This is the first-ever independent, book-length account of one of America's most powerful and mysterious institutions: the National Geographic Society, which for a century has been America's lens on the world.
"A lucid, authoritative history of the magazine and the National Geographic Society"
-Seattle Post-Intelligencer
" ... This tale of an American family institution is great fun."
-Publishers Weekly

"Hero in Disgrace" is an historic tale of exploration, politics and American history. "This is a grand story, full of adventure and intrigue."
- Publisher's Weekly
"An excellent mix of history, adventure and intrigue."
- Seattle Times
"A well-researched and well-written study presenting new and convincing evidence that corrects the long-accepted claim of Robert Peary that he actually reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909."
- Choice Review
"Were it not so convincingly documented by the author, it would be hard to believe the calculating way in which Cook's claim was...