Pierre Berton, who won his first Governor General's award for The Mysterious North, here again gives us an important and fascinating history that reads like a novel as he examines the historic events of the golden age of Arctic exploration. They include Charles Hall, an obscure printer who abandoned family and business to head to a frozen world of which he knew nothing John Ross, whose naval career ended when he spotted a range of mountains that didn't exist Frederick Cook, who faked reaching the North Pole and Jane Franklin, who forced an expensive search for her missing husband upon a reluctant British government.

Pierre Bertons 1 best-selling book brings to l. These quests are peopled with remarkable figures full of passion and eccentricity. Scores of nineteenth-century expeditions battled savage cold, relentless ice and winter darkness in pursuit of two great prizes: the quest for the elusive Passage linking the Atlantic and the Pacific and the international race to reach the North Pole. He also credits the Inuit, whose tracking and hunting skills saved the lives of the adventurers and their men countless times. Writer Pierre Berton's 1988 book features tales of 19th-century explorers obsessively searching for the Northwest Passage. The Arctic Grail: The Quest for the North West Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909. Pierre Berton's #1 best-selling book brings to life the great explorers: the pious and ambitious Edward Parry, the flawed hero John Franklin, ruthless Robert Peary and the cool Norwegian Roald Amundsen. The Arctic Grail : The Quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole, 1818-1909 by Berton, Pierre and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Scores of nineteenth-century expeditions battled savage cold, relentless ice and winter darkness in pursuit of two great prizes: the quest for the elusive Passage linking the Atlantic and the Pacific and the international race to reach the North Pole. Scores of nineteenth-century expeditions battled savage cold, relentless ice and winter darkness in pursuit.

The arctic grail by pierre berton