'An epic of survival' -- MICHAEL PALIN 'A "grade-A classic"' -- SUNDAY TIMES 'Utterly
enthralling' -- GEOFF DYER GUARDIAN 'Deeply engrossing' -- NEW YORK TIMES LISTED AS A BOOK
OF THE YEAR IN THE TIMES NEW STATESMAN SUNDAY TIMES The harrowing survival story of an
early polar expedition that went terribly wrong with the ship frozen in ice and the crew
trapped inside for the entire sunless Antarctic winter. August 1897: The Belgica set sail
eager to become the first scientific expedition to reach the white wilderness of the South
Pole. But the ship soon became stuck fast in the ice of the Bellinghausen sea condemning the
ship's crew to overwintering in Antarctica and months of endless polar night. In the darkness
plagued by a mysterious illness their minds ravaged by the sound of dozens of rats teeming in
the hold they descended into madness. In this epic tale Julian Sancton unfolds a story of
adventure gone horribly awry. As the crew teetered on the brink the Captain increasingly
relied on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity - Dr. Frederick Cook
the wild American whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica and the
ship's first mate soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen who later raced Captain Scott to the
South Pole. Together Cook and Amundsen would plan a last-ditch desperate escape from the
ice-one that would either etch their names into history or doom them to a terrible fate in the
frozen ocean. Drawing on first-hand crew diaries and journals and exclusive access to the
ship's logbook the result is equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror. This is an
unforgettable journey into the deep.
