Arctic labyrinth : the quest for the Northwest Passage /
The elusive dream of locating the Northwest Passage--an ocean route over the top of North America that promised a shortcut to the fabulous wealth of Asia--obsessed explorers for centuries. Until recently these channels were hopelessly choked by impassible ice. Voyagers faced unimaginable horrors--en...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Berkeley :
University of California Press,
2010.
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| Edition: | 1st University of California Press ed. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | The elusive dream of locating the Northwest Passage--an ocean route over the top of North America that promised a shortcut to the fabulous wealth of Asia--obsessed explorers for centuries. Until recently these channels were hopelessly choked by impassible ice. Voyagers faced unimaginable horrors--entire ships crushed, mass starvation, disabling frostbite, even cannibalism--in pursuit of a futile goal. Glyn Williams charts the entire sweep of this extraordinary history, from the tiny, woefully equipped vessels of the first Tudor expeditions to the twentieth-century ventures that finally opened the Passage. |
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| Item Description: | Originally published: London : Allen Lane, 2009. |
| Physical Description: | xix, 439 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780520266278 0520266277 0520269950 : PAP 9780520269958 : PAP |