Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The Arctic weather was even worse that fall of 1855. The whaleship George Henry was navigating its way through the Davis Strait when it was struck by floating packs of ice. The temperature had continued to fall, threatening to turn the ice into one impenetrable mass. #2 The crew of the George Henry found a ship named the HMS Resolute, with no crew on board. They were shocked to find a deathlike silence and a dread repose. They went below and found a cabin filled with books and personal items, as if the occupants had just stepped out. #3 As the second decade of the nineteenth century began, England was about to embark on a new age of discovery motivated in large part by the desire to advance scientific discovery. #4 The search for a Northwest Passage was a huge motivation for exploration in the nineteenth century. It was a route that would allow ships to travel directly from the Atlantic to the Pacific by sailing through the Arctic.

Almost everyone knows the photo of John F. Kennedy, Jr. as a young boy, peering out from under his father's desk in the Oval Office. But few realize that the desk itself plays a part in one of the world's most extraordinary mysteries--a dramatic tale that has never before been told in its full scope.

Science in the Arctic changed dramatically over the course of the nineteenth century, when early, scattered attempts in the region to gather knowledge about all aspects of the natural world transitioned to a more unified Arctic science under the First International Polar Year in 1882. The IPY brought together researchers from multiple countries with the aim of undertaking systematic and coordinated experiments and observations in the Arctic and Antarctic. Harsh conditions, intense isolation, and acute danger inevitably impacted the making and communicating of scientific knowledge. At the same time, changes in ideas about what it meant to be an authoritative observer of natural phenomena were linked to tensions in imperial ambitions, national identities, and international collaborations of the IPY. Through a focused study of travel narratives in the British, Danish, Canadian, and American contexts, Nanna Katrine Lüders Kaalund uncovers not only the transnational nature of Arctic exploration, but also how the publication and reception of literature about it shaped an extreme environment, its explorers, and their scientific practices. She reveals how, far beyond the metropole—in the vast area we understand today as the North American and Greenlandic Arctic—explorations and the narratives that followed ultimately influenced the production of field science in the nineteenth century.

A 2024 Sibert Honor Book "(A) deeper dive into marine archaeology...enlivened by photographs, diagrams and archival images, describes sunken vessels as ‘time capsules’ and the ocean floor itself as ‘the world’s greatest museum.’ But what extraordinary things have been found, despite the depth and waves!"—The Wall Street Journal From National Book Award–winning author Martin W. Sandler, here is a fascinating look at what shipwrecks reveal about our world’s past—and how exploring them led to the development of a whole new field of science: marine archaeology. Most of the world’s ocean floor remains to be discovered. In fact, it’s estimated to be home to over 3 million sunken vessels and countless treasures of the past. This enthralling and adventure-filled nonfiction book for young readers recounts some of the most captivating shipwrecks from history, ranging from the Shinan, a Chinese merchant ship laden with riches from the 14th century, to the HMS Erebus and Terror, two polar exploration ships that mysteriously disappeared in the early 1800s. Combining new research, stunning archival material, and vivid storytelling, Shipwrecked! dives deep into the world of marine archaeology and shows young readers what each discovery reveals about the world before our time.

Experience the race of rails to link the country—and meet the men behind this incredible feat—in a riveting story about the building of the transcontinental railroad, brought to life with archival photos. In the 1850s, gold fever swept the West, but people had to walk, sail, or ride horses for months on end to seek their fortune. The question of faster, safer transportation was posed by national leaders. But with 1,800 miles of seemingly impenetrable mountains, searing deserts, and endless plains between the Missouri River and San Francisco, could a transcontinental railroad be built? It seemed impossible. Eventually, two railroad companies, the Central Pacific, which laid the tracks eastward, and the Union Pacific, which moved west, began the job. In one great race between iron men with iron wills, tens of thousands of workers blasted the longest tunnels that had ever been constructed, built the highest bridges that had ever been created, and finally linked the nation by two bands of steel, changing America forever.

In 1850, HMS Investigator was sent to search for the lost Franklin ships. They failed, becoming trapped in the ice, but completed Franklin's quest for the Northwest Passage. This book recounts the voyage and Parks Canada's discovery of the wreck.

Aan de hand van heroïsche mislukkingen zoals de Charge van de Lichte Brigade en Captain Scott wordt licht geworpen op het Brits zijn.

From the Charge of the Light Brigade to Scott of the Antarctic and beyond, it seems as if glorious disaster and valiant defeat have been essential aspects of the British national character for the past two centuries. In this fascinating book, historian Stephanie Barczewski argues that Britain’s embrace of heroic failure initially helped to gloss over the moral ambiguities of imperial expansion. Later, it became a strategy for coming to terms with diminishment and loss. Filled with compelling, moving, and often humorous stories from history, Barczewski’s survey offers a fresh way of thinking about the continuing legacy of empire in British culture today.