Frozen in Time
An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II
Published on 23. April 2013
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-06-226937-9 (ISBN)
Description
On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane on a routine flight slammed into the Greenland Ice Cap. Four days later, the B-17 assigned to the search-and-rescue mission became lost in a blinding storm and also crashed. Miraculously, all nine men on the B-17 survived. With the weather worsening, the U.S. military launched a daring rescue mission, sending a Grumman Duck amphibious plane to find the men. After picking up one member of the B-17 crew, the Duck flew into a severe storm, and the plane and the three men aboard vanished. In this thrilling, true-life adventure, Mitchell Zuckoff offers a spellbinding account of these harrowing crashes and the fate of the survivors and their would-be saviors. Full of evocative detail, "Frozen in Time" brings their extraordinary ordeal vividly into focus-a fight to stay alive and sane through 148 days of a brutal Arctic winter. Zuckoff takes us deep into the most hostile environment on earth and into the snow caves and tail section of the broken B-17, where the soldiers took refuge from subzero temperatures, hurricane-force winds, and vicious blizzards.
He places us at the center of a group of valiant men kept alive by sporadic military food drops until an expedition headed by famed Arctic explorer Bernt Balchen brought them to safety. But that is only part of the story that unfolds in "Frozen in Time". Moving forward to today, Zuckoff recounts the efforts of the Coast Guard and North South Polar Inc., led by an indefatigable dreamer named Lou Sapienza, who worked for years to solve the mystery of the Duck's last flight and recover the remains of its crew. Drawing on intensive research and a firsthand account of the dramatic and dangerous 2012 expedition, "Frozen in Time" is a breathtaking blend of mystery, adventure, heroism, and survival. It is also a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of our military personnel and their families - and a tribute to the important, perilous, and often overlooked work of the US Coast Guard.
He places us at the center of a group of valiant men kept alive by sporadic military food drops until an expedition headed by famed Arctic explorer Bernt Balchen brought them to safety. But that is only part of the story that unfolds in "Frozen in Time". Moving forward to today, Zuckoff recounts the efforts of the Coast Guard and North South Polar Inc., led by an indefatigable dreamer named Lou Sapienza, who worked for years to solve the mystery of the Duck's last flight and recover the remains of its crew. Drawing on intensive research and a firsthand account of the dramatic and dangerous 2012 expedition, "Frozen in Time" is a breathtaking blend of mystery, adventure, heroism, and survival. It is also a poignant reminder of the sacrifices of our military personnel and their families - and a tribute to the important, perilous, and often overlooked work of the US Coast Guard.
Reviews / Votes
Frozen in Time is an "excellent, affecting" book of "considerable suspense... [Zuckoff'] is a skilled writer, reporter and researcher, but what gives his latest book its power is his poignant, persuasive depiction of men under arms." -- Howard Schneider, Wall Street Journal "This is not a genre known for literary style, but Zuckoff's clear-eyed prose does just what it needs to do... He even manages to add a contemporary story...and stitch it into the historical narrative so deftly that one feeds the other." -- Washington Post "Frozen in Time makes WWII history seem fresh... [I]t's non-fiction that reads like a page-turner of a mystery. It's filled with heroism, tragedy and remarkable persistence, in the past and present... Zuckoff is a good writer and rigorous researcher." -- Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today, 3.5/4 stars "Mitchell Zuckoff has a nose for the classic adventure story... As he details the bomber crew's odyssey...weeks stretch into months, but the pages fly by as you eagerly read on. Will they ever get home safely? Zuckoff's mastery keeps readers wondering all the way to the end." -- Matthew Price, Boston Globe "The gripping story of a WWII-era plane crash, the survivors who braved subzero conditions, and the modern-day quest for answers." -- People "A true-life nail-biter--as nimbly paced as a novel. Grade: A." -- Entertainment Weekly "This stunningly immersive true-life account of a U.S. military search-and-rescue operation...reads like a stellar adventure novel." -- Entertainment Weekly "Zuckoff has produced a wonderful book that combines telling details, thoughtful background and vivid storytelling into a fascinating tale of courage, war and perseverance." -- David Williams, Seattle Times "If Lost in Shangri-La was a prize-winning page-turner, Frozen in Time is even more enthralling... a must-read." -- Austin American-Statesman "Zuckoff's gripping narrative unfolds with immediacy and verve as men in fetid snow caves and sputtering aircraft pit their dogged camaraderie and desperate, white-knuckle improvisations against the fury of an Arctic winter." -- Publishers Weekly(starred review) "An ... exciting account involving characters of enormous courage and stamina." -- Kirkus Reviews "This tale of true heroism, human ingenuity, and sacrifice by ordinary people in the face of a bitter enemy is for anyone interested not only in World War II aviation or modern scientific techniques for locating missing aircraft, but in popular histories of real adventure." -- Library Journal (starred review) "[A]n engaging testimony to perseverance, ingenuity and monumental self-sacrifice... [Zuckoff is] astoundingly thorough in his research." -- BookPage "Once again, Mitchell Zuckoff has uncovered a thrilling historical tale and told it masterfully. Seamlessly interweaving the past and the present, Frozen in Time is one of those epic adventure stories that will hold you in its grip from beginning to end." -- David Grann, author of The Lost City of Z "FROZEN IN TIME is a beautifully-written war yarn, but at its heart, it's a non-fiction mystery--the tale of a group of heroes united in a desire to solve a riddle buried in the Arctic ice." -- Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and Hellhound on His Trail "You would think that all the World War II stories have been told by now. But Mitchell Zuckoff has a remarkable knack for finding new ones, and he has done it again, with a gripping, moving tale, suspensefully told--whose final act takes place today." -- Adam Hochschild, author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 "[F]ierce... Mitchell Zuckoff recounts a harrowing tale of survival in Greenland during World War II.." -- Daily News "[H]arrowing... Zuckoff...[has] earned his literary reputation uncovering forgotten adventure stories." -- New York Post "When it comes to riveting nonfiction, author Mitchell Zuckoff has a knack for finding fascinating but forgotten stories from World War II... This is a truly suspenseful and thrilling American story of perseverance with a worthwhile payoff in the final pages... [A] must-read." -- CNN Online "First-rate... His dual narrative is a welcome change of pace from so many other World War II books. It is well-researched and superbly written." -- Steve Weinberg, Dallas Morning NewsMore details
Edition
International ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Product notice
Paperback (UK-trade)
Illustrations
70 Black and White Photos Throughout, Printed Ends
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 28 mm
Weight
484 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-226937-9 (9780062269379)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
New editions
Mitchell Zuckoff
Frozen in Time
An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II
Book
05/2014
HarperPerennial
€17.70
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Person
Mitchell Zuckoff is a professor of journalism at Boston University and the author of five previous books, including the New York Times bestseller Lost in Shangri-La, which won the Winship/PEN Award for Nonfiction. As a reporter for the Boston Globe, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.