Book Description

Nansen's "Fram" expedition was an attempt by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to reach the geographical North Pole by harnessing the natural east-west current of the Arctic Ocean. Despite much discouragement from other polar explorers, in 1893, Nansen took his schooner "Fram", specially designed to withstand the relentless challenges of the poles, to the New Siberian Islands in the eastern Arctic Ocean, froze her into the pack ice, and waited for the drift to carry her towards the North Pole. Three years later, Frederick Jackson, who had organised his own expedition to Franz Josef Land, was astonished to see "a tall man, wearing a soft felt hat, loosely made, voluminous clothes and long shaggy hair and beard, all reeking with black grease". After a moment's awkward hesitation, Jackson recognised his visitor: "You are Nansen, aren't you?", and received the reply "Yes, I am Nansen." Nansen's first task on his return was to write his account of the voyage. This he did remarkably quickly, producing 300,000 words of Norwegian text by November 1896; the English translation, titled “Farthest North” was ready in January 1897. The book was an instant success, and secured Nansen's long-term financial future. Although Nansen retired from exploration after this expedition, the methods of travel and survival he developed with Johansen influenced all the polar expeditions, north and south, which followed in the subsequent three decades. In his brilliant and spellbound first-person account of this epic polar expedition, Nansen vividly describes the dangerous voyage he took with his crew in the “Fram”, and the 15-month-long attempt to reach the North Pole by sledge, when realizing that the ship would not drift to the pole, he departed with Johansen alone and faced on foot the drifting ice, violent storms, the extreme cold of the Arctic winter and the attacks of wild animals, like polar bears and walruses. “Farthest North” is an unforgettable tale and a unique chance to accompany one of the world’s greatest explorers on one of history’s most daring expeditions.