aIn this grand and astonishing tale, Alec Wilkinson brings us the story of S. A. Andree, the visionary Swedish aeronaut who, in 1897, during the great age of Arctic endeavor, left to discover the North Pole by flying to it in a hydrogen balloon. Called by a British military officer "the most original and remarkable attempt ever made in Arctic exploration, "Andree's expedition was followed by nearly the entire world, and it made him an international legend. The Ice Balloon In addition to portraying the period, The Ice Balloon Woven throughout is Andree's own history, and how he came by his brave and singular idea. We also get to know Andree's family, the woman who loves him, and the two men who accompany him--Nils Strindberg, a cousin of the famous playwright, with a tender love affair of his own, and Knut Fraenkel, a willing and hearty young man. Andree's flight and the journey, based on the expedition's diaries and photographs, dramatically recovered thirty-three years after the balloon came down, along with Wilkinson's research, provide a book filled with suspense and adventure, a haunting story of high ambition and courage, made tangible with the detail, beauty, and devastating conditions of traveling and dwelling in "the realm of Death, "as one Arctic explorer put it.