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bupdaddy's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't know anything about Willem Barentsz before reading this book, including that his name is spelled differently than the sea named for him.
The book takes a while to get going, and often fills in the paucity of the historical record by talking about different expeditions in different centuries instead.
But man, when they get stuck in polar night for several months, with polar bears a real and curious threat, who sometimes don't even back down when they get shot, you got yourself a barn burner. Can they get their ship out in the spring, or will the ice crush the hull? Where are they going to find wood to burn to keep their shelter a livable frigid temperature? If they can't free the ship, are they going to be crazy enough to try to return in open boats? Will the polar bears ever relent?
I added this to my 'our dying planet' bookshelf because it has the obligatory downer at the end reminding us that Barentsz' quixotic (and I realize that quixotic is anachronistic for a set of voyages in the 1590's) pursuit of a fabled warm polar sea is headed toward reality.
I learned a lot.
The book takes a while to get going, and often fills in the paucity of the historical record by talking about different expeditions in different centuries instead.
But man, when they get stuck in polar night for several months, with polar bears a real and curious threat, who sometimes don't even back down when they get shot, you got yourself a barn burner. Can they get their ship out in the spring, or will the ice crush the hull? Where are they going to find wood to burn to keep their shelter a livable frigid temperature? If they can't free the ship, are they going to be crazy enough to try to return in open boats? Will the polar bears ever relent?
I added this to my 'our dying planet' bookshelf because it has the obligatory downer at the end reminding us that Barentsz' quixotic (and I realize that quixotic is anachronistic for a set of voyages in the 1590's) pursuit of a fabled warm polar sea is headed toward reality.
I learned a lot.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
4.0
A book about a Polar explorer at its best. I'm not in good place to write a better review at the moment
lukejkelly's review against another edition
4.0
A very intriguing tale with lots of meaty historical detail. Would have loved a bit more characterisation around our central protagonists, but understandably difficult given the time period. Definitely a worthwhile read for any arctic nut.
jo_kershaw's review against another edition
3.75
This is an engaging and at times harrowing story of exploration and survival - or failure to survive in the 16th Century High Arctic.
I would have liked a bit more clarity about what's drawn directly from first hand sources, and what's the author's slightly novelistic imagining (she does this well, plausibly and vividly - but it would be nice to know what the basis for it is). Also, the references to the harm of colonialism didn't feel well embedded in the narrative. Clearly there is a strong link between the age of exploration and colonisation - and the Dutch were certainly colonisers elsewhere - but given Barents was looking for a trade route, not to find colonies, the Dutch didn't in fact colonise the High Arctic, and Barents and co ended up spending most of their time trying not to starve to death or get eaten by polar bears, if either felt like it should have been a lot bigger and more in depth, or left out. Similarly, yes, Western sailors and explorers had a terrible impact on the animal and bird population, for no strong reason, but aside from a couple of early and misguided attempts to catch polar bears, they mostly seem to have been killing for food (which as the author rightly noted was all that stopped all of them dying of scurvy), or trying to stop the polar bears eating them.
I would have liked a bit more clarity about what's drawn directly from first hand sources, and what's the author's slightly novelistic imagining (she does this well, plausibly and vividly - but it would be nice to know what the basis for it is). Also, the references to the harm of colonialism didn't feel well embedded in the narrative. Clearly there is a strong link between the age of exploration and colonisation - and the Dutch were certainly colonisers elsewhere - but given Barents was looking for a trade route, not to find colonies, the Dutch didn't in fact colonise the High Arctic, and Barents and co ended up spending most of their time trying not to starve to death or get eaten by polar bears, if either felt like it should have been a lot bigger and more in depth, or left out. Similarly, yes, Western sailors and explorers had a terrible impact on the animal and bird population, for no strong reason, but aside from a couple of early and misguided attempts to catch polar bears, they mostly seem to have been killing for food (which as the author rightly noted was all that stopped all of them dying of scurvy), or trying to stop the polar bears eating them.
terrimarshall's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book about Dutch explorer William Barents, who went on several polar expeditions to try to find a northeast passage in the late 1500s. Amazing to me that they know this much about something that happened in the 16th century. I didn't think this book was as good as some other polar adventure books I've read like those by Hampton Sides and Buddy Levy, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
liberrydude's review against another edition
3.0
Most serious readers of exploration are aware of Shackleton’s epic survival ordeal in the Antarctic but that occurred in modern times. Barents’ ordeal occurred in 1597 in the Arctic. It’s just as epic. Three seasons marooned on an island with the 17 man crew being hunted by polar bears. Food running out. Scurvy (and they didn’t fully understand its cause) claiming lives. Wet and cold. In the dark. The wind. And the bears. Escape in two small boats. Ice everywhere.
Barents wasn’t even the commander of the expedition, his third in as many years. He was its navigator. The commander went onto fame as an admiral in the Dutch Navy and was killed in action. But he is largely forgotten. Barents was a leader though. The men sought him to convey their concerns to the commander and they quickly realized he knew his way in these seas and was their ticket home. But it was Barents insistence that had created their situation yet the crew did not blame him or hold him responsible.
I had a hard time understanding how the Dutch keep running into ice but keep believing there is a path to China. Persistence and stubbornness. Confirmation bias? Three expeditions- all failures. The author suggests that Barents was four hundred years ahead of his time given the effects of global warming on the Arctic.
I had a hard time keeping track of number of ships and who is on which. Appendix or matrix would have been helpful. The narrative of the first two expeditions is tiresome. The survival ordeal of the third expedition is engrossing.
Barents wasn’t even the commander of the expedition, his third in as many years. He was its navigator. The commander went onto fame as an admiral in the Dutch Navy and was killed in action. But he is largely forgotten. Barents was a leader though. The men sought him to convey their concerns to the commander and they quickly realized he knew his way in these seas and was their ticket home. But it was Barents insistence that had created their situation yet the crew did not blame him or hold him responsible.
I had a hard time understanding how the Dutch keep running into ice but keep believing there is a path to China. Persistence and stubbornness. Confirmation bias? Three expeditions- all failures. The author suggests that Barents was four hundred years ahead of his time given the effects of global warming on the Arctic.
I had a hard time keeping track of number of ships and who is on which. Appendix or matrix would have been helpful. The narrative of the first two expeditions is tiresome. The survival ordeal of the third expedition is engrossing.
omg_pear's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
titanic's review against another edition
4.0
starts off a lil slow but picks up when they get stranded :)