A01=Michael F. Robinson
adventure
ambition
arctic
asia
Author_Michael F. Robinson
biography
Category=NHK
Category=NHQ
Category=NHTB
charles hall
danger
death
discovery
elisha kent kane
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
evidence
expeditions
exploration
explorers
failure
frederick cook
funding
geography
heroism
manliness
masculinity
mass media
nationalism
nonfiction
north pole
patronage
peril
polar voyagers
proof
research
robert peary
science
scientific authority
sea route
technology
Product details
- ISBN 9780226721842
- Weight: 482g
- Dimensions: 16 x 24mm
- Publication Date: 01 Apr 2006
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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In the late 1800s, "Arctic Fever" swept across the nation as dozens of American expeditions sailed north to the Arctic to find a sea route to Asia and, ultimately, to stand at the North Pole. Few of these missions were successful, and many men lost their lives en route. Yet, failure did little to dampen the enthusiasm of new explorers or the crowds at home that cheered them on. Arctic exploration, Michael F. Robinson argues, was an activity that unfolded in America as much as it did in the wintry hinterland. Paying particular attention to the perils facing explorers at home, "The Coldest Crucible" examines their struggles to build support for the expeditions before departure, defend their claims upon their return, and cast themselves as men worthy of the nation's full attention. In so doing, this book paints a new portrait of polar voyagers, one that removes them from the icy backdrop of the Arctic and sets them within the tempests of American cultural life.
With chronological chapters featuring emblematic Arctic explorers - including Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Hall, and Robert Peary - "The Coldest Crucible" reveals why the North Pole, a region so geographically removed from Americans, became an iconic destination for discovery.
Michael F. Robinson is assistant professor of history at the University of Hartford.
