Main description:

--Riveting accounts of difficult expeditions-some historically famous-offer a unique window onto polar ventures.

--Exemplifies historical and social science methods for student readers.

--Draws valuable findings that apply to many forms of modern disasters and challenges.

Contents:

1. Introduction: Expeditions and Rituals

2. Ritual Theory and Methodology: Life on Polar Expeditions

3. Failed Expeditions, by J. David Knottnerus, Kevin Johnson, and James D. Mason

The Grinnell Voyage: A Troubled Search for the Franklin Expedition

The Grinnell Expedition to Polar Greenland: Discord at Sea

The Jeanette's Search for the North Pole: A Tragic Venture

The Karluk Mission in the Northern Seas: An Arctic Disaster

A Russian Expedition to Siberia: Life and Death in the Arctic

The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition: Discord and Loss in the Arctic

The Polaris Expedition to the North Pole: A Recipe for Failure

The Belgica Expedition in Antarctica: Amundsen's Account of a Flawed Mission

The HMS Enterprise in Search of the John Franklin: Conflicts of Authority and Ritual Failure

4. Successful Expeditions, by J. David Knottnerus, Kevin Johnson, and James D. Mason

The Voyage of the Isabel in Pursuit of the John Franklin: A Successful Journey to Greenland

A Land Journey in the North: The Team of Haig-Thomas and Nookap

A Quest for the South Pole: The Tragedy and Triumph of the Scott Expedition

First to the North Pole: Henson's Account of the Peary Expedition

Research in Antarctica: A Mid-Twentieth Century British Expedition

Science in Antarctica: A Mid-Twentieth Century American Expedition

5. Highly Successful Expeditions, by J. David Knottnerus, Kevin Johnson, and James D. Mason

The Discovery of the Northwest Passage: The Trials of the M'Clure Expedition

Heard Island, Antarctica: A Mid-Twentieth Century Australian Expedition

Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Shackleton's Challenge

A Late Nineteenth Century Arctic Expedition: Nansen and the Fram

6. Conclusion