In 1913, the Karluk expedition set up to explore the northwest passage. Stefansson, the expedition leader, put the trip together at the last minute, skimping on supplies. Captain Bartlett, at the helm of the ship, had extensive experience in the frozen north. When the ship became trapped in the ice, Stefansson and a small group left to go "hunting." They escaped over land back to civilization. Ignoring their expedition mates trapped, they continued without sending word about their plight. Captain Bartlett held the remaining group together, boosting their spirits and providing food and shelter. When the ship breaks up, the group hikes across the ice, splitting into multiple groups. Captain Bartlett takes off across the frozen land seeking help for those left behind.

This was a fascinating book. I could not put it down! The characters were well written and dynamic, I found myself wrapped up in their survival. Their frozen world was well described, I could picture their circumstances and the horrible odds against them. 5 out of 5 stars, highly recommended! ( )

Buddy Levy delivers a well-crafted true story that reads like an action adventure novel. This meticulously researched book follows Captain Bob Bartlett and the scientists and crew of the Karluk, part of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913, under the leadership of the entrepreneurial explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson. As with many early Arctic adventures, things did not go to plan.

The Expedition set off, in part, to explore the Arctic waters north of Canada in search of potential new lands between the mainland and the north pole. As envisioned by Stefansson, the Expedition would split into two parts. The Karluk would support the Northern Party exploring the seas and ice. Other ships would support a Southern Party that would mostly do anthropological and geological research among the northern islands of Canada’s Coronation Gulf (off the northern coast of today’s Nunavit).

Six weeks after launching from Victoria, with Stefansson aboard, the Karluk was caught in converging ice floes and beset. Trapped in the ice and unable to steer or maneuver on her own, she was subject to the movement of the ice floes.

At that point Stefansson decided, despite protest, that he should take a small group of men (including two of the best hunters, and the cameramen meant to record the Northern Party), and twelve of the best sled dogs on board, and set off. He headed landward, purportedly to hunt caribou to provide meat for the beset ship. The very next day a storm came up and pushed the ice surrounding the Karluk out to sea, putting an ever widening gap between the ship and Stefansson. This was not an altogether unexpected result. By leaving when he did, Stefansson essentially abandoned the ship to its fate.

From that point the author tells the story of the heroism of Bartlett, the peril of those aboard the Karluk, and the cavalier carelessness of Stefansson. It is an extraordinary story.

Bartlett kept the people aboard the ship alive (all men except for one Inuit woman and her two children) and delivered all he could to landfall on Wrangel Island. He and Kataktovik (an Inuit hired to the crew as a hunter) then ventured back on to the ice to cross the sea in an attempt to communicate their peril to the world and find rescue.

Stefansson on the other hand, reasoned that the lost ship and all aboard were already dead, or if not then beyond rescue. Once on land he reunited with the Southern Party and chartered a new boat and crew to reconstitute his Northern Party. He made no attempt to determine the fate of the Karluk, and did nothing to initiate a search or rescue operation.

Levy has done his research, and that includes scouring the diaries and written accounts of many of the Karluk survivors. Reading this book you really feel as if you are right there alongside them as they adapt to conditions in order to survive - at first on the Arctic ice, and later on Wrangel Island. Some did not make it, and the fate of at least one crewman is still a subject of controversy to this day.

This is a fascinating account offering a clear contrast between the heroism of the Captain and the selfish carelessness of the Expedition Leader. Even those who are not typically nonfiction fans will find a lot to like about this book.

RATING: I’ve read a diverse set of nonfiction books this year, and this one is near the top of my favorites. Five Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

NOTE: I received an advanced copy of this book from St Martin’s Press and NetGalley, and am voluntarily providing this review. The book goes on sale December 6, 2022. ( )

This is the story of the Karluk and the Canadian Arctic Expedition. In 1913, the Karluk sets out to sail to the Arctic and discover what lands and people are there. However, the ship was not up to the task. It becomes set in ice and the leader, Vilhjalmur Stefansson, leaves the ship to "search for Caribou". This leaves Captain Bartlett to look after the remaining 24 crew members, scientists and Inuit members, plus a stowaway kitten and all the sled dogs.

The book starts off with a lot of background on both Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Captain Bartlett, but it becomes clear who the real hero is. While being stuck in the ice, the ship drifting and eventually sinking, you see the friendships and bonds of the shipmates really start to grow. Then the move to the ice and everyone learning to shelter and live through winter. Captain Bartlett takes one of the Inuit hunters and decides to trek to Siberia in order to get to Alaska and ask for help, leaving the remaining members there.

There is a list in the beginning of the book or who every is and I found this very helpful. As the book was very long and not a quick read, I found myself forgetting who some of the people where and what their function was. At the end of the book, it does give details about who survived and what they went on to do before their deaths. I didn't know anything about the expeditions in the Arctic and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. ( )

Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy is the very highly recommended true story of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition.

When the Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean, Captain Bob Bartlett was at the helm and Vilhjalmur Stefansson was the leader of the expedition. The expedition set out in June and by early August the Karluk was icebound. Stefansson headed off with five men on a hunting trip and never returned, choosing to head for land and continue the expedition on his own. This left Bartlett in charge of the survivors. When the ship was crushed by the ice, they trekked 50 miles across the ice pack to Wrangel Island. Then Bartlett and an Inuit hunter set out on a 1,000 miles hike to Alaska to summon help to rescue the survivors.

Empire of Ice and Stone reads like a thriller. It is a fascinating, terrifying, and un-put-downable account of a polar expedition gone terribly wrong. Levy takes the facts and uses them to portray these people as real individuals facing a harrowing, impossible situation where a good outcome seems highly unlikely. He also clearly portrays the two different paths taken by Stefansson and Bartlett, with most of the focus on the crew trying to survive. Bartlett is legitimately the hero of this frightening true story.

Anyone who enjoys reading about Arctic expeditions will want to add Empire of Ice and Stone to their list of must read nonfiction. Included at the end is an extensive list of documents, collections, websites, etc. in a selected bibliography that showcases the research that went into writing this account. This is an excellent, well-researched book and one of the best nonfiction books of the year.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2022/11/empire-of-ice-and-stone.html ( )

Empire of Ice and Stone should come with a warning label. Don’t read before bedtime unless you can stay up way too late. It may cause bad dreams. No matter how many blankets you pile on, you will feel an Arctic cold in your bones. Its a thrilling, harrowing true story of survival.

Buddy Levy’s newest book on the 1913 voyage of the Karluk has the adventure and bravery that I love about these tales of polar exploration, which also are about the hubris of mankind and the brutal vagaries of weather and climate. There are villains and men who buckle under the hardships, good men who are lost, men determined to do the impossible. And the Inuit family whose stamina and knowledge was essential to their survival.

Fame-seeking Vilhjalmur Stefansson assembled the expedition hastily and without good planning. Supplies were stowed haphazard among the ships. Within weeks, the Karluk became encased in an ice flow. Stefansson abandoned the ship under cover of going hunting for caribou, leaving the chip captain Robert Bartlett in charge.

The ship drifted westward with the ice which crushed and sank it after five months. Bartlett had planned ahead, moving necessary goods to the ice. The did not have adequate clothing and essential supplies. The men had to cross the ice to an island off the Siberian coast. They woke in the night to sudden cracks under their igloos. They had to hack paths through ice ridges. Polar bears were a constant threat. The sled dogs fatigued and supplies had to be cached along the way. Feet and hands froze and some sustained life-threatening injuries. Some of the scientific men made their own party, going off on their own, never to be seen again.

Arriving at Wrangle Island didn’t end their suffering. They had to erect shelters and they could not find enough food. The men were starving, and under duress personalities changed. Stefansson never alerted authorities of the ship’s loss, or arranged a rescue mission. Bartlett and Kataktovik had to travel across the ice to Siberia, and down the coast to find a ship to Alaska where they could arrange a rescue mission for the men. What they accomplished was amazing. They were helped by the generous Inuit and Russian traders they came across along the way.

You get to know these men intimately and suffer with them. While Stefansson left men on the Kurlak to fend for themselves, turning his attention to another expedition, it was Bartlett who worried about the crew and risked his life on an arduous trek to arrange a rescue ship to find the survivors.

This is a wonderful follow up to Levy’s last book Labyrinth of Ice about the Greeley Expedition.

I received a free ARC from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )