2024/166: Madhouse at the End of the Earth - Julian Sancton

2024/166: Madhouse at the End of the Earth: The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night — Julian Sancton

In the absence of easily accessible natural resources to exploit, stories were what polar explorers extracted from these barren icescapes. And the best stories weren’t the ones in which everything went well. [loc. 2192]

An enimently readable account (I stayed up past midnight to finish it!) of a Belgian expedition towards Antarctica from 1897 to 1899. ( Read more... )