Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

In 1584, Dutch navigator William Barents "prepared to sail off the edge of the known world." Many looked for a shortcut to China to the West, but the Dutch sought the solution to the North. The belief was that there was a direct, open polar sea. The fleet makes its first voyage from Amsterdam to Kildin Island, then to the northern tip of Nova Zembla, aptly named Ice Point. The Sami and Russian trappers disappear into the darkness of the far north. They encounter massive glaciers, and winds that surge the ship. At one point an anchor snapped free and one of the ships "ricocheted" but all survived. They are forced to turn back after reaching impassable ice walls.

In 1595, the Dutch burghers authorized a second voyage, one that would go via show more the southern tip of Nova Zembla. 6 ships, with William in "The Greyhound" joined by Admiral Nay. They are forced to turn back after 4 drown in a ship collision during a storm, 2 are eaten by a polar bear and more ice. Barents last voyage was in 1596, along with former representative Jan Cornelis Rjip, now fellow captain. Upon reaching Spitsbergen Island, Rjip and Barents would separate, Barents heading back to Nova Zembla, and it would be the last time they ever spoke...

"Icebound" is harrowing and Barents didn't have the macho foolishness of a Magellan or conquistador type. But I couldn't give it a 5, because narratively, it could've been more engaging at times and I think adding more personal details about the crew, including Barents, could've helped. These men were smarter and more conscientious with their supplies. They do their best to stay warm, but also clean and preserve their little energy for emptying fox traps, take turns collecting wood and moving supplies. But despite that, the last voyage is one of the wildest I've ever read and was definitely the best part of the book! show less

the first half of this was kind of hard for me and i found my mind wandering a lot. it got much more interesting at the end, when the crew had gotten trapped and had to both survive and get home (sorry crew, but it was so much more engaging). for me what was the takeaway is the disappointing reminder of how much we such as humans. for these dutchmen, who were wholly unprepared for arctic weather, to arrive and immediately condemn the native population as barbarian and subhuman, because they're dressed differently than the dutchmen (they're dressed to live and survive in the arctic), when they live there, ugh it's just our legacy i guess. we did it then (this was in the 1590s) and we do it now. and for their first instincts, when they show more see the natives and when they see the animals they've never seen before (polar bears, walrus) was to capture or kill them, and these are (theoretically) explorers. i know that most of them were actually just sailors, just men who didn't have what i'd assume would be the explorer's sensibility of wanting to learn and wanting to understand and wanting to see possibilities, but to not want to observe the animals, to just want to kill them - i think our human instincts are going to be our demise. show less

An incredibly researched tale of the adventure of 16th Century Dutch explorer William Barents’ attempt to find a path from northern Europe to China over the North Pole. The book covers three different expeditions but concentrates on Barents’ third trip, which lasted an unplanned year. During that time, he lost several of his men to disease and nearly lost more to polar bear attacks. The suffering of his men is almost too much for the reader to take. Several times I had to put the book down to recover from the stories Pitzer recounted. The information in the afterward about the research and preparation the author did to write the book is impressive. My only criticism is much of the tale involves so much detail about the logistics of show more Barents’ explorations that it almost becomes tedious and nearly impossible to follow. In Pitzer’s defense, most of the exploration books I’ve read have a similar problem, which probably means this is what is necessary in order to fit so much into a 300-page book. If you enjoy stories of adventure, this book is for you. show less

I'm always up for a book on polar exploration, so naturally I was keen to read this new book about William Barents (Willem Barentz), namesake of the Barents Sea and one of the earliest Europeans to venture deep into these remote areas. The chronology is what makes this story unique.

Pitzer begins by describing the Dutch political situation in the 1500's. She explains how events, including an ongoing war with Spain, had unfolded such that the new Dutch republic was, at the end of the 16th century, primed and eager to establish themselves on the world stage through international trade. Prior to his three journeys into the arctic Barents had decades of experience sailing the Mediterranean and had, in fact, participated in the production of show more an atlas of that area. He was committed to the idea, floating around since the Greek explorer Pytheas first broached it, that there was an open sea in the Northern Polar regions.

She then fairly briskly describes his first two voyages, including his disagreements with other captains and navigators as to whether hugging the the Russian coast or venturing directly north made more sense. The chief obstacle to travel eastward in these regions was the large island of Novaya Zemlya (or Nova Zembla). There was much speculation as to whether this was actually an island that could be circumnavigated or a larger land mass that would prohibit the completion of a West to East northern passage and it was Barents’ ambition to resolve that question.


On the third voyage, Barents convinced his captain (his role on these trips was as navigator) to separate from their companion ship to travel east, back to Nova Zembla. It was there that this ship became icebound, with the crew wintering over in a windowless cabin they built from driftwood and pieces of the ship they deemed non-essential.

And it is there that the book becomes most interesting. Using logbooks and diaries of key members of the crew, the author reconstructs events of the long arctic night. She describes rare atmospheric phenomena related to the aurora borealis; the causes, symptoms and treatments for scurvy; seemingly endless attacks by polar bears; and other fascinating experiences and events. And whenever they were on the water, the bergs and other forms of ice that impeded their progress or altered their routes.

I was particularly struck by the polar bear encounters, not something I'd read about in descriptions of expeditions set later in time, and the fact that these sailors, without any concrete understanding of what caused scurvy intuitively knew that eating grasses high in vitamin C, once they stumbled on them, would be helpful.

Most of all I was impressed by the creativity of these men, sailing without navigational tools that were taken for granted in later years and in vessels that were, by comparison, tiny. Barents himself did not survive the trip home, and without his skills the other crew members struggled to find their way. After much travail they did manage to stumble on the Russian coast where they met up with other ships and local residents who provided much needed food and directions.

The book might have been more engaging if Pitzer had focused more on the personalities of the principal players, Barents especially. But since very little is actually known about him, she would have needed to speculate - and we can't know whether her imaginings would have been accurate. The facts alone make this an intriguing story. show less

This “forgotten history” of William Barents is certainly in need of retelling. Based on two accounts of the three voyages of William Barents to Nova Zembla in the 1590s, it is required reading for all fans of Ernest Shackleton. It lays out in snappy 21st Century English the original 16th Century Dutch texts. What an amazing story. Ms Pritzer is not as accomplished a sailor as these fearless Dutchmen, but with excellent charts she recounts the three voyages in page-turning fashion.

Before reading Icebound, I was so confused about William Barents I thought he was of Bering Strait. Wrong. This is "Barents" from the Netherlands who explored the Arctic in the 1590s (!) - not far from the Middle Ages. Barents was one of the first to attempt a northeast passage from Europe to China through the Arctic. Of course such a journey with primitive equipment and knowledge was doomed, retold in glorious detail by Pitzer, but Barents and his crew were arguably the first "modern" polar explorers. Before the Arctic was unknown. After, the Arctic was a destination unto itself. Every polar expedition since traces back to Barents. When they returned home and wrote a best selling book, there was popular hunger for more. Centuries show more further exploration followed culminating in the golden age in the late 19th and early 20th century. Essential reading for polar literature fans, and 16th century European history. show less

It’s hard to fathom the hardship sees explorers voluntarily signed up for. No amount of riches or fame would’ve enticed me out of my arm chair to join them. And the polar bears! No respect whatsoever for the notion of humans as the top of the food chain. Glad I read it.