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A Story of Survival, Mythmaking, and Melting Ice
by Erling Kagge
The Norwegian explorer, philosopher and acclaimed writer chronicles his historic 58-day journey to the North Pole on skis in this thought-provoking memoir that is also a profound meditation about nature and our place within it.
The North Pole looms large in our collective psyche—the ultimate Otherland in a world mapped and traversed. It is the center of our planet's rotation, one of the places that is most vulnerable in an epoch of global climate change. Its sub-zero temperatures and strange year of one sunset and one sunrise make it an eerie, utterly disorienting place that challenges human endurance and understanding.
Erling Kagge and his friend Børge Ousland became the first people "to ever reach the pole without dogs, without depots and without motorized aids," skiing for 58 days from a drop off point on the ice edge of Canada's northernmost island.
In magisterial prose, Erling narrates his epic, record-making journey, probing the physical challenges and psychological motivations for embarking on such an epic expedition, the history of the territory's exploration, its place in legend and art, and the thrilling adventures he experienced during the trek. It is another example of what bestselling author Robert MacFarlane has called "Kagge's extraordinary life in wild places,"
Erling offers surprises on every page while observing the key role that this place holds in our current climate and geopolitical conversations. As majestic, mesmerizing, and monumental as the terrain it captures, After the North Pole is for anyone who has gazed out at the horizon—and wondered what happens if you keep going.
"An electrifying memoir of a daring journey through Earth's most unforgiving landscapes. Intrepid explorer and philosopher Erling Kagge masterfully intertwines the adrenaline of his 58-day ski trek to the apex of the world with captivating lore, forgotten histories of past expeditions to the frozen unknown, and profound reflections on survival and our planet's fragility. A bouillabaisse of pure delight." —Laurie Gwen Shapiro, author of The Stowaway: A Young Man's Extraordinary Adventure to Antarctica
"Erling Kagge charts a wondrous way to the North Pole, exploring the marvel and complexity of a place that exists both in reality and in our symbolic imagination. A fascinating and richly detailed book." —Paul Lynch, Booker Prize-winning author of Prophet Song
"A mesmerizing book... Kagge is an expert guide of the history, science, and adventures of the North Pole, showing us how one of the most remote and dangerous places on Earth can draw out our most elemental sensation: that of being fully alive in the world." —Ben Shattuck, author of The History of Sound: Stories
This information about After the North Pole was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Norwegian adventurer, philosopher and acclaimed writer Erling Kagge is the first person to complete the "Three poles challenge"—reaching the North Pole, the South Pole, and the summit of Mount Everest on foot. After this record-breaking feat, Kagge attended Cambridge University to study philosophy. He is the author of such beloved books as Silence: In the Age of Noise and Walking: One Step at a Time. He has written for the Financial Times, the New York Times, and The Guardian. He lives in Oslo, Norway.
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