PDF The Great Polar Fraud: Cook; Peary; and Byrd—How Three American Heroes Duped the World into Thinking They Had Reached the North Pole by Anthony Galvin in History

Review

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. I believe the author does a good job in portraying Cook as a habitual liar and ...By JamesI picked up this book because I am interested in early 20th Century history and exploration. I admit I did not know who Frederick Cook was until I read this book. That being said; I believe the author does a good job in portraying Cook as a habitual liar and Peary as an Ugly American. Byrd is only mentioned in about the final 30 pages of the book. Amundsen comes across very well in the book; and the book brings home the point that marketing and connections can play an important part in reputation. The big problem I had with this book is that it seems to have been written in a hurry; chapter by chapter; with the writing not building on what was written before. To give an example; on page 2; referring to Peary's father; the author writes;"...when Robert was just three his father contracted pneumonia. This is a sever lung condition that can swiftly become fatal. A century ago; before antibiotics; a diagnosis of pneumonia was often a death sentence." Then; on page 5; referring to Cook's father; the author writes; "Theodore contracted pneumonia. A century ago; before antibiotics; a diagnosis was often a death sentence." Then; on page 12; referring to the birth of Cook's daughter; the author writes; "But it was an era before antibiotics; and there was little that could be done apart from making her feel comfortable and hoping for the best." I get it. It was before antibiotics; and it's irritating to the reader. Didn't some editor notice that the same phrase was used 3 times in the first 15 pages?8 of 10 people found the following review helpful. A Poor effort at telling an important storyBy C. Berkeley AdamsI would prefer to give this book no stars. It is so bad I can't even pass it on. I'll have to recycle it. While It is clear that all three of these men were frauds--they all lied about reaching the North Pole; this book does a laughably poor job of documenting something that most students of polar history know to be true. A glance at the bibliography reveals the carelessness of the author: Wally Herbert; whose writing is clearly a primary source for Galvin; is listed as Herbert Wally. According to this book; Mount McKinley is eighteen feet high "from base to peak;" and Josepine Diebitsch Peary is actually Josephine Peary Diebitsch. Aside from these careless errors which show up everywhere and undermine its credibility; this book has numerous historical errors as well. A search of the polar literature will reveal many better choices.8 of 11 people found the following review helpful. the bigger fraud is this bookBy ericI was looking forward to this book since I wanted to know more aboutFredrick Cook. I was very surprised to see Robert Peary listed so Iassumed the author had found out something no one else had.What a disappointment. As far as Peary goes this book is absolutetrash. Nothing on the bathymetry soundings taken. Nothing showing thephotographic evidence could be false and NOTHING to indicate thatprevious analysis by certified photogrammetrists were incorrect.Nothing casting any serious doubt on the journals or the other membersof the expeditions diaries. Just a lot of blather about how it couldn't be true. The lack of any reasonable arguement against Peary'sclaim make one very skeptical of the charges against Richard Byrd.Don't waste your money on this one. Very disappointed.