Brimming with malevolence and malfeasance but also humble charity and true nobility, Empire of Ice and Stone is a triumphant exploration of the forces that drive the human heart to extremes.”-Pulitzer Prize finalist Kim Barnes “A life-and-death drama of tragic proportions. Responsible for the twenty-five souls left in his charge, Bartlett endured the sinking of the Karluk and traversed nearly 1000 miles of frozen wilderness to save his marooned shipmates-fighting to survive excruciating, frigid temperatures in makeshift shelters with scarce food sources as months pass with no sign of rescue.

Accompanied by five men, Stefansson crossed the floes to hunt caribou, and never returned. After six weeks of travel, the ship became icebound. Once underway in June 1913, it became clear that even with extensive repairs, the Karluk was ill-equipped for Stefansson’s enterprise, as was its crew and scientist passengers.

Commissioned to captain the Karluk, a more than thirty-year-old steam brigantine that served as a fishing tender and whaler, Bartlett found a vessel less than sea worthy and ordered a complete refit, putting him at odds with his impatient employer. A charismatic, flamboyant impresario, he recruits a team of renowned scientists-including two who accompanied Ernest Shackleton aboard the Nimrod to the South Pole-and secures financing from Canada to journey into the high arctic to investigate the region’s resource potential.Ĭonsidered the world’s greatest living ice navigator, Captain Bob Bartlett was a veteran of three North Pole excursions with Robert Peary between 1898-1909, making him more than qualified for Stefansson’s Canadian Arctic Expedition. National Outdoor Book Award-winning author Buddy Levy reveals the true story of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition in Empire of Ice and Stone, a harrowing account of one man’s misguided ambition to succeed and another’s tenacious courage to survive in a frozen environment.Īfter a celebratory four-year polar expedition for the American Museum of Natural History that brought him fame, explorer and ethnologist Vilhjalmur Stefansson proposes an even bolder arctic mission.

Buddy levy empire of ice and stone