Arctic Obsession: The Lure of the Far North

The epic history of the explorers and adventurers who risked -- and sometimes lost -- their lives in the quest to conquer and claim the Arctic.

Ever since approximately 325 BC, the Arctic has been the backdrop for tales of triumph and disaster, of hardship and horrors endured by those who were drawn to the northern latitudes. For centuries the major world powers sponsored teams of explorers seeking trade routes as well as the chance to claim new territories. These commercial interests brought them into contact with natives, who at first saw white crews die in the forbidding landscape they called home only to later succumb to disease, alcohol, and the drastic environmental changes wrought by global trade.

At a time when global warming is drastically altering the region, Arctic Obsession chronicles an age when the Arctic remained one of the last unconquered places on Earth.