'Extraordinary' ANNE APPLEBAUM 'Thrilling . . . a record of an infatuation' DAILY TELEGRAPH
'The book of a lifetime' ELIF SHAFAK 'The North Pole proves to be the perfect subject for him'
MICHAEL PALIN 'Heart-catching . . . fabulous' OBSERVER 'A beautiful book' ALAIN DE BOTTON
The epic adventure story of humanity's obsession with the North Pole from Norwegian explorer
Erling Kagge who travelled there in 1990 Throughout recorded human time few places on Earth
have inspired as much fascination as the North Pole. This is an otherworldly place where the
sun rises and stays aloft for six whole months before setting plunging the expanse of ice and
water into darkness for half a year. Foot-stepping alongside Erling Kagge who ventured to the
North Pole in the spring of 1990 we hear the story of the North Pole as never told before.
From Herodotus who first wondered what the northernmost point of our planet might be like to
the intrepid early cartographers who mapped the world and the legendary expeditions led by
Fridtjof Nansen and Robert Peary - the first polar explorer global celebrities - who were in
the grip of a dangerous obsession to get to the North Pole first. What emerges is a new history
of the world spanning thousands of years as seen from the 'silver-shining vacantness' of the
North Pole. Blending memories from Kagge's own 1990 trip with this epic history The North
Pole is an adventure story a book about enacting hidden human dreams about difficult fathers
and their difficult sons and a psychological record of what it means to keep putting one foot
in front of the other in the face of adversity. It is for anyone who's gazed out at the horizon
- and wondered what happens if you just keep walking. 'As an explorer Erling Kagge is world
class as a writer he is equally gifted' RANULPH FIENNES
