Across the Arctic Ocean: Original Photographs from the Last Great Polar Journey

by Wally Herbert, Huw Lewis-Jones

On February 21, 1968, Wally Herbert and his team of three companions and forty huskies set out from Point Barrow, Alaska, embarking on a route that would take them some 3,800 miles over sixteen months, across the North Pole and the frozen Arctic Ocean via its longest axis. Though their achievement was overshadowed by the Apollo moon landing, it stands today as one of the greatest expeditions of all time.


Featuring an impressive team of expert commentators and illustrated with stunning photographs, this exceptional photography book is an engrossing firsthand record of an astonishing journey—one that will probably never be repeated.


The Arctic Ocean as a whole is attracting worldwide attention because of global warming, the shrinking ice cap, the opening up of new northerly trade routes, and competition between nations for potentially vast untapped mineral resources.

Across the Arctic Ocean is therefore a truly timely account of the last great frontier in a rapidly changing world and will appeal to all those interested in exploration, polar science, the great outdoors, and human endeavor.

Genres: Photography

240 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 2015

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding first hand account of Wally Herbert’s 1968 overland (more like over ice) crossing of the Arctic Ocean’s surface along its longest axis (traveling from Point Barrow, Alaska to Spitsbergen, in Norway). In the process of doing this he and his team became the first people who we can say for sure reached the North Pole on foot. While doing this his team collected a mountain of scientific research that’s still being used today as baseline data for tracking climate change in the region. As the book points out, between the grueling difficulty of the journey, the amount of time the crossing took (464 days), and the expenses involved, Herbert’s route is unlikely to ever be repeated and for that matter might not even be possible to duplicate due to the effects of climate change in the Arctic. This was a truly one of a kind expedition.

This is a coffee table book, and I feel like that’s important to point out because that means the focus is on the photography here as opposed to the text. Herbert does supply a summary of the expedition (as well as an account of his early career working in Antarctica) and while he’s not going to win any awards for his prose, he does write with honesty and clarity. The fact that he’s describing his own experiences also adds real weight to his words.

The photos are the star of the show here, and they are frequently stunning. Most of the reading I do is either via audiobook or just staring at a tiny phone screen. When I read something with photos at all, it’s generally on a screen that really isn’t anywhere near ideal for appreciating what I’m seeing. Getting to see large format photos of this stuff was game changing. There is a palpable sense of wonder and history coming off of so many of the images in this book. Polar exploring is a favorite subject of mine to read about. Getting to read about it like this was genuinely moving.

In addition to Herbert’s text and photos the book includes a series of essays. Some are written by Herbert’s surviving contemporaries, as well as his daughter, and are just recollections about what kind of guy Herbert was in his personal life. This stuff was all pleasant reading.

The rest of the essays are written by people who just sort of work in and around adventure tourism. These are less about Herbert and more sort of a “here’s some people talking about the current state of polar exploration.” This stuff gets a little Old Man Yells At Cloud in tone, but the thing is that after all these essays comes a general timeline of polar exploring. Early entries in the timeline are exactly what you’d expect, your Nansen’s, Peary’s and Amundsen’s. But then you get to the most recent entries and it’s all stuff like “Here’s Joe, he was the first left handed Capricorn to ski backwards to the North Pole while doing a handstand and arrive there on a Thursday in October” and I guess I’m an Old Man Yelling At Clouds because come on.

This book definitely isn’t for everyone, but if you’re in to this kind of thing then it almost feels like required reading. The photos alone make it worth a look.

[Gheorghe Paslariu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not as impressive as the explorers of old, the air drops and regular radio contact give a hint of 'cheating' after reading so many books about previous explorers. But still and amazing achievement and beautiful photos!

[Andre Renovato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book I thought that crossing the artic shouldn't be as a big deal as crossing a frozen lake. Such an ignorance...

I now know better ... I praise those man who had the spirit, skills and courage to endevour in such a spectacular voyage.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing polar journey over land across the frozen Arctic ocean including the North Pole. And the pictures are cool.