"To the Edges of the Earth..."

My February book review is another great adventure story by the American historian and legal scholar, Edward J. Larson (currently the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University) called To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration.  I’ve been going through a "polar explorer" stage, having read several books on Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated voyage to Antarctica and the story of the 1925 diphtheria antitoxin run by dog sled to Nome, Alaska popularized in the animated movie Balto.  The "three poles" in the title refers to the North Pole, the South Pole, and the summit of K2, the second highest mountain peak in the world (the so-called "pole of altitude").  The book tells the story of three relatively simultaneous expeditions to the three poles by Prince Luigi Amedeo of Savoy, the Duke of the Abruzzi (K2), American Robert Peary (North Pole), and Ernest Shackleton (South Pole).

Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, a member of the Italian royal family, was a famous mountaineer who had also tried to reach the North Pole earlier in his career.  He mounted an expedition in 1909 to reach the summit of K2, the second highest mountain peak in the world.  K2 is located on the border of China and Pakistan and is considered one of the most difficult and dangerous mountains to climb, even now in the present day (about one person dies on the mountain for every four who reach the summit).  The Duke was unsuccessful in reaching the summit, claiming that the mountain would never be climbed (notably, the next attempt did not happen until 1938, and the first successful summit did not occur until 1954).  Importantly, the Duke established the standard route up this notorious mountain peak.

Shackleton is perhaps more famous for his ill-fated and unsuccessful attempt at crossing the continent of Antarctica in 1914-1917.  However, he had also made an unsuccessful attempt at reaching the South Pole in 1909.  He did set a new "farthest south" record, and another member of his expedition, Australian Douglas Mawson would reach the south magnetic pole. 

Rear Admiral Robert Peary had made a number of unsuccessful attempts to be the first person to travel to the North Pole in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  Peary was accompanied by fellow explorer Matthew Henson on his previous 7 polar expeditions, and it was Henson who was actually the first member of the expedition to reach the geographic North Pole (Henson later published his memoir entitled, A Negro Explorer at the North Pole).  After returning to the United States, Peary learned that Dr. Frederick Cook, an American surgeon who had accompanied Peary on an earlier, unsuccessful attempt, had claimed to have reached the North Pole earlier in 1908.  A subsequent investigation credited Peary with being the first human to reach the North Pole, though more recent analyses of Peary's logbooks suggest that he too may have failed to reach the actual North Pole.  I found it hard to like Peary.  He reminded me of a character named Commander McBragg from a cartoon I watched as a child, called "Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales."  He was arrogant, a bit of a braggart, overly obsessed with fame, and unfaithful to his wife and family (he would father a child during the expedition with one of the Inuit women). 

The story is more than a history lesson - it is a psychological thriller.  Larson weaves all three stories together in such a way that the reader can easily compare and contrast how the three explorers responded to their struggles.  Theirs is a story of extreme bravery.  Theirs is a story of passion bordering on an obsession leading to insanity.  Theirs is a story of the triumph of the human spirit. 

All three explorers failed to reach their objective (even though Peary's expedition was initially labeled a success).  Regardless, all three men were given a hero's welcome on their return.  And that is perhaps why their individual stories resonated with me.  There are times when we experience triumph, even when we fail. 

Matthew Henson once said, "The path is not easy, the climbing is rugged and hard, but the glory at the end is worthwhile."  The journey, in other words, is worth it in the end.  Regardless of success or failure. 

Shackleton said, "Men are not made from easy victories, but based on great defeats."  All of these explorers, each and every one, found victory in their defeat.  That is the power of the story in this book.