Empire at the Edge of the World: A Story of Endurance and Madness in the High Arctic

From internationally bestselling historian Giles Milton comes a gripping tale of exploration, survival, and geopolitical power in the Arctic Circle.

The year was 1913. Charismatic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson was obsessed with a frozen speck of land in the Siberian Arctic: Wrangel Island. Believing whoever possessed it would control the future of the Northern Hemisphere—its air routes, its resources, and the global balance of power—he took an impossible gamble.

Stefansson, born William Step...