'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.
