|  | Author: Valerian Albanov
Creators: Alison Anderson, Jon Krakauer, David Roberts
Publisher: Modern Library
List Price: $14.95
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Seller: airportplacebooks
Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 57295
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: Expanded
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 067978361X
Dewey Decimal Number: 919.804
EAN: 9780679783619
ASIN: 067978361X
Publication Date: October 17, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: COVER IS IN WORN CONDITION (Airport Place Books does not ship on Saturdays and Sundays. We are unable to ship to "The Republic of Korea".)
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 31-33 of 33
 Great Russian Entry in Polar Literature December 6, 2000
Wildness (Colorado Plateau)
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
First, I would like to thank Jon Krakauer and David Roberts for their efforts in bringing this lost treasure to English-speaking readers.
Much of what is read about polar exploration is about American, or English, or Scandinavian exploits. The Russian Classic, In the Land of White Death (the title is the English translation of the title of the French version published in 1928), will make a great addition to any library on Arctic and Antarctic exploration.
Valerian Albanov is the Navigator on the Saint Anna which leaves Alexandrivsk (now Murmansk) in 1912 to traverse the Northeast Passage (something only accomplished once before at the time) on a hunting trip that was supposed to end in Valdivostok. But, a late start finds the Saint Anna frozen in the ice pack early that winter in the Kara Sea. After wintering 1913 stuck in the ice that is dragging them every northward, Albanov believes that the best chance of survival is for the crew to split in two - half to remain on the Saint Anna with her captain Greogiy Brusilov and wait the eventual (hopeful) passage of the ship into the Western Hemisphere to be freed near Greenland, while the other half - thirteen - follows Albanov on a trek across the ice pack southward towards Franz Josef Land, the archiplelago that was Fridtjof Nansen's Farthest North.
Albanov's account begins with his team's departure from the Saint Anna. The early part of the book is told in a narrative that Albanov wrote after the trek then quickly switches to his journal entries which are written with great clarity. Albanov's adventure brings them face-to-face with the harshest of dangers including being separated from the rest of his team on ice flows, constant attacks by Walruses (not always unprovoked), and treking with poorly made sledges that were built from scrap materials removed from the Saint Anna.
Albanov's writing style brings the reader into the adventure and when they trek for 15 hours southward some days only to find that the ice flow has taken them farther north than when they started, you feel their anguish.
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A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
Exciting man vs. nature thriller November 1, 2000
Adrian M. Wood (Astoria, NY United States)
50 out of 51 found this review helpful
Perfect for fans of INTO THIN AIR, KNOCKDOWN, or similar titles that set humans against pitiless nature--and here nature does some serious damage against the humans. Albanov clearly conveys the confusion and bouts of hopelessness that made his life-or-death trip across uncharted ice such a challenge. Albanov's details about using home-made sledges and kayaks to travel over the cracked ice, his small group's constant search for food, and the difficulties in keeping a group constantly moving toward an unseen goal make this a mesmerizing tale. Readers of Jack London will find this adventure a treat, too.
A quick read, good addition to that polar expedition library October 31, 2000
Z (Venice, CA)
102 out of 102 found this review helpful
This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy harrowing stories of near-death polar adventures. It's amazing that Albanov survived. His book is a combination of excerpts from his detailed diary and elaborations he added after the fact, supplemented by an informational preface from the publisher who recently discovered his almost-forgotten manuscript.If you have already read "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing, this book isn't quite as good, but it is an interesting contrast. (If you haven't, put Endurance on your must-read list!) The challenges faced were similar, though not quite as extended in Albanov's case. This story starts in much the same way as the Endurance - a ship trapped in pack ice (though in this case in the Arctic). But this is where the story diverges. The biggest difference that you learn up-front is that only two people survived (compared to the whole crew on the Endurance!) Albanov is the navigator but does not get along with the captain. As a result, after two winters (!) enduring their relationship and the worsening conditions, he asks for permission to build a kayak and sledge from scrap and set out on his own in search of land. Much to his disappointment, however, half the crew (even many of the weaker ones) ask to accompany him. Their destination is "Cape Flora" about 120 miles away across pack ice. According to a polar explorer's diary from decades ago, Cape Flora once had a shelter and supplies. But they really don't even know if it still exists and exactly how to get there. And if it is still there - what then? But Albanov is able to focus on the immediate goal and not worry about the what if's. Interestingly, the crew was not a group of explorers anticipating adventure, but opportunists looking to make money in the walrus-hunting trade. This could have contributed to their low survival rate. Albanov complains about his companions a lot - their laziness, stupidity. But from Albanov's first hand account, the reader can infer that he was a loner. I couldn't help but wonder whether a leader like Shackleton could have brought out the best in the group and had a higher chance of surviving. Anyway, it is truly amazing that Albanov and one of his companions survive all the crazy challenges they are delt - snowblidness, hunger, cold, scurvy, lack of maps, drifting pack ice, angry walruses, almost drowning, and so on. This is a short book, and a good page-turner. Although it's not as good as Endurance, it's still a good read.
Showing reviews 31-33 of 33
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