“One helluva read.”—Newsweek • “Gripping.”—Outside • “Spellbinding.”—Associated Press • “Powerful.”—New York In 1912, the Saint Anna, a Russian exploration vessel in search of fertile hunting grounds, was frozen into the polar ice cap, trapping her crew aboard. For nearly a year and a half, they struggled to stay alive. As all hope of rescue faded, they realized their best chance of survival might be to set out on foot, across hundreds of miles of desolate ice, with their lifeboats dragged behind them on sledges, in hope of reaching safety. Twenty of them chose to stay aboard; thirteen began the trek; of them all, only two survived. Originally published in Russia in 1917, In the Land of White Death was translated into English for the first time by the Modern Library to widespread critical acclaim. As well as recounting Albanov’s vivid, first-person account of his ninety-day ordeal over 235 miles of frozen sea, this expanded paperback edition contains three newly discovered photographs and an extensive new Epilogue by David Roberts based on the never-before-published diary of Albanov’s only fellow survivor, Alexander Konrad. As gripping as Albanov’s own tale, the Epilogue sheds new light on the tragic events of 1912–1914, brings to life many of those who perished (including the infamous captain Brusilov and nurse Zhdanko, the only woman on board), and, inadvertently, reveals one new piece of information—about the identity of the traitors who left Albanov for dead—that is absolutely shocking. “Poetic.”—The Washington Post • “A lost masterpiece.”—Booklist • “A jewel of polar literature.”—Seattle Post-Intelligencer • “Vivid . . . [a work of] terrifying beauty.”—The Boston Globe

In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

History

Albanov, Valerian

World

Modern Library

In the Land of White Death : An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic

In 1912 the Russian navigator Valerian Albanov embarked on an expedition to find new Arctic hunting grounds. Albanov's ship the "Saint Anna" became frozen fast in the ice of the treacherous Kara Sea. Problems were futher compounded by an incompetent commander, the absence of crucial nautical charts, insufficient fuel and inadequate provisions that left the crew weak and debilitated by scurvy. After a year-and-a-half of drifting through the ice Albanov and 13 crewmen left the ship. Hauling makeshift sledges and kayaks behind them, the crew crossed the frozen sea hoping to reach the distant coast of Franz Josef Land. With only an inaccurate map to guide them, Albanov led his men on a 235-mile journey, through blizzards, disintegrating ice floes, polar bear attacks, starvation and sickness, snowblindness and mutiny. This book is Albanov's diary of the 90 day ordeal.

Sports & Outdoors

Pimlico

A New York Times Bestseller 
In 1912, thirty-two-year-old Russian navigator Valerian Albanov embarked on an expedition that would prove to be disastrous. His ship, the Santa Anna, froze fast in the pack ice of the treacherous Kara Sea. For nearly a year and a half, the crew of twenty-five men and one woman endured terrible hardships and danger as the ship drifted helplessly north. Then Albanov and thirteen crewmen left the ship, and embarked on a 235-mile journey to reach safety. The fact that any survived is as amazing as the fact that Albanov kept his diary of the ninety-day ordeal.

Biographies & Memoirs

Thorndike Pr

In The Land Of White Death - An Epic Story Of Survival In The Siberian Arctic

Travel

Travel Writing

En el pais de la muerte blanca

RBA Libros

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