Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II [NOOK Book]

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Overview

Two harrowing crashes . . . A vanished rescue plane . . . A desperate fight for life in a frozen, hostile land . . . The quest to solve a seventy-year-old mystery

The author of the smash New York Times bestseller Lost in Shangri-La delivers a gripping true story of endurance, bravery, ingenuity, and honor set in the vast Arctic wilderness of World War II and today.

On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane on a routine flight slammed into the ...

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Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II

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Overview

Two harrowing crashes . . . A vanished rescue plane . . . A desperate fight for life in a frozen, hostile land . . . The quest to solve a seventy-year-old mystery

The author of the smash New York Times bestseller Lost in Shangri-La delivers a gripping true story of endurance, bravery, ingenuity, and honor set in the vast Arctic wilderness of World War II and today.

On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane on a routine flight slammed into the Greenland ice cap. Four days later, a B-17 on the search-and-rescue mission became lost in a blinding storm and also crashed. Miraculously, all nine men on the B-17 survived. The U.S. military launched a second daring rescue operation, but the Grumman Duck amphibious plane sent to find the men flew into a severe storm and vanished.

In this thrilling adventure, Mitchell Zuckoff offers a spellbinding account of these harrowing disasters and the fate of the survivors and their would-be saviors. Frozen in Time places us at the center of a group of valiant airmen fighting to stay alive through 148 days of a brutal Arctic winter by sheltering from subzero temperatures and vicious blizzards in the tail section of the broken B-17 until an expedition headed by famed Arctic explorer Bernt Balchen attempts to bring them to safety.

But that is only part of the story that unfolds in Frozen in Time. In present-day Greenland, Zuckoff joins the U.S. Coast Guard and North South Polar—a company led by the indefatigable dreamer Lou Sapienza, who worked for years to solve the mystery of the Duck’s last flight—on a dangerous expedition to recover the remains of the lost plane’s crew.

Drawing on intensive research and Zuckoff ’s firsthand account of the dramatic 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 U.S. Coast Guard.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble

This vivid new World War II narrative by the author of Lost in Shangri-La reminds us that the tragedies and heroics of war don't always take place on a battlefield. Frozen in Time recounts the unfolding story of three Arctic air disasters and the multiple attempts to rescue their survivors and the remains of those who died. It begins with the November 1942 crash of a U.S. cargo plane on the Greenland Ice Cap. Within days, a B-17 and Grumman Duck amphibious plane on rescue missions fell victim to the blinding storms and shifting winds of the frozen north. The stories of persistence and survival that follow, however, are perhaps the most gripping parts of this book. One of the most arresting WWII books of recent years; a natural for readers of Jon Krakauer and similar authors.

Library Journal
Zuckoff (journalism, Boston Univ.; Lost in Shangri-La) has written a kind of chilly companion to his previous best-selling book on a World War II aviation disaster. During that war the strategic air route between North America and Britain had a stop in Greenland, renowned for presenting atrocious flying conditions. In November 1942, three military planes crashed on the ice cap, leaving 17 fliers huddling in the wreckage. Over the next five months, various hazardous rescue efforts were undertaken by air and ground teams. Eventually ten men were saved. Zuckoff carefully relates the terrible physiological and psychological strains that almost broke the hope and souls of those involved. He joined the recent expedition that sought to find the crashed Coast Guard amphibious plane that saved two of the men and interweaves that story with the wartime tale of stubborn frozen survival. VERDICT 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. [See Prepub Alerts, 11/19/12.]—Daniel Blewett, Coll. of DuPage Lib., Glen Ellyn, IL
Publishers Weekly
In this harrowing true-life adventure, journalist Zuckoff (Lost in Shangri-La) follows the crew of an American B-17 bomber that crash-landed in 1942—while searching for another downed plane—on a vast glacier in the Greenland ice cap, one of the most isolated and inhospitable places on earth. With little food or cold-weather gear and an assortment of nasty injuries, the nine airmen found themselves trapped in a field of hidden, ever-shifting crevasses that threatened to swallow up their plane and made hiking even a few yards a mortal danger. Zuckoff juxtaposes their months-long battle against hurricane-blizzards, starvation, frost-bite, gangrene and madness with equally perilous rescue attempts by sled teams and military aviators flying through gales and white-outs. (His tense first-hand account of a 2012 expedition to locate the remains of one of those rescue flights buried in 30-foot-deep ice frames the story.) 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. Photos. (May)
Adam Hochschild
“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.”
David Grann
“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.”
Hampton Sides
“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.”
Kirkus Reviews
An intrepid journalist joins a real-life Arctic search team seeking details about "three American military planes that crashed in Greenland during World War II." Zuckoff's (Journalism/Boston Univ.; Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II, 2011, etc.) complex narrative involves the fates of three downed missions to Greenland in late 1942, juxtaposed with the events of the modern-day search effort, led by an exploration company in August 2012 and joined by the author. As a result of the many competing strands and characters, some confusion in the details ensues--though maps and a cast of characters are included to help orient readers. The original lost cargo plane, which contained five American servicemen, was part of the wartime Operation BOLERO's so-called Snowball Route from the U.S. to Britain; on November 5, 1942, it crashed on an ice cap near the southeast coast of Greenland. Due to terrible winter storms, the plane's radio messages grew increasingly weak, making it impossible to locate the plane for the subsequent B-17 bomber that took off days later on a rescue mission. Carrying nine crew members, the B-17 hit a whiteout and crashed into a glacier. The broken-off tail section remained intact, allowing the survivors to take shelter, but one man had already fallen through an ice bridge, another grew delusional and another had his feet frozen. In order to rescue this batch, a Grumman "Duck" plane was launched, carrying pilot John Pritchard and radioman Benjamin Bottoms; despite rescuing some of the survivors, the Duck vanished in a storm, remaining unclaimed until Lou Sapienza's expedition of 2012. Much of the blow-by-blow narrative concerns the plight of the crews, as well as the elaborate outfitting for the Duck Hunt. An exhaustively layered but exciting account involving characters of enormous courage and stamina.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780062133410
  • Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
  • Publication date: 4/23/2013
  • Sold by: Harpercollins
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 416
  • Sales rank: 224
  • File size: 4 MB

Meet the Author

Mitchell Zuckoff

Mitchell Zuckoff is the author of Lost in Shangri-La, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Winship/PEN New England Award. His previous books include Robert Altman: The Oral Biography and Ponzi’s Scheme: The True Story of a Financial Legend. He has written for national and regional publications and is a former special projects reporter for the Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for investigative reporting. He is a professor of journalism at Boston University and lives outside Boston.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 6 )
Rating Distribution

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    This is an amazing adventure story. 

    This is an amazing adventure story. 

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 23 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    jumbled mess 

    jumbled mess 

    2 out of 15 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted Tue Apr 30 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    It's a terrific adventure story that keeps you riveted to your s

    It's a terrific adventure story that keeps you riveted to your seat. My only caveat with the book is that there is a modern day tale interspersed within every other chapter. This should be at the end because it's neither compelling nor that interesting.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    An exceptional book.

    An exceptional book.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Wed Apr 24 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted Tue Apr 23 00:00:00 EDT 2013

    No text was provided for this review.

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