#2265412 in Books 2000-11-16 #File Name: B000OLLF1S
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Involving and Amazing Story of Ship Stuck in Arctic Ice and the Story of How Some SurvivedBy Wesley BobThe Ice Master tells the story of the ship Karluk and how it became stuck in an ice flow in 1913 and the struggle of its crew to survive on the ice and then become marooned on a barren artic island. The Karluk was one of a group of ships that were taking an expedition sponsored by the Canadian government into the artic. The expedition was led by Stefansson whose focus on glory and caviler attitude on details results in a poorly selected and poorly prepared team. Errors in the equipping of the expedition and then Stefansson’s driving the group for glory eventually leads the Karluk to get stuck in an arctic ice flow. Stefansson amazingly takes advantage of a window to take some key people and flee the stuck ship. Fortunately; Stefansson had hired a competent captain; Robert Bartlett; and it falls to him to keep the crew and scientists on the ship alive while stuck in the ice and then guide them to safety once the ice crushes the ship. The story has some excellent lessons about leadership; both good and bad; when contemplating Stefansson and Bartlett. The long and involved story of what happened to the crew is detailed an involving. Their long and difficult struggle against the elements and starvation is astonishing and; at times; the sufferings are difficult to read. The width and breadth of the crews travail is truly amazing and it is a testament to the human will that several survived; albeit just barely. Niven completed an impressive body of research and pulled extensively from the many diaries of members of the expedition. The result is that you are truly able to appreciate the hardship and suffering of the expedition and by the end of the book you’ll feel like you’ve made a journey across an arctic wasteland yourself. And isn’t that exactly what an excellent history tale is supposed to accomplish?
