To the edges of the Earth 1909, the race for the three poles, and the climax of the age of exploration

The disappearing Arctic ice pack was once a frozen highway used by early-20th-century explorers searching for the elusive North Pole. As Larson, author of "An Empire of Ice," writes in his latest look at polar exploration, it has a complicated history, exemplified most notoriously by Robert Peary's many expeditions. But Peary's adventures form only one part of this account of the burst of activity that occurred in 1909: Ernest Shackleton's unsuccessful try for the geographic South Pole coupled with Douglas Mawson's arrival at the magnetic South Pole; Peary's problematic final drive to the North Pole; and the attempt of Luigi Amadeo of Savoy, Duke of Abruzzi, to reach the summit of K2, in the Himalayan region often called the third pole. Using a tripartite structure, Larson covers these explorers' prior expeditions as well as those of other rivals, before providing detailed accounts of their journeys. Historians have been fighting over the same scraps of documentation for decades, so there's not much new here, aside from Larson's argument that 1909 represented the "climax" of the age of exploration. Yet all three expeditions were failures in one way or another. With Shackleton still years away from his Endurance heroics and with Roald Amundsen's South Pole triumph and Scott's legend-making but fatal secondplace finish yet to come, positioning 1909 as the apex of the Age of Exploration feels like a stretch, even with the inclusion of the exploits of the rather thinly drawn Duke of Abruzzi. Some of the most engaging elements of Larson's book are his asides on the spiritual aspects of these journeys and his descriptions of racism and gender in early-20thcentury expeditions. He writes candidly of Peary's appalling views and doesn't flinch when describing the explorer's sexual relationship with a 10-year-old Inuit girl. He also points out that Peary never promoted any Inuit to a position of leadership, despite benefiting from their knowledge and skills. These details, often glossed over in other polar histories, add a welcome perspective.

Ernest Shackleton, Robert Peary, and Prince Luigi Amedeo an Englishman, an American, and an Italian. Three of the most famous explorers of the early twentieth century. In 1909, these men set out on expeditions to, respectively, the South Pole, the North Pole, and one of the highest peaks in the world, the unforgiving mountain known as K2. Larson captures the excitement and danger that were the defining characteristics of this age of exploration. He also captures the epic hardships that explorers of the day underwent: horrible weather conditions, comparatively primitive equipment and clothing, and the lack of modern technology. The book, too, is a fine psychological study, a story of bravery and obsession and men who pushed themselvesto the edge of sanity. Larson, who won a Pulitzer Prize in history for his book about the Scopes Trial (Summer for the Gods, 1997), is a meticulous writer, telling us not just what happened on the three expeditions but whenever possible why and how the success or failure of these voyages of discovery would impact the very future of exploration itself.--Pitt, David Copyright 2018 Booklist

Pulitzer Prize winner Larson (History and Law/Pepperdine Univ.; The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789, 2014, etc.) records the three most important expeditions during a highly significant year in polar exploration.The Gilded Age was a time of great wealth, and men and women wanted to prove they were more than just society figures sipping champagne. Primary among these was the most famous climber at the time, Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, the Duke of the Abruzzi, who held the farthest-north record at the Arctic and first ascent on mountains on three continents. In 1909, he turned to the "Pole of Altitude" in the Himalayas, "one of the world's highest mountains." Mount Everest was out of the question, since Nepal and Tibet had closed their borders, but this would prove an equally difficult challenge. Focusing on the North Pole was American Robert E. Peary, who had mounted seven prior expeditions and had the lost toes to prove it. He had experienced many setbackse.g., trying to traverse sea ice that could carry away supplies, disrupt trails, and disorient returning groups. Peary was obsessed with gaining the pole and glory and downplayed scientific records and research while they wintered over. He also plundered the north and the Inuit nation of religious objects, furs, and tusks. Ernest Shackleton relied on ponies and a fairly useless motor car to transport supplies in the Antarctic. His group included the best of scientific experts, split so one group, led by Edgeworth David, headed for the magnetic pole, which is not fixed but migrates with the Earth's fluid core, and the other, led by Shackleton, for the geographic pole. Throughout, Larson delivers riveting tales of stalwart explorers risking their lives for discovery in some of the world's harshest areas. Their successes and even their failures made them heroes.A fascinating look at the adventures of remarkably resilient men, so well-related as to make you feel the chill. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.