Across the Arctic Ocean

On 21 February 1968, Wally Herbert and his team of three companions and forty huskies set out from Point Barrow, Alaska, embarking on a journey that no one had ever attempted. Sixteen hard months later they finally set foot once more on solid land in Spitsbergen, having attained the North Pole and crossed the frozen Arctic Ocean for the first time. Travelling and living on ice that was in continual motion, sometimes buckling and breaking beneath them, they had endured extreme cold and months of winter darkness, and faced frequent encounters with polar bears. Though their achievement was overshadowed by the Apollo moon-landing, it stands today as one of the greatest expeditions of all time. Illustrated with unpublished photographs and other personal materials from the Herbert archive, as well as rare items from public and private collections, this exceptional photography book is a first-hand record of an astonishing journey - one that will probably never be repeated. An impressive team of experts - polar travellers, explorers and scientists - contribute their reflectionson the Arctic wilderness and their appreciation of this remarkable feat of heroism, epic endeavour and scientific enterprise. Across the Arctic Ocean is a timely account of the last great frontier in a rapidly changing world, and will appeal to all those interested in exploration, polar science, the great outdoors and the spirit of adventure.