids death during a Luftwaffe bombing raid and takes part in the capture of Rudolf Hess. He gets stranded in Asia and is forced to make his way across war-torn China after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor finally brings the United States into the global melee. But Lanny's most important mission still lies before he must enter the lion's den alone and unprotected once more to unearth the Nazi Party's most deeply buried secret--the progress of Hitler's scientists in the race to build the atom bomb. A World to Win is the electrifying seventh chapter of the Pulitzer Prize-winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to vivid life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of Upton Sinclair's vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Biography, Adventure, Survival, Nature

Audible Audio

Published December 13, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
See this thread for more information.

David Roberts is the award-winning author of twenty-nine books about mountaineering, exploration, and anthropology. His most recent publication, Alone on the Wall, was written with world-class rock climber Alex Honnold, whose historic feats were featured in the film Free Solo.

Reviews

[Joy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Account of the life of a lesser-known explorer, Henry “Gino” Watkins, who, at age twenty-three in 1930, led a fourteen-month exploration of the Greenland ice cap. This book covers his life, including his early expeditions and a daring rescue of a teammate buried under the ice at a meteorological base. This major set piece is a gripping account. The author cites examples of Watkins’s leadership qualities. He also explains why he is not better known. It is well researched and well written. Recommended to fans of adventures or explorations in the extreme cold.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for armchair explorers, especially those interested in polar settings.
David Roberts' final book focused on little remembered English explorer Henry George (Gino) Watkins, who organized and led an expedition to Greenland in the early 1930s at the ripe old age of 23.
Roberts gave us a good look at Watkins, and the other expedition members. I could easily see why Watkins captured Roberts' attention. The Greenland expedition was full of perils, which made for an exciting, even nail-biting, story. The fact that all members of the team survived seems remarkable, given the dangers they faced. Roberts had personal diaries, as well as published memoirs, to consult in order to give the reader insight into how the team members coped.
It is hard for us to remember a time before satellite mapping, but less than 100 years ago, mapping was done in person. Aerial photography was in its infancy, so the interior of Greenland was known only from the observations of those who had been there. The goals of Watkins' year-long expedition included exploring and mapping the east coast of Greenland, and establishing and staffing a year-round weather station in the interior.
Watkins and his fellow expedition members had a good deal of contact with the Inuit tribe closest to their base camp. The author does a great job of giving the reader a short course on Inuit customs, beliefs and cultural mores, which goes a long way to giving context to some of the English explorers conduct.
It is sad that the pandemic, and his failing health, prevented Roberts from visiting Greenland while writing this book. The book is missing the spark of his personal experience. Never the less, it is well worth reading.

[Nancy Oakes]

right now in my brain the book is hovering at like a 3.5 but I'll rethink as I go through it before posting

more soon.


for now:
1) it's always kind of cool to come across the story of either an expedition or an explorer previously unknown to me,

2) in spite of number 1) above, there could have been some serious paring that would have made the actual narrative flow a bit better and finally

3) to me it's like the other members of his BAARE crew got more page time (and seemingly did more) than Gino Watkins did in this book .

If anyone has a decent (and decently-priced) copy of The Watkins Boys by Simon Courtald that they would like to sell, please pm me.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never previously read any polar exploration books, so this was an interesting adventure. I don't know if I will care to read any again because it seems that to be a polar explorer of this era a person had have or develop a rather callous attitude towards dogs, which I don't have. I have also never before read a history/biography where the author inserted so many of his own personal beliefs and opinions about his subjects and their actions as Roberts does here and I am not sure that I approve it might be better to just tell the story and let the reader draw their own conclusions.

[Apriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

There should be more books about Greenland and it’s earliest explorers. Their stories are just as fascinating as any I’ve read about the Arctic, Antarctic, and Everest. And just as cold.

Trigger warning: dogs for dinner. Lots of dogs. Both for people and the other dogs. This was a part that actually made me sick to read, especially since I have a husky.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty interesting look at an aspect of polar exploration I never realized was a thing: the exploration of Greenland’s ice cap. With a particular focus on explorer Gino Watkins, delving into his biography. A lot of research and knowledge went into this, I really enjoyed all the detailed information and vivid sense of place.

What’s strange about this book is that that main “hook” (one of the expedition members doing a solo stint manning a weather station on the ice cap and getting buried in the snow) actually didn’t occupy much of the narrative. The book builds up to that event: the relief party being unable to locate him and then heading back to base camp. But then it’s just kind of like “Gino Watkins headed up another trek to find Courtauld, and he found him.” That was kind of it? Definitely anticlimactic.

Obviously this is non-fiction so it’s not like Roberts could change the events, but the narrative could have maybe been changed to not be framed so much on that event. It just seemed so odd.

The other thing I want to mention is that there’s a lot of information about Inuit culture and history, how it changed over the period of European polar exploration, what the Inuit thought of the explorers. Roberts wrote very fairly about the Inuit in my opinion, crediting them with providing much needed support to the polar expeditions and identifying a lot of the biases and stereotypes the Europeans had of them at the time. However, I did find it strange that he did not use any Inuit sources to convey this information, instead relying on accounts by European ethnographers. I think the information would have been a lot more impactful and credible if he went to Inuit sources for it. Seems like a big miss on his part.

[Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling account of the remarkable, and today mostly unknown, English explorer Gino Watkins, who organized and led three ground-breaking expeditions to Greenland in the 1920's-1930's, the first while barely 20 years old. He pioneered important changes in equipment and diet that greatly improved polar exploration, especially by recognizing the diet needed to contain much more fat than previously assumed. He disappeared during his last expedition, assumed drowned, under puzzling circumstances. The writing is excellent, and the narrative riveting and fast-moving.

[Kasey Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mildly disappointing final tome from the late ‘Dean of Adventure Writing’, David Roberts. Researched and written during the depths of the pandemic—causing great difficulty for scholarship for the usually assiduous author—it’s exploration of the little-known arctic explorer Gino Watkins feels as featureless and myopic as the Greenland barrens in which it is set.

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging account of a lesser known explorer and his compatriots. Often using their own words from their public and private writing, you really get to know and feel for the men. Roberts goes into the history of Greenland and colonialism, Inuit life and worldviews, and a delightful side quest to Labrador. Also, trigger warning for so, so much dog death and dog anthropophagy.

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read about a little-known expedition to Greenland in 1930. I enjoy books about the polar regions as well as books about survival situations and this works well for both. It is also an interesting biography of Gino, the leader of the expedition, who has unfortunately been forgotten by most.

[Jordan (Forever Lost in Literature) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really surprised I hadn't heard more about Gino Watkins before reading this. Incredibly tragic that he died so young, I have a feeling he would've made many more vital contributions if he had not had his life cut so short.

[Laurie Parsons Cantillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved Endurance and Into Thin Air you will love “Into the Great Emptiness.”

This is a well-researched and gripping true story of a young British explorer you’ve likely never heard of. Gino Watkins inspired his team of explorers with an unconventional leadership style and sheer force of will. Beyond the nail-biting tales of survival on the unforgiving ice pack of Greenland, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the geology, weather, wildlife, and the Inuit people.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

I listened to 39 minutes of 10 hours and gave up because it was incredibly boring and didn’t seem to have a point after getting through one or two chapters including an introduction.

I gave up when the author was describing in minute detail the high school some of the people involved attended because I just couldn’t understand how it may be related to the point or plot of the book.

I cannot recommend this book.

[David Petersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This the story of Gino Watkins. A British explorer that died at the age of 25 in Greenland. The story really covers his major exploration of Greenland which takes place the trip before he dies. It was a fascinating story. It's hard to comprehend the challenges these men overcame to survive such an excursion/adventure.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh, the way I love these grandpa books. Doesn’t pass the Bechdel test, but I couldn’t put it down.

[Joshua Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a good selection of books on polar exploration, and I found this to be well written - very interesting and exciting. It was over a decade after the "golden age", but though they did use a little more modern technology than in the classics of Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton, the journey recounted here is very much in the same mould. A good adventure story, set it in the barren icefield of Greenland, rather than the Arctic or Antarctic. It also discusses other adventures of Watkins before and after the main event, and has some interesting analysis of his leadership style. It was remarkable to hear how the other members of the expedition went on to lead some remarkable trips of their own, but how some of them ended up meeting quite tragic ends - lives lived to the fullest, but still unfulfilled.

There were a few things that stood out as negatives, though they probably reflect more the state of modern historical writing than errors of this author. One is we get some speculation on whether Watkins was a homosexual, based as far as I recall, on virtually no evidence. And the treatment of the Greenland native culture is a bit ridiculous. Roberts treats their legends of the beasts that inhabited the interior with the utter seriousness, as demanded by cultural relativity. We can not just face the fact that they were totally ignorant of the landscape just a few miles away, and gripped by deep and dark superstitions of what lay there. Roberts regard the 20th century Englishmen has rather ignorant and prejudiced when they call the lifestyle of the Inuit dirty. In modern times, I suppose cleanliness is no longer next to godliness, and we can't say a clean house is any better than a dirty hovel. Is there no chance they just honestly recorded what they saw? And finally, most concerningly, modern sexual ethics means that we can't imply any shame or wrongdoing or abusiveness to the fact that the expedition members took native girls as mistresses during their time in Greenland.

One final fact I found fascinating, touched on briefly, is that there is good reason to think that the Vikings found Greenland uninhabited, settled there, and then centuries later were attacked and exterminated by invading Inuit. Turns the traditional narrative of the settlement of the Americas on its head.

[Gregory Eakins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The events of life which one describes rather loosely as “pleasant” may be divided under two heads: those which one enjoys while they are happening and those which are pleasing chiefly in retrospect. What we had done was definitely not of the former variety, but though I disliked the operation so intensely while it lasted I cannot avoid classing it as a pleasure because of the wonderful feeling of satisfaction which it gave rise to as soon as it was safely over.

Into the Great Emptiness recounts the 1930 British expedition to Greenland, where they were to explore and map the area with the goal of establishing a new air route between Europe and North America.

Something about polar expeditions really gets me going. In the Kingdom of Ice was one of my favorites of all time. Endurance had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I should dedicate a shelf to polar exploration. Yet something about Into the Great Emptiness just didn't hit home the way so many others did.

It, of course, features tough men doing tough things. Sled dogs. Hardship. And freezing temperatures. Yet something is missing. There is no build up or climax to the story - it's all sort of flat. And perhaps this is of no fault of Roberts - life plays out the way it plays out, but the focus could have been better adjusted to build interest.

And perhaps the biggest sigh comes from the chapters on the Inuit people. Seeing that these people were already living and adapting to the harsh conditions is telling. The struggles of this book feel more like the struggles of Europeans unfamiliar with life in the Arctic rather than a more absolute struggle of humanity.

There are enough interesting tidbits of knowledge in this book on Arctic survival that it is worth reading, but don't expect a gripping tale the likes of the Endurance or the USS Jeannette.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this audiobook up from the library because polar exploration, Greenland expedition, it all sounds interesting to me. I didn't realise this was mostly about one person, Gino Watson, who I knew little to nothing about, which apparently is partly because he died quite young.

This book is about Gino Watson's life and how he got into exploration in the first place but also the two Greenland expeditions he ran, how he got the men and the money and what the outcomes were resulting from this. The author also spent part of the book talking about the Inuit that were native to Greenland and the history between European settlers and the various Inuit tribes, as well as their way of life and how it was received by European travellers.

I found this a really interesting and well-written book about Gino Watson and his expeditions to Greenland, if a little dense at times. I feel like it gave a very fair look at Watson, both his strengths and his weaknesses and also the mistakes he made but how he corrected them. The author wasn't afraid to made a point of looking at the context and bias of the various accounts, either because someone had reason to dislike Watson or because the people writing these accounts, especially of the Inuit, were coming from an extremely biased, Euro-centric, historical racist kind of viewpoint.

I definitely would recommend this book, though I think I may reread it in physical form due to the fact that there is a lot of information included in this book.

4.5 stars!

[Karyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe I stumbled across this book while perusing the polar exploration section of my local library (919 in the Dewey Decimal System, if you’re curious). Being fascinated as I am with this genre, I immediately checked it out even though I have entirely too many library books at home.

I am so glad I read this book. I had never heard of Henry “Gino” Watkins before, but what a force he was. Roberts does an excellent job of bringing him to life. It is amazing that Watkins had no less than 4 expeditions to his name by the time he was 25, and all successful in that he lost not one single man, other than himself. It’s also incredible that a man born and raised in England in the early 1900s understood that the Inuit were experts at living in such an inhospitable environment, and therefore their wisdom should be respected. Too often white male explorers would believe their knowledge was far greater than anything these “childlike” people could offer, and it usually led to some aspect of an expedition going terribly wrong.

It’s hard to grasp what it must have been like for Augustine Courtauld to spend five months alone in the polar night, especially once he was trapped inside his tent. The rescue that Watkins and his men pulled off is nothing short of heroic and miraculous.

This is such an engaging and gripping tale of an expedition to Greenland led by a young, yet charismatic, man, the likes of which we probably will never see again. It is a true shame that the world lost Gino Watkins so young.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1930 "Gino" Watkins was just 23 years old, yet he organized and lead an expedition to Greenland's east coast (the least inhabited and barely explored side) to study the weather, general conditions, and to chart a course for possible air travel routes across this immense island. He quickly recruited friends from Cambridge for a year they managed to survive, but just barely. While the book's focus in mainly this important Greenland survey, Watkins in the late 1920s had also explored a remote island near Svalbard, as well as the unmapped interior of Labrador to settle a boundary dispute with Quebec. Whenever he could he relied on the knowledge and survival skills of the indigenous people. But those people lived on the bounty of the sea and had no reason to go up on the lifeless 8,000 foot ice pack of Greenland's interior, and the conditions there tested the men's physical and mental lives. The book provides great adventure and biographical backgrounds of the participants. Gino himself was an unusually powerful leader without needing to discipline or chastise, and his style of leadership is pondered as part of the survival of the men. I've enjoyed several of David Roberts' outdoor adventure books, and I appreciate that he wrote and finished this one during Covid lockdown while cancer was ending his life on earth, and so is perhaps his own adventure story of survival through grit and perseverance.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning of this book, the author speculates why Geno Watkins is far less well known than other British explorers of his day. One reason is that no one has written a thrilling, definitive account of his journeys in Greenland. This is it...sort of.

There is no doubt that Watkins was intrepid and brave, and the story of his courage is worth telling. However, the writing in this book mutes rather than accentuates the drama. The tone is rather too academic and intellectual to get readers to experience the visceral fear of exploration.

Perhaps what is missing is a nuanced understanding of the subject. Watkins was unusually young for an expedition leader, but he commanded the respect of older team members. He often had to make hard choices. Yet his style was egalitarian and effervescent.

Buried in one chapter is a discussion of Watkins's ambiguous sexuality. He was known as a fancy dresser and a bit of a dandy when not on the trail. He seemed equally attracted to men and women. What a missed opportunity! This great British explorer was David Bowie at the Arctic Circle, but instead the narration plows onward with details of the particulars of the voyage.

This is not a bad read, and it is still worthwhile. But the potential is so much greater with stronger dramatic storytelling.

[Matthew Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining biography of an intrepid group of British blokes aiming to set up the first permanent weather station on the Greenland ice cap. Gino Watkins goes down as one of the more under-appreciated polar explorers, certainly of the 20th century, equally foolhardy, blasé as he was an incredibly talented mountaineer and expeditionary leader who was able to assemble a group of men who went on to partake in some really quite remarkable achievements later on in life.

With a lot of these biographies the historical justification (I hesitate to call it revisionism) towards some of their more questionable actions is a little on the nose. This does not excuse their thoughts and actions in any way, but it is easy to be critical when reviewing from behind your cozy desk and armchair in your 20 degree Celsius house.

That aside, this is an intrepid, inspiring (?!) tale of survival in the coldest place on the northern hemisphere. The coldest weather I have ever experienced is -13 degrees, with a wind chill factor making it around -20, and I was absolutely bloody freezing. The coldest these chaps got was around -38 degrees. Good job they had plenty of pelican and seal meat to warm themselves.

I am being blithe. An entertaining 7.5/10, rounded up. Gino Watkins untimely demise will remain one of the many mysteries of polar travel; may he rest in peace.

[Beckie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still cannot get enough of polar exploration stories. There have been so many good ones on Scott, Shackleton, and Amundson. This book about Gino Watkins was another to add to the list. Hard to believe such a young, privileged man without much life experience at all could lead some great expeditions in Green Land and Labrador. Great discussion of ethnography and how the Inuit/Eskimo population was exploited at times, but also appreciated by Gino in learning their seal hunting skills in kayaks and how to survive extreme temps. I think the most interesting was Cortland and his 6-month solo stay at the ice cap weather station. The gypsy moth planes are hard for me to imagine but so is living in -60-degree weather, sledging, and sleeping in reindeer sleeping bags. And let's be honest, so much more. Narration wasn't great. Would like to find The Northern Lights book by F. Spencer Chapman but doesn't appear to be easily accessible in print.

[Laurie Kessler · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, started slow, from “practice” expeditions in northern Canada (and other assorted background information) to the eventual Greenland expedition & project. But it grew increasingly more interesting to me because of the information about the Inuit: wise was Walker to learn from those who had mastered this harsh environment. Because I learned new information about Greenland as the book progressed, I became more forgiving of my choosing a book featuring a rich man’s son who goes off to have expensive adventures, something most of us can only dream of until we have to grow up, get a job, and pay the bills. Overall, not a bad story, though.

For AUDIBLE listeners: I slowed the narrator down a smidge, to .9 or .95, since the British accent challenged this American. ;-) But the choice of an English chap was appropriate because the people in the expeditions are British.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greenland was a mostly unexplored in 1930. Gino Watkins a 23 year old explorer decided he would explore the ice cap which covers most of Greenland. This is the story of the expedition. In going into the unknown there were many challenges and sometimes they were lucky to survive. Also, Gino was and unconventional manager and young to be in charge of an exploration.

This book is interesting. I learned about an explorer that I had never heard of. He was a contemporary of Shakleton. If you like a true life adventure story, this book will interest you. It will take you along on an exploration into the unknown.

Thank you to #goodreads, #DavidRoberts, and #WWNorton&Company for a copy of this book.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really close to giving this book a 4, but it deserves a 7/10. Becomes a bit repetitive at some points, and felt like perhaps the author was never quite sure whether this was a biography or an adventure story. It is a little of both, but doesn't quite feel extremely satisfying as either. Still, there is a lot here to like, especially the chapters about the relationships between the English explorers and the Inuit natives who befriended them and taught them much they needed to know to survive. A bit more of that, and a bit less of the philosophizing of what made Henry Watkins (our hero) "tick," would have been welcome. Worth a read, though, and the author mentions several other books on polar exploration I may at some point attempt to track down.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nonfiction account of an exploratory expedition to Greenland’s ice sheet in the 1930s. The narrative followed Henry “Gino” Watkins, the leader of the party. It spent time on his early years, the events that motivated and brought him here, etc. While it was well written and the author felt very passionately that this brightly burning star should be more widely recognized for his contributions during the last years of great exploration, it got to be quite repetitive. Almost each chapter included a recap of the previous one, or other events that I had read about earlier in the book. I was reading the whole book, so I knew what was being referenced. It was weird, and started to try my patience.

[Kristina Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I'm a huge fan of endurance, discovery, and rescue type non-fiction. This one I really appreciated for its attention to personal details. I love that he touched on the idea Gino might have been queer. What an amazing explorer I've heard absolutely nothing about. Roberts did a fantastic job bringing him to life.

I also liked Roberts' thoughtful exposition about the men and their liaisons with Inuit teenagers. Like, yes you could see it as wrong and you wouldn't be wrong to think that. However, the situation DOES have nuance that should be considered--the culture of the people included. I really enjoyed the honesty of that chapter.

All in all great read. Thank you.

[Tommy Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic narrative of the age of polar exploration paired with excellent historical research that celebrates impressive feats without ignoring the more troubling aspects, such as abuse of indigenous people and wildlife and abandonment of family and responsibilities. The book uses second hand accounts to masterfully recreate the life of Gino Watkins with the stated intention of giving the great man, that died too soon, his long overdue credit. It resonates with similar narratives like that of the artic and antarctic expeditions of similar vintage but brings a modern perspective which deepens the story and prevents unbridled hero worship.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book and well-written. I can't say it was as exciting as most of the books I have read on this subject, but I think the author did a lot of research and presented the information that was available. I do find it hard to take the killing of their dogs. I understand this is necessary in times of starvation, but in some cases, they just did not prepare well ahead of time, and once they mention being in an Inuit camp where dogs were not allowed, due to farm animals, so the dogs were put down. They just seemed to regard them as so easily expendable although the dogs had worked so hard, suffered so much, and were the only way the missions could have even taken place at all.