Madhouse at the End of the Earth
The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
Ratings9
Average rating4.3
15
The Belgica's Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
Ratings9
Average rating4.3
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing” (The New York Times) true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry—with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter “The energy of the narrative never flags. . . . Sancton has produced a thriller.”—The Wall Street Journal In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache’s plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship’s occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness. In Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton unfolds an epic story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica’s men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity: the expedition’s lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook—half genius, half con man—whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship’s first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice—one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean’s bottom. Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica’s crew and with exclusive access to the ship’s logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep.
Reviews with the most likes.
A slow-burn with a heavy emphasis on historical scene setting and establishment for the first 1/3-1/2ish of the book. The back half, however, is worth the payoff. I finished the final third of the book within a day for that exact reason.
“We are no longer navigators, but a small colony of prisoners serving their sentence.”This is my second voyage (ha!) with a polar expedition book, the first being [b:In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette 20897517 In the Kingdom of Ice The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette Hampton Sides https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1395935993l/20897517.SY75.jpg 28027377]. Rather than going for the North Pole like the Jeannette several years previous, the Belgica and her crew gave it the honest college try in being the first to reach the magnetic South Pole. As you can imagine, in such an extreme environment and it being 1897 without modern advances and conveniences, things go south (haha!) quickly.I thought this book had a bit of a slow start, but it quickly drew me in once the Belgica got underway and the actual expedition began. Some backstory of the ship and its crew is necessary to really establish a connection between the reader and the characters, so I didn't particularly mind. I thought the writing style was engaging, if a little bit sensational – I get that it reads like an adventure book, but it's ultimately supposed to be a historical account, and it feels like the author played it a bit fast and loose with the day-to-day dialogue and accounts of what happened. The transition of the crew as their voyage became much longer than anticipated was especially interesting, and I liked the inclusion of the epilogue of sorts at the end that showed what happened to everyone at the conclusion. In summary, a very engaging adventure book about the impact of hubris and stubborness on polar exploration. A bit of a slow start rewards the reader with much drama later on. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
