In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic | Valerian Albanov | Exciting true life adventure

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In the Land of Whi...

	In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic Valerian Albanov Modern Library, 2000 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 30 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

In 1912, six months after Robert Falcon Scott and four of his men came to grief in Antarctica, a thirty-two-year-old Russian navigator named Valerian Albanov embarked on an expedition that would prove even more disastrous. In search of new Arctic hunting grounds, Albanov's ship, the Saint Anna, was frozen fast in the pack ice of the treacherous Kara Sea-a misfortune grievously compounded by an incompetent commander, the absence of crucial nautical charts, insufficient fuel, and inadequate provisions that left the crew weak and debilitated by scurvy.

For nearly a year and a half, the twenty-five men and one woman aboard the Saint Anna endured terrible hardships and danger as the icebound ship drifted helplessly north. Convinced that the Saint Anna would never free herself from the ice, Albanov and thirteen crewmen left the ship in January 1914, hauling makeshift sledges and kayaks behind them across the frozen sea, hoping to reach the distant coast of Franz Josef Land. With only a shockingly inaccurate map to guide him, Albanov led his men on a 235-mile journey of continuous peril, enduring blizzards, disintegrating ice floes, attacks by polar bears and walrus, starvation, sickness, snowblindness, and mutiny. That any of the team survived is a wonder. That Albanov kept a diary of his ninety-day ordeal-a story that Jon Krakauer calls an "astounding, utterly compelling book," and David Roberts calls "as lean and taut as a good thriller"-is nearly miraculous.

First published in Russia in 1917, Albanov's narrative is here translated into English for the first time. Haunting, suspenseful, and told with gripping detail, In the Land of White Death can now rightfully take its place among the classic writings of Nansen, Scott, Cherry-Garrard, and Shackleton.

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A true account of survival in the Siberian Arctic

The Russian exploration vessel, the Saint Anna, set sail in 1912 to search for hunting grounds in the North Polar region. Within a few months, the crew of 33 had become icebound and spent the next year and a half trapped in the ice, drifting farther and farther North. In 1914, the navigator, Valerian Albanov, decided to risk a trek across the ice with the hope of reaching Franz Josef Land. 13 crewmen set off across the ice, with the remaining 20 choosing to stay on board the ship. Of the 13 crewmen, only two survived.

"In the Land of White Death" is the true account of the trek, as written by Valerian Albanov. Starting with the few days before leaving, he writes a remarkable story of survival in severely cold conditions, with supplies diminishing and morale quickly ebbing. It is very detailed with its discriptions not only of the terrain, but of the crew and their physical and mental states throughout the journey.

Translator David Roberts also includes in his epilogue some of the text from the other survivor of the journey, crewman Alexander Konrad. His take on certain events sheds a whole new lights on certain aspects of their voyage across the ice.

This is a remarkable book, both for its story of survival and its glimpse into human nature. One of the best non-fiction books that I've read.

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Exciting true life adventure

I've always been fascinated about Arctic & Antartic exploration, and try to read any books about it that I can find. This first-person work by a Russian officer on an ill-fated Arctic journey from 1912 to 1914 is certainly a very exciting one, even though the author tends to be laconic at times about his exploits. He tells the story of his ship becoming icelocked, and then of his trek, with several other companions, across the trackless wastes of the Arctic to look for a safe haven on distant land. It's quite compelling, and makes for very gripping reading. The paperback edition of this work contains additional material gleaned from the diary of one of the author's companions on this treacherous journey, and it sheds some additional light on what happened, and especially on the mysterious two men who abandoned the party during the trip, and left them in a very precarious position. It's a book well worth reading for anyone interested in the Arctic, or indeed for anyone who can admire the lengths to which the human spirit and body will push itself in order to survive under the most exteme of conditions.

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Don't Cry for Me, Saint Anna

In 1912, the Russian ship Saint Anna, undersupplied and with an incompetent captain, set out to sail the Northeast Passage across the top of Asia. Frozen into the icepack in the notoriously treacherous Kara Sea, the ship drifted north for a year and a half.

At this point Valerian Albanov, chief navigation officer and former second-in-command (he had been relieved of duty by his commander; we don't know why), received the captain's permission to leave the ship with thirteen companions. In improvised sledges, skis, and kayaks, they set out for Franz Joseph Land to the south.

Only Albanov and one companion survived to be rescued from the same cape on the same island from which Fridtjof Nansen and his companion had been rescued twenty years before. (See Nansen's "Farthest North" to see how an Arctic drift SHOULD be handled.) This is the journal that Albanov kept, beginning from the day he left the Saint Anna hopelessly frozen in the ice. Saint Anna was never found.

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great companion to lansing's 'endurance'

this is a fast and enjoyable read in the historic polar adventure genre, perhaps most impressive is how the 19th century journal writing remains crisp, clear, and compelling today. a few other comments:
-it is a very interesting companion and comparison to lansing's "endurance", though 'endurance' is probably a bit better written, more interesting, and a superior place for most readers to start than here.
-the maps in the beginning are a bit poor in detail and sadly do not include many of the names that the text refers to.
-as others have noted, i would tend to recommend skipping the introduction and reading it at the end, as it doesn't add much and sort of colors one's impressions of the book.
enjoy!!

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Grippingly Good

Talk about an incredibly survival journey, this is it. These guys were very resourceful and strong and tough. But the elements start to take there toll. Imagine yourself in a handmade tiny kayak, and you're making an open water sea crossing, and then the winds pick up to hurricane force. What would you do? Yeah, lash yourself upon an iceberg. This is great fictional non-fiction. And it's hard to put down, because what will happen next?

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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