True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole

by Bruce Henderson

Book Overview

In 1909, two men laid rival claims to this crown jewel of exploration. A century later, the battle rages still. This book is about one of the most enduring and vitriolic feuds in the history of exploration. "What a consummate cur he is," said Robert Peary of Frederick Cook in 1911. Cook responded, "Peary has stooped to every crime from rape to murder." They had started out as friends and shipmates, with Cook, a doctor, accompanying Peary, a civil...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393327388
• ISBN13: 9780393327380
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Bruce Henderson does it again!

If you're not acquainted with the writings of Bruce Henderson, you don't know what you're missing. It is no wonder that every reviewer here gives "True North" a five star rating. I'm sure if there were a higher rating, his readers would endow Henderson with it. He is a masterful story teller and his writing skills transport the reader, almost step by step, in the lives of which he writes. Bruce Henderson's meticulous and comprehensive research brings to light what may be our country's Dreyfus case - how Dr. Frederick Cook was robbed of the credit and fame of being the first man to reach the North Pole. Conventional (and what Henderson establishes as superficial) thinking credits Admiral Perry with being the discoverer of the North Pole but reading Henderson, you accompany both Cook and Perry on their quests to reach the pole. Readers share their elation of their successes and share their disappointments and frustrations at their failings. However, after reading Henderson's well referenced account (sixteen pages of references to source records), one must conclude that modest Dr. Cook was not only was the first to reach the North Pole but that he reached that goal over a year before the flamboyant Admiral Perry!

Gripping

I didn't know anything about polar exploration before I read this. I was entralled. It's also a deeply insightful book about human motivation, competition and honor. Well written, I especially like how the author would make glimpes into the future with small digressions in his narrative (like when he speaks of the ironic death of Cook's brother, who never set foot in the arctic--I won't spoil that small footnote by saying how in this review). I know the author tried to couch it in neutral terms, but there's no doubt that this is a pro-Cook book. Fine by me!

Gripping Saga of jealousy worthy of the finest soap opera

More like a snow opera - this is the real-life saga of jealousy and professional hatred between Peary, the supposed discoverer of the North Pole in 1909 and his former colleague, Cook who said he discovered it in 1908. Bruce Henderson ably lays out all the information at hand, including secondary accounts from supporters of both men. The issue seems to lie more in the personal aspects of both men who had once been colleagues but fell out very quickly in their first expedition together. This seemed to set the stage for increasing animosity culminating in Peary's attack on Cook Personally when Cook claimed to have reached the Pole. Peary treated the Pole as a personal possession and already resented Cook, even before he made his claim. Henderson questions whether this personal dislike and Cook's propensity to hide away when under attack, has meant that Cook has failed to make the history books as the first to reach the North Pole as he should have. Certainly this issue appears to have been a contentious one in many circles for a while, although perhaps not publically. While Henderson appears to not take sides on it overtly, I get the sense in this book that he strongly believes that Cook did get short changed. whatever the outcome this was a ripping good read, and highly enjoyable for one who enjoys Arctic and Antarctic accounts.

The Controversy That Will Never Say Die

True North tells the gripping story of a race to the (North) Pole that almost equals the amazing race for the South Pole of Scott and Amundsen a few years laters, both in excitement and ensuing controversy. The combatants in this contest are Cook and Peary, both claiming to have reached the Pole and, perhaps, both lying. This book makes a good case for Cook having actually achieved the set goal and an even better case for Peary never having stepped on the ever-shifting north pole. Bruce Henderson gets the tale off to a gripping start and keeps the story rolling quickly along. In Peary, the author has one of the true villains of polar exploration and the author milks it out beautifully and powerfully. It was almost hard to read at times as Peary's arrogance grew gigantic after learning that Cook was headed for the Pole. A true tragedy captured nicely in this book.

The Peary - Cook controversy revisited

It's amazing how some aspects of American history become lost through the pasage of time. When I was in grade school and high school, I was always taught that Peary discovered the North Pole, and nothing was ever said about Dr. Cook. Even in college, as a History major, I was taught nothing about that subject. The first time I learned that there was some dispute about the North Pole was when I read the book "The Big Nail", probably in the very early '70s. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement! Over the years since then, I have read other works on this subject, and each one brings its own particular bias with it. The author either favors Peary or Cook, and does his best to villify the other person. This latest book is another in Dr. Cook's corner, but it is free from the vitriol that usually populate this genre of works. He takes us through everything about both men and their respective expeditions, but comes down on the side of Cook. After reading several books, I tend to agree with him, particularly in light of Peary's seemingly amazing distances covered when any witness beside his "body servant" was with him. Also, his absolute refusal to transport Cook's instruments and vital records home on his ship, and then requesting Cook produce them to verify his claim is extremely suspicious. The "establishment", which backed Peary's work, circled the wagons against Cook and proceeded to castigate him unmercifully. No one will ever know exactly which of the two men reached the Pole first, but this well-written book makes an exceptionally good case for Dr. Cook. Read it and form your own conclusions.