LABYRINTH OF ICE

A blow-by-blow account of the Greely Expedition to the northernmost polar regions from 1881 to 1884.

In the lore of Arctic exploration, the Greely Expedition, aka the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, holds a special place. Named after its commanding officer, Lt. Adolphus Greely, the expedition, comprised of 24 scientists and explorers, achieved the distinction of making a documented foray to the farthest north, but it also carried accusations of cannibalism during its last days afield before rescue. In this highly detailed account, Levy (River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon, 2011, etc.) makes full use of all the writings—journals, books, and articles—that the expedition spawned. The adventurers wanted to establish a chain of research stations to collect data on the region, and they also set out to search for survivors of the USS Jeannette expedition, which had disappeared two years prior. Furthermore, they sought to “attain Farthest North, an explorer’s holy grail of the highest northern latitude, which had been held by the British” for three centuries. Levy does a remarkable job of keeping things lively despite the crush of detail (“it carried a load of five thousand pounds of coal (in thirty-nine bags), gear, and men, drawing five feet of water”). When Greely finally decides to make a dash for it, having waited in vain for two years for supply ships to rendezvous with his team, the author comes into his own, grippingly chronicling their harrowing journey. Through the bitter cold and long nights, the men slogged in retreat south, suffering frostbite so bad that one explorer pleaded, “Oh, will you kill me? Please.” They ate the soles of their boots and, later, “nothing but a few swigs of water since eating the last of Greely’s sleeping bag cover.” Levy presents the evidence for cannibalism in a balanced manner, and he does a solid job situating the expedition’s scientific achievements in the history of polar exploration.

A graphic tale of horrific deprivation that is sure to be the benchmark account.