Talk about bringing history to life!

I actually did not realize this was non-fiction when I picked it up after just a brief glance at the back. I started reading the day before the Endurance was found, which made this story all the more exciting. It took a chapter or two, but after that I was hooked. Sancton did an absolutely phenomenal job turning a collection of scientific findings, sailor’s and officer’s journal entries, specimens, and artifacts into a fully fleshed out adventure/survival tale. I can’t even imagine having to endure the hardships this crew suffered during the long polar night, not to mention being almost completely at the mercy of Mother Nature during their entire entrapment in the ice pack. 

This was a really interesting story of Antarctic adventure and bad decisions. Several people on board the ship kept detailed diaries (and later wrote memoirs of varying accuracy) so many events are illustrated in the participants' own words. This really gives you a feel of the group dynamics on board, which is important in an isolation story about a small group. 

I love cold weather disaster stories. This one in an interesting addition to that genre, particular the look at an early  Roald Amundsen. But in so many ways, this is an expedition full of folks who had no business leaving home that it's less enjoyable than account of more competent explorers.

When commandant Adrien de Gerlache sets sail with a ragtag crew, including Roald Amundsen, and assorted scientists onboard the Belgica, he hopes to claim the South Pole for his homeland of Belgium. They eventually make it to the area but the ship becomes trapped in thick ice which freezes them within a large ice floe. A month of endless darkness draws in and the men start to suffer with physical and mental health issues, even the ship's cat becomes melancholy and dies of an unnamed illness. Although they have plenty of food onboard, it is not fresh and so the men begin to feel the effects of scurvy. Can they survive long enough for the ice to release the ship and sail home?

I read a book based on the true events of The Terror a couple of years ago, so I was very interested in reading this one about the Belgica. After a slow start, things pick up when they arrive in Antarctica, and there is a lot of information about the main individuals involved and the horrors they endured. I thought it was very well researched and written in an accessible way for people who don't know the history of the expedition - there are also several maps to help. It did drag a little in places though. Overall I rated this one 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4).

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Random House UK/Ebury Publishing/W H Allen, for the opportunity to read an ARC.  I am voluntarily giving an honest review.