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

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Random House Publishing Group, 4 sept 2001 - 288 páginas
“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 
 

Páginas seleccionadas

Índice

LEFT THE SAINT ANNA 3922
3
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SLEDGE EXPEDITION
9
LAST DAY ON BOARD THE SAINT ANNA
22
OVER THE POLAR ICE PACK
32
DEATH OF SAILOR BAYEV
51
DRIFTING SOUTHWARD
65
LAND HO
86
ALEXANDRA LAND
106
THE FATEFUL JOURNEY TO CAPE FLORA
119
CAPE FLORA JACKSON AND ZIEGLERS CAMP
143
PREPARING TO WINTER OVER AT CAPE FLORA
155
SHIP AHOY
168
LEAVING FRANZ JOSEF LAND
177
Epilogue to the Modern Library Paperback Edition
191
Acknowledgments
228
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Sobre el autor (2001)

Valerian Albanov was born in 1881 in Voronezh, Russia, and graduated in 1904 from the Naval College of St. Petersburg. Despite his harrowing voyage aboard the Saint Anna, he continued going to sea until his death in 1919.

Jon Krakauer is the bestselling author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

David Roberts is the author of over a dozen books on mountaineering, exploration, and archaeology, including, most recently, True Summit. His work regularly appears in National Geographic Adventure, Smithsonian, and Outside, among other publications.

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