Someone please explain to me why in the middle of the New England winter I set out to read books about Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. I was looking back and saw that I read about Shackleton's trip last winter and Robert Scot's the winter before. It struck me that it's similar to my need to listen to the saddest music I can find when I'm feeling sad. Maybe the best way to make it through winters and sadness is to go to them and through them instead of trying to avoid them. What a gem of a find...

Amazing and harrowing - this is the incredible first hand account of a desperate (costly but successful) attempt to find rescue in the arctic after being icebound on a ship for over two years. If you like survival stories, this is a great one! Just...make sure you're warm and well-fed while reading it.

Hey, let's go search for new discoveries in the unknown frozen Russian Arctic! And let's do it with a completely chaotic and disorganized expedition with only five experienced seamen. Let's do it!Hey, let's not worry about getting stuck in the ice because we have an abundance of supplies! And let's not worry when the members of the expedition start losing their teeth to scurvy. Let's do it!Hey, let's not bother to figure out that things are going downhill when we end up much farther north than i...

In 1975, Arctic expert William Barr wrote “The name of Valerian Ivanovich Albanov must be ranked among those of the immortals of polar exploration. This is his story. In 1914, after 18 months trapped in the ice on board the Saint Anna , Albanov, known as the permission to abandon the ship along with 13 crew mates, to attempt to travel by hauling and sailing kayaks to the distant Franz Joseph Land. He sees it as their only chance of survival. With no map other than a rough sketch, and constant a...

This is a great a little book. After their boat was frozen in for 2 years, a group sets off across the ice flows to find help. The only bad thing was the journal that Valerian kept on the ship for the 2 years was lost!!! I would have loved to read that story. This first hand account of the trek across a frozen ocean is amazing. Well documented and gripping. His experience is truly something that very few have or ever will understand. I actually read the book twice... back to back. Yes, when I fi...

Fascinating, well written, horrifying! This is a mesmerizing story by Russian navigator Valerian Ivanovich Albanov of the plight of the Russian schooner _Saint Anna_, which attempted an Arctic voyage across the Northeast Passage to Vladivostok in 1912. Two years later, only Albanov and one other crew member survived, and the _Saint Anna_, which they departed with about 14 men in homemade kayaks and sledges when it became frozen in ice, was never recovered.

I have a fascination with the Arctic and Arctic stories, and this hit the spot.In 1912, Albanov signed on to an expedition to the Russian Arctic as Navigator on the Saint Anna. The ship was almost immediately locked in ice, and after two years with no thaw in sight, Albanov set off with 13 other men to escape the ice and find land. They crossed miles of ice and open water, finally reaching some tiny islands, but even that doesn't guarantee their safety.This is a translation of Albanov's diary, b...

A harrowing epic of survival, hope and the will of the human spirit to survive, Good story, and best have a warm fire going or read it in the summer...

This was a great, intriguing book that I read in a little over one day. It is the true story of the trials and tribulations of a group of men walking across hundreds of miles of ice to reach land after their ship becomes icebound. The narrative is in the form of the diary entries of the ship's navigator, Valerian Albanov. Not to give too much away (this information is on the back cover of the book), but only the narrator and one other man survive, out of an original crew of over 20. The story is...

Here we are, back in the Arctic, because apparently I never learn. I thought this would just be a standard, journalistic read about yet another doomed Arctic quest, and until I got to the epilogue, that's exactly what it was. If you read this book, whatever you do, do not skip the epilogue. That's where the real drama unfolds, and the aspect of the narrative revealed in the epilogue changes everything. You have to read the rest of the book for the bombshell to land, however.

It is a diary written in 1912 over a 2 yr period as an expedition was trying to find a route to the North Pole. 28-30 men and 1 woman set out on a Ship but became lodged in ice. 10 men set out with kayaks and “sledges” to head south to get help. It is a true story of survival and a very interesting read. Only 2 men came home. The rest perished on the trek for help as well as those who stayed with the ship. If you like survival stories this was a good short read.

Fascinating Read.This true journal of men’s attempt to escape from a ship caught in the ice far north of Russia, making their way over the ice hauling heavy sledges, or between the ice floes in kayaks is fascinating to read.

Exceptional! From the introductions to the original works and journal entries of the survivors, this is a living, breathing work that deserves notice and applause. How these men made it through this ordeal is astounding, oftentimes shocking, and always gripping. A must read.

Great way to beat the summer heat! The epilogue to the Modern Library edition is definitely worth reading, as it changes your understanding of the book completely and makes you want to go back and start it all over with fresh eyes. In addition to being a great adventure story, it's another testament to the lost art of the travel diary.

The ingenuity, resourcefulness, and resolve presented in this first-hand account are admirable, and a testament of Albanov's expertise as a sailor. This was an intriguing glimpse of unintended adventure and willpower being pushed to the limit.

"In the Land of White Death" is the (nonfiction) diary account of Officer Albanov as he struggles for survival across the arctic ocean in hopes of finding land. On August 28, 1912 the Saint Anna with a crew of 23 set sail from the port of Alexandrovsk on a hunting expedition that was expected to end in Vladivostok. By October 15, the ship became lock in the arctic ice sheet and drifted ever northward. The crew survived two brutal winters inboard despite running out of fuel and having limited sup...

An engrossing first-hand account of a trek across the Arctic wilderness in a quest for survival. In this translation of Albanov's journal kept throughout his ordeal, Albanov describes, in great detail, the trials he and his followers faced while trekking towards safety. Despite knowing the ending before opening the book, it was easy to be held captive by his writing, waiting to see what happens next. While Albanov comes off as a smidge arrogant, it's hard to find fault with that--he managed to g...

Albanov's story is a breathtaking, astounding read, and reasonably well translated. I finished this relatively quickly as, every time I put it down, I wondered how the men were going to get out of the mess that seemed to get worse at every stage. How anyone survived at all is a miracle. I found the Introduction by David Roberts compelling, but stopped reading after a page or two because it was clear he was giving the story away. I returned to it after finishing Albanov's text. The Epilogue, also...

This was a good read, and at times I had to remind myself it was not a novel. (And then I felt bad, because this book is full of terrible hardships!) I enjoyed Albanov's angry asides about the others, because honestly who hasn't felt that way about someone you're forced to work with at one point or another, but in such an extreme situation, I guess I kind of expect people to be... you know, more on the ball? Anyway, I liked that; I also enjoyed the epilogue which reads like a weird cross between...

"In the Land of White Death" is Valerian Albanov's stunning account of a ninety day journey across the barren wastes of the North Pole with his companions as they attempted to save themselves from an icy death. They man-hauled sledges and kayaks across the ice after their whaling boat was trapped in the pack ice for more than a year. The account is well-written and really interesting.... it stands up to the more well-known polar expedition stories. As I was reading, I really wished for a second

Most readers of polar exploration are familiar with accounts of ill-fated explorers such as Scott and Shackleton. The diary of Russian explorer Valerian Albanov was only recently discovered in a French translation buried in a library, translated into English and published in 2000. It tells of an incredible journey of survival as he and some of his crew set out from his ice-locked ship in hopes of finding aid.This, then, is an autobiography in the form of a diary or journal written by Albanov. Wh...

A very little known Russian arctic exploration story . If you are into polar exploration , then Brusilov Exploration story is a must read.It is on par with Shackleton's story. It vividly captures the travail this team endured to reach terra firma by foot/Kayak from a ice stranded ship "Saint Anna" from some where in Barents sea all the way to Franz Joseph islands. I finished this 230 pages book in a day as it is very gripping and couldn't put it down. Highly recommended. Another must read Russia...

Fact that it's a journal makes it even cooler!Great read if you have an interest in arctic exploration or just want to read survival stories in the cold harsh climate of the arctic. Very cool that it's taken from the first hand account of one of the survivors and leader. A journal not just written about it by someone who researched it.

Gripping chronicle of a harrowing arctic journey, taken from the author's journal and first published in 1917.

Important: Get the 2001-version with the epilogue In 1912 Albanov's ship was frozen fast in the pack ice due to an incompetent commander. For more than a year they drift with the ice, and then Albanov decides to leave the ship. His only map is the one found in Fridtjof Nansen's Fram book! The map is inaccurate map and full of dotted lines where the archipelago was still unexplored.This book is great in several ways:It was a joy to read Nansen trough Albanov’s eyes. I enjoy book club readings. Bu...

There are two mentions by different men as to how this first-hand chronicle escaped notice for so long, with both claiming the feats detailed compare favorably, if not surpass, those of contemporaries Shackleton and Scott, among a couple others named in passing. After reading this dull narrative I could understand why, as it is so unimaginably boring and poorly written. The tale lacks any secondhand verification, counter-narrative, factual support, or unbiased reportage as to make it feel like o...

In The Land of White Death, is a must read for those who are fascinated about Arctic and the adventure and survival there. A true story narrated in first person by Valerian Ivanovich Albanov navigator and second commanding officer, whose ship Saint Anna was locked in ice for 2 years and starts to drift north, without the hope of ever breaking free and how Albanov and 13 others leave the ship in search of land with the help of crude sledges and kayaks to escape certain icy death, battling subzero...

An excellent arctic narrative - it's a shame it's such a short book but there's so much story packed it. I love reading these sorts of stories in first-person and it's so hard to find the older autobiographies so I'm very glad that this series of exploration stories has been published so more people can enjoy them.The introduction and epilogue provide clear context for the expedition, and I especially loved the interesting information in the epilogue (view spoiler)[ the research process is inter...

This is a superb little book! I have always enjoyed stories about arctic exploration, including those that that go horribly wrong (i.e. Sir John Franklin's expedition with the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus). This is a similar tale told by Valerian Albanov, navigator of the Russian ship Saint Anna, which embarks on a voyage to scout hunting lands near the Arctic Ocean only to become hopelessly frozen in the ice for a year and a half. That is until Albanov and a a dozen other men wisely elect to separ...

An amazing Siberian Arctic memoir! Two years of survival 1912-1914 of Valerian Albanov, this is a taught, harrowing thriller as well as a beautifully insightful observation of both Albanov's comrades and the terrifying natural world. I have now read quite a few accounts of forays in to Siberia and the Arctic, each one very different from the next. Albanov's recounts the desperate need to survive, which he does by the sheerest of margins, ice and snow. These are his foes--daunting, treacherous, v...