From Pole to Pole: Roald Amundsen's Journey in Flight

by Garth James Cameron

Roald Amundsen was the most successful polar explorer of his era using sledges, dogs, skis, and ships. He is mainly remembered for being the first man to reach the South Pole on December 14, 1911. What is less often remembered is that he was also the first man to reach the North Pole on May 12, 1926 as the leader of the Amundsen-Ellsworth-Nobile expedition in the airship Norge. His involvement in aviation from his experiments with man-lifting kites in 1909 to his death in 1928 while flying from Norway to Spitsbergen has not been the subject of a detailed study until now.From Pole to Pole explores Amundsen’s enthusiasm for flight from the moment he read about Bleriot’s flight across the English Channel in an airplane. In June 1928 Amundsen and five companions took off in a search and rescue flight for the missing airship Italia and were never seen again. The only traces of the men and their aircraft were a tip float and an empty fuel tank which washed up on the coast of Northern Norway several months later. Searches of the seabed near Bear Island for the remains of the Latham 47 flying boat he was flying in took place in 2004 and 2009 and interest in the mystery of his disappearance remains high.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 2013

Reviews

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible.com 7 hours 15 min. Narrated by Stephen Hoye (A)

Incredibly well-researched and detailed accounts the great Norwegian explorer Roald Amundson. I'm sure I gained more the recorded book because the narrator's easy pronunciation of the foreign places characters names. Very objective. Includes a downloadable pdf.

[Ben Denison · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was a topic I know very little about (Polar exploration) but am somewhat interested.

I didn’t realize how little we knew about the polar caps at the turn of the century (even whether there was land up there or not. Some areas just totally unknown.)

This particular book was fascinating following Admundson and the race for the poles. Also crazy that there was little way to even verify whether guys made it to where they claimed to go. (Double checking their logs to see if the info turned out correct directionally)

The book really focused onthe exploration methods of that time with a main focus on ships, that were measured by “years” of a trip (because they’d get ice-locked through winters, and for maybe longer), and/or the new fangled air balloon/airship/planes that were measured in “hours”. Hours because at the time none of them could stay in the air very long.

This book really focused on the air exploration to me more than polar exploration. It was absolute madness how these guys got in unreliable airships/balloons/early planes with little range, due to small engines and little fuel, and no assurance of a landing spot, no assurance of returning. I get risk. But these guys were nuts.

Overall a decent book. But I wanted more polar/arctic/Antarctic but it was more about flying. Probably should be a 4 star, but I’d say a solid 3.5

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been impressed with Roald Amundsen. He has been discussed in many of the other books I have read regarding polar exploration. I finally got around to reading a biography on him.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story of an adventurer that was on the cutting edge of the technology of his time, doing what no one had done before. Amundsen seemed like quite a patient and inspirational leader and the few conflicts that he had with a couple of the other players seemed very out of Character for him.

The book did tend to follow his technical writings and journals quite a bit so it was inundated with fairly mundane facts and figures at times and while listening to the audiobook it was easy to lose focus in parts.

[Stef · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but very very detailed book about attempts to reach the North Pole by various types of air platforms in the early 20th century. I wasn't aware of early arctic exploration by air before reading this..

For my interest, less on the technical parameters of the various airships, planes, etc would have made for a faster read though I'm sure there is an audience of aviation enthusiasts that will be really engaged by that.

[Scott C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like reading a history book without any interesting stories :(. It is a shame that Amundsen's feats after his trek to the south pole are not better documented. Even Amundsen himself was not a great writer, everything is dates, times, names but no real stories about what is going on around him. The same can be said of this book, well documented history but lacking on the personal front.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

A description of an explorer's aeronautical adventures.

The topic of this book was totally new to me and the subject was interesting, but the formatting and writing let it down.

Reading time around two hours.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting subject, but poorly written. I'm not sure who the editor was but the book has the feel of something self-published.

[Spen Cer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like it dragged on a little bit with some technical details but overall an interesting story about someone who is like to know more about.