This story about the 1881 Arctic exploration to find “Farthest North” takes place some thirty-seven years prior to Shackelton’s exploration in the Antarctica. But many of the sheer difficulties—an ice bound ship that has to be abandoned, a crew of men who need to use all their wits to survive, Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy does not have the same kind of ending, where all the men survive. Of the twenty-four scientists and explorers, many succumb to the frightening environment and the mental tribulations of men bound together in a horrendous situation, surrounded by nothing more than ice and more ice, the darkness of Arctic winters, and a shortage of food. Chillingly told, we follow these men as they try to survive, and tell ourselves what we would have done in their place. Would you have survived? I know I would not have. For readers who want to understand what mankind has done to explore this planet, long before airplanes, cell phones and GPS.
