Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World

By David Roberts

Book Overview

While reading Valerian Albanov's In the Land of White Death, David Roberts came across the mention of an old legend of four shipwrecked Russian sailors who had managed to survive six years stranded on a barren island in the high Arctic. Incredulous, Roberts -- an expert on exploration literature who had never heard of this account -- was determined to learn the truth behind this extraordinary story. Little did he know that his search would ultimately bring him closer to the experiences of these four survivors than he had imagined. In 1743 four survivors of a Russian shipwreck in the Arctic Ocean were trapped on a tiny island with only twenty pounds of flour for food. With ingenuity and courage they endured six years of nearly unimaginable hardship, with only driftwood to fuel their life-saving fires, and the constant threat of attack from polar bears (they would kill ten with homemade lances). Roberts's quest to document their story would take him across two continents and culminate in his own expedition to the remote and desolate shores where these mysterious sailors had been marooned. Riveting and haunting, Four Against the Arctic chronicles an incredible true story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743272315
• ISBN13: 9780743272315
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.91 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Everything it says it is, and more.

It is difficult to understand why anyone would state as a COMPLAINT that "The book is about David Roberts and his research into a survival story." Yes, that is EXACTLY what it is. Roberts' story-within-a-story is accessable, immediate, often humorously self-disparaging, and it shows a drive for knowledge which one can only admire. I was captured by the end of the first paragraph of the introduction, and I couldn't put it down. Great stuff.

Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World

This was a fascinating book. I enjoyed it so much I bought another copy to give to my brother.

The genuine article

This is an exceptionally fine book, first, as a chronicle of the 18th century survival of four men marooned in the Arctic for six years and second, as a memoir detailing the author's interest in this remarkable survival and where that interest took him. The author avoids the sensationalism and fictionalization that plague so many historical adventure accounts; his scrupulous honesty gives us a real understanding of the difficulty in researching such an episode in human endeavor as well as some profound insights into the nature of such endeavors - this book is the genuine article!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Svalbard but...

Well told history of survival in one of the most inhospitable arctic climates that was still killing Norwegians in the 20th Century! Roberts not only relates their story, but fully investigates the history of the subject of arctic survival and then he goes there with an amusingly inept guide. I think these men were-by surviving six years in the arctic-the only successful inhabitants of the high arctic who were not in some way connected to Inuit culture. This book dovetails perfectly with "In the Land of White Death" by Valarian Albanov, only recently translated into English with an intro by Roberts. These are exciting accounts of arctic survival.

Survival in the Arctic

I have greatly enjoyed this tale of survival in the North. My one complaint - not enough detailed maps! I had to wrestle a huge world atlas to find Mezen and to get a better overall understanding of the distances involved. I hate to say, but this is a common complaint of mine when reading such books. But otherwise, a gripping read.