In 1893, Fridjtof Nansen set sail in the Fram, a ship specially designed and built to be frozen into the polar ice cap, withstand its crushing pressures, and travel with the sea's drift closer to the North Pole than anyone had ever gone before. Experts said such a ship couldn't be built and that the voyage was tantamount to suicide.

This brilliant first-person account, originally published in 1897, marks the beginning of the modern age of exploration. Nansen vividly describes the dangerous voyage and his 15-month-long dash to the North Pole by sledge. Farthest North is an...

Roald Amundsen records his race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's expertise enabled him to succeed where his predecessors, and competitors, did not. His rival Captain Robert F. Scott not only failed to reach the Pole first, but--due to poor preparation and miscalculation--died with the rest of his party on their return trip. The South Pole remains one of the greatest and most important books on polar exploration.

"For one whole winter we were cut off from the world and immured among the Greenlanders. I dwelt in their huts, took part in their hunting, and tried, as well as I could, to live their life and learn their language. ..."- Dr. Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930)

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Im Juni 1893 segelte Nansen in die Arktis. Sein Schiff wurde bei den Neusibirischen Inseln absichtlich im Packeis eingefroren und mit diesem nordwarts treiben gelassen. Als jedoch offensichtlich wurde, dass man mit der Fram den Nordpol nicht erreichen wurde, brach Nansen mit Schlitten, Hunden und Kajaks zu Fu in Richtung Norden auf. Ihnen war bewusst, dass sie kaum eine Chance haben wurden, das Schiff in der eisigen Weite der Arktis wieder finden werden...

Dieses weniger bekannte Spatwerk von Fridtjof Nansen schliet an sein Buch "Betrogenes Volk" an und beschreibt seine Reise in den Jahren 1925/1926 durch Dagestan, Ossetien, Abchasien, Tschetschenien hinunter zum Kaspischen Meer und anschlieend die Wolga hinauf bis nach Samara. Die seltenen historischen Fotografien sind fur sich genommen bereits einzigartig. Hinzu kommt die groe Sympathie Nansens, mit der er den damals garenden und bis heute nicht beendeten Freiheitskampf der kaukasischen Volksstamme eindringlich beschreibt und uns dessen Hintergrunde eindrucksvoll vor Augen fuhrt.

Originally published in 1897, this two-volume work chronicles the polar expedition of Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930), who came closer than any previous explorer to the North Pole. Beginning on board his boat, the Fram, which was deliberately driven into pack-ice off Siberia in order to drift north, Nansen and his companions later resorted to sleds and kayaks. Running to over six hundred pages, Volume 1 includes descriptions of the expedition's preparation and equipment, the farewell to Norway and voyage through the Kara Sea, ending with the party's second autumn on the ice....

Originally published in 1897, this two-volume work chronicles the polar expedition of Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930), who came closer than any previous explorer to the North Pole. Beginning on board his boat, the Fram, which was deliberately driven into pack-ice off Siberia in order to drift north, Nansen and his companions later resorted to sleds and kayaks. Volume 2 describes the journey over the ice setting out with 28 dogs, 3 sledges and 2 kayaks and ends with an account of the return journey. (It also includes Captain Otto Sverdrup's report of the expedition.) The Fram...

First published in English in 1890, this book by Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861 1930) recounts the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, an expedition that took two months. Learning from previous failed attempts, Nansen suggested crossing from the uninhabited east to the inhabited west of Greenland, an innovation that proved successful. Nansen's account was translated by Hubert Majendie Gepp and includes an introduction written by the secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. Volume 1 describes the initial stages of the journey, including detailed...