Hampton Sides’s brilliant work In the Kingdom of Ice explores the grand but ill-fated voyage of the USS Jeannette in a polar expedition to discover the nonexistent “Open Polar Sea.” The tale is a work of nonfiction written with the gripping quality of a psychological thriller. It is a story of adventure, courage, perseverance, and that certain slant of character that makes one willing to strike out into the dangerous unknown.

The historical figures of driven George Washington De Long, spectacle-seeking James Gordon Bennett, Jr, brilliant but unstable Professor Augustus Petermann, along with De Long’s crew are given full-bodied portraits in the tale, coming alive on the pages. Emma, De Long’s wife, serves as a heartrending heroine whose character is glimpsed through her letters to her husband. Well-written and thoroughly researched, Sides shows both the romance and the tragedy of the Gilded Age of exploration.

In the Kingdom of Ice is as much a retelling as it is a recounting of history, breathtaking in its humanizing of historical figures, fascinating in its unfolding of the harrowing undertaking. The antagonist of the story is the Arctic in all its unpredictable dangers, the limits of knowledge and cartography, and that desire bordering on madness to reach uncharted territory.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy nonfiction, particularly nonfiction pertaining to polar expeditions, survival, and exploration.