Wings of Ice The Mystery of the Polar Air Race

by Maynard, Jeff

• ISBN13: 9781741669343
• ISBN10: 1741669340
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-22
• Publisher: Vintage Australia

Summary

With the rise of aviation at the beginning of the twentieth century, daring men were finally able to explore the Earth's final frontiers - the Arctic and Antarctic wildernesses. Hoping to resurrect his fading career, the legendary Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen desperately wanted to fly over the North Pole. American naval commander Richard Byrd was determined to beat Amundsen to the prize. An Australian adventurer, George Hubert Wilkins, also joined the competition, initiating a rivalry with Byrd that would last years and take them to the ends of the Earth. The world watched in fascination as the air race to the North Pole escalated, until in May 1926 Byrd claimed to have reached it in his Fokker Trimotor, the Josephine Ford. But did he really succeed? In 1928, while Amundsen was involved in the bitter dispute that would cost him his life, Byrd announced he would fly to the South Pole. Wilkins was hired by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst to beat him. The competitors unloaded their planes on opposite sides of Antarctica and prepared for the last great race in polar history. In a carefully researched and thrillingly written narrative, author Jeff Maynard recounts the breathtaking 'Race to the Poles', restoring the remarkable aviator and explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins - an exceptional but forgotten Australian hero - to his rightful place as a pioneer of scientific exploration. Wings of Ice also examines Admiral Richard Byrd's much-disputed claim to have flown to the North Pole, providing the definitive solution to an intriguing eighty-year-old mystery.

Author Biography

Jeff Maynard is an author and documentarian. His books include Niagara’s Gold.

Table of Contents

Author's Note	p. vii
Foreword: The Ballyhoo Years	p. 1
An Unspeakable Secret	p. 5
The Seeds of Disaster	p. 15
Aviation Will Conquer the Arctic	p. 31
The Ice Queen	p. 45
The Men Who Took the Airship	p. 61
Let George Do It	p. 73
Everything Was Staked on One Card	p. 91
The Big Trip	p. 107
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt	p. 115
Tempting Fate a Second Time	p. 129
Spitsbergen Bound	p. 145
The Hares and the Tortoise	p. 165
Opposite to the Bear	p. 179
Winter in America	p. 199
Where Amundsen Stood	p. 213
The Last Place Left to Explore	p. 225
We Should Be at the Pole	p. 245
Afterword: The Silent Witnesses	p. 267
Acknowledgements	p. 269
Notes	p. 271
Bibliography and Further Reading	p. 285
Index	p. 288
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