Notes From Your Bookseller Meticulously researched and realized, with a deep novelistic flare, Madhouse at the End of the Earth reconstructs the action-packed survival story of an early expedition to the South Pole. Amundson, Cook and an inexperienced, undisciplined crew, on an ill-fated ship, imprisoned in the Antarctic ice and darkness. This tale of adventure, excitement and, indeed, terror will captivate those who were drawn to The Lost City of Z, In the Kingdom of Ice and In the Heart of the Sea. Julian Sancton has gifted us an insanely gripping book from start to finish. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The "exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing" (The New York Times) true survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly awry--with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter "The energy of the narrative never flags. . . . Sancton has produced a thriller."--The Wall Street Journal In August 1897, the young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. But de Gerlache's plans to be first to the magnetic South Pole would swiftly go awry. After a series of costly setbacks, the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. De Gerlache sailed on, and soon the Belgica was stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea. When the sun set on the magnificent polar landscape one last time, the ship's occupants were condemned to months of endless night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness and besieged by monotony, they descended into madness. In Madhouse at the End of the Earth, Julian Sancton unfolds an epic story of adventure and horror for the ages. As the Belgica's men teetered on the brink, de Gerlache relied increasingly on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity: the expedition's lone American, Dr. Frederick Cook--half genius, half con man--whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship's first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, even in his youth the storybook picture of a sailor. Together, they would plan a last-ditch, nearly certain-to-fail escape from the ice--one that would either etch their names in history or doom them to a terrible fate at the ocean's bottom. Drawing on the diaries and journals of the Belgica's crew and with exclusive access to the ship's logbook, Sancton brings novelistic flair to a story of human extremes, one so remarkable that even today NASA studies it for research on isolation for future missions to Mars. Equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is an unforgettable journey into the deep. Editorial Reviews 03/15/2021 Journalist Sancton debuts with a riveting account of the first polar expedition to spend the winter south of the Antarctic Circle. Setting out from Antwerp in August 1897 with plans to reach the magnetic south pole, the Belgian steam whaler Belgica ran aground and nearly sank in the Beagle Channel, lost a sailor overboard, and narrowly avoided a mutiny--all before reaching Antarctica. During the Antarctic summer, the expedition's scientists collected more than 100 previously unknown specimens and discovered unmapped features of the Antarctic coast line. Running far behind schedule, the ship's commandant, Adrien de Gerlache, decided to push farther south as winter approached, entrapping the Belgica in ice with the intention of resuming the journey once temperatures warmed. Vividly recreating the crew's boredom, disorientation, fatigue, depression, and hysteria during their 13-month ordeal, Sancton focuses on the expedition's American doctor, Frederick Cook, whose prescription of daily seal or penguin meat helped the crew stave off scurvy, and Norwegian first mate Roald Amundsen, who became a legendary polar explorer thanks, in part, to the lessons he learned on the Belgica. Though the prose occasionally tips over into the melodramatic, this is a well-researched and enthralling portrait of endurance and escape. Agent: Todd Shuster, Aevitas Creative Management. (May) - Publishers Weekly 04/01/2021 The Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-99) carried the first humans to ever spend the winter in Antarctica. The expedition's research vessel Belgica was trapped in polar ice for over a year, forcing the multinational crew of sailors and scientists to withstand crushing pack ice, subzero temperatures, and extreme isolation. During the months-long polar night, they fended off scurvy by scarfing raw penguin meat. Stuck in their claustrophobic quarters, they bickered, scribbled letters to each other, and battled mental and physical deterioration. Most--but not all--overcame the odds and survived. Sancton (editor, Departures) gives this extraordinary saga its first book-length treatment. Blue-blooded Adrien de Gerlache battled guilt over his men's plight and his own shortcomings as leader of Belgium's first polar expedition. Stoic Norwegian first mate Roald Amundsen (eventually the first explorer to visit the North and South Poles) befriended American physician and ethnographer Frederick Cook. With mock solemnity, Cook and Amundsen formed the Order of the Penguin, to which they invited the expedition's caring but firm Belgian second-in-command, Georges Lecointe. VERDICT Belying its sensational title, this detail-rich account is a sober and humane chronicle of relationships among the explorers and their struggle for survival in the long polar night. Armchair travelers will enjoy.--Michael Rodriguez, Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs - Library Journal 2021-01-30 A harrowing expedition to Antarctica, recounted by Departures senior features editor Sancton, who has reported from every continent on the planet. On Aug. 16, 1897, the steam whaler Belgica set off from Belgium with young Adrien de Gerlache as commandant. Thus begins Sancton's riveting history of exploration, ingenuity, and survival. The commandant's inexperienced, often unruly crew, half non-Belgian, included scientists, a rookie engineer, and first mate Roald Amundsen, who would later become a celebrated polar explorer. After loading a half ton of explosive tonite, the ship set sail with 23 crew members and two cats. In Rio de Janeiro, they were joined by Dr. Frederick Cook, a young, shameless huckster who had accompanied Robert Peary as a surgeon and ethnologist on an expedition to northern Greenland. In Punta Arenas, four seamen were removed for insubordination, and rats snuck onboard. In Tierra del Fuego, the ship ran aground for a while. Sancton evokes a calm anxiety as he chronicles the ship's journey south. On Jan. 19, 1898, near the South Shetland Islands, the crew spotted the first icebergs. Rough waves swept someone overboard. Days later, they saw Antarctica in the distance. Glory was "finally within reach." The author describes the discovery and naming of new lands and the work of the scientists gathering specimens. The ship continued through a perilous, ice-littered sea, as the commandant was anxious to reach a record-setting latitude. On March 6, the Belgica became icebound. The crew did everything they could to prepare for a dark, below-freezing winter, but they were wracked with despair, suffering headaches, insomnia, dizziness, and later, madness--all vividly capture by Sancton. The sun returned on July 22, and by March 1899, they were able to escape the ice. With a cast of intriguing characters and drama galore, this history reads like fiction and will thrill fans of Endurance and In the Kingdom of Ice. A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale. - Kirkus Reviews A grade-A classic."--The Sunday Times "A vivid horror story . . . thrillingly recounted."--The New York Review of Books "As soon as you finish, you want to read it again."--Daily Mail "Madhouse at the End of the Earth [is an] exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing account of the Belgica's disastrous Antarctic expedition. Sancton uses . . . an extraordinary treasure trove . . . to tease out the personalities and fears and rivalries of his subjects [in] his increasingly harrowing descriptions of life on the Belgica."--The New York Times "An extraordinary tale of ambition, folly, heroism and survival, superbly told by Julian Sancton, who has rescued the Belgica's story from relative obscurity and brought it to magnificent life . . . [a] splendid, beautifully written book."--The Spectator "I started reading Madhouse at the End of the Earth . . . and I couldn't stop. [It] reads like an adventure novel [and] is so detailed you can almost smell and taste it."--Bon Appétit "Locked down, I craved perilous adventure. Julian Sancton's Madhouse at the End of the Earth delivered. The Belgica's 1897 South Pole expedition is pure horror. Clueless captain, rat-infested ship frozen into the ice, scurvy, darkness, hunger, insanity . . . terrific stuff."--The New Statesman, "Books of the Year" "At once a riveting survival tale and a terrifying psychological thriller, Madhouse at the End of the Earth is a mesmerizing, unputdownable read. It deserves a place beside Alfred Lansing's immortal classic Endurance."--Nathaniel Philbrick, New York Times bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea and Valiant Ambition "Madhouse is that rare nonfiction gem--an obscure but important history transformed by deep research and note-perfect storytelling into a classic thriller. Reading this book is as much an adventure as the very story it tells."--Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs "Madhouse at the End of the Earth has it all: idealism,