The North Pole

Reviews / Votes

An adventure that can't be topped . . . Kagge journeys into the past to uncover the myths, politics and pure joy of the northernmost point on Earth . . . heart-catching . . . a big book of ripping yarns and existential angst . . . fabulous -- Stuart Jeffries * Observer * Thrilling . . . a compelling mix of history, memoir and polar arcana . . . Coming to the end of this strange, often beautiful book, it becomes clear that The North Pole is in fact a love story, a record of an infatuation -- Alex Diggins * The Telegraph * An adventure-lusting Norwegian explorer vividly chronicles our obsession with the North Pole . . . Engaging . . . bracing . . . fascinating . . . Why go? That masochistic drive is captured with great verve, as are the beauty of the Arctic and its terrifying hazards -- Christian House * The Times * Absorbing from the start . . . it seems there's nothing better than a fairly pointless journey into the middle of nowhere to tell us about ourselves . . . all these boreal goings-on are interlaced with Kagge's own hard-won experience -- Benedict Allen * Spectator * Erling Kagge's decades-long obsession with the North Pole has produced an extraordinary book that defies genre: an elegant travel account, a learned history and a psychological thriller wrapped in one -- Anne Applebaum Erling Kagge is a deeply thoughtful writer who has a strong and very individual style. The North Pole proves to be the perfect subject for him -- Michael Palin Kagge's achievement in this compelling, expansive book is to present the North Pole in all its aspects - not just as a geographical point sought by generations of explorers, but also as a dream, myth and mirror . . . gripping . . . epic -- Mark Nayler * Times Literary Supplement * A beautiful book which is as much about our inner world as our outer one, a book that helps us find the vast calm empty spaces within us and returns us to a feeling of being at home in the world -- Alain de Botton As an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes A wonderful book about the sublime, eerie place known as the North Pole. A place that has doubled as a fertile dreamscape as much as a hard, inhospitable landscape for human beings over the centuries. This is the book of a lifetime, from a rare writer-adventurer whose obsession and passion for his subject know no bounds -- Elif Shafak