What started as a dream in 1898 became a dramatic reality eleven years later. But for Robert E. Peary these were years of immense physical hardship, repeated frustration, and unflinching determination to accomplish what he believed to be the greatest feat of the century. His ultimate success in April 1909, not only established him as an explorer of the first magnitude, but for the first time revealed the secrets of the North Pole to the eyes of man. Told by his daughter (long known as ""the snow baby"") with unusual sympathy and objectivity and supported by Walter Buehr's outstandingly evocative black and white drawings, this is not only a rewarding account of man's achievement but an animated portrait of a determined New Englander who could not rest until he had found a task commensurate with his extraordinary capabilities.