This was a good read, and at times I had to remind myself it was not a novel. (And then I felt bad, because this book is full of terrible hardships!) I enjoyed Albanov's angry asides about the others, because honestly who hasn't felt that way about someone you're forced to work with at one point or another, but in such an extreme situation, I guess I kind of expect people to be... you know, more on the ball? Anyway, I liked that; I also enjoyed the epilogue which reads like a weird cross between low stakes true crime, high stakes survival drama, and hearing your friend explain their fanfic idea about how their favorite minor canon character was actually key to everything! (I'm not saying this to make fun of the conclusion that Konrad stole the supplies because that's pretty believable; just, I've written and read that kind of fanfic and I'm amused to see a similar thought process from a historian about a real person.

What an amazing book, what an incredible story! This book is comparable to "The Worst Journey in the World" although this one is much shorter and simpler in style. It wouldn't disappoint even the most hard-core fans of the Arctic exploration genre!

Someone please explain to me why in the middle of the New England winter I set out to read books about Arctic and Antarctic expeditions. I was looking back and saw that I read about Shackleton's trip last winter and Robert Scot's the winter before. It struck me that it's similar to my need to listen to the saddest music I can find when I'm feeling sad. Maybe the best way to make it through winters and sadness is to go to them and through them instead of trying to avoid them. What a gem of a find this book is. In 1922 Valerian Albanov, a Russian navigator, sets off in a small ship (steam and sail) with a proposed trajectory from Alexdraovsk (present day Murmansk) to Vadivostok. My jaw dropped when I Googled the map of Russia. Start off at the top of Russia, a stone's throw from the Arctic sea, and then travel across all the northern boundary of Russia and then when you hit the end go South to almost the end of the Eastern boundary. They set out in late August which is a couple of months too late and by October the ship finds itself trapped in the ice of the Kara sea. It wintered over the ice expecting to be set loose by the warmth of the following summer but summer came without warmth and with no deliverance. In the meantime the ship kept drifting north some 2,400 miles from where it first was trapped. Another year goes by and finally, Albanov, second in command, and thirteen other crew members, set off in a southerly direction with Kayaks and sleds in search of land leaving the rest of the crew behind. What makes this book so extraordinary is first: the book is Albanov's first person account of his journey (only he and another sailor make it out alive) and second: Albanov can write. His diary is not the usual cold blooded: "Three miles against gail winds. Seal blubber almost gone. Spirits low." Albanov rails against his lazy, careless crew with Dostoievskian relish. He describes what he sees with the eyes and words of a poet. But most of all, and now that I think of it, maybe this is why I read these books, the man exudes through his words and exemplifies through his actions a kind of hope and courage that seems more than human. Why keep on month after month in unbelievable hopeless hardship? Why not just lay yourself down and sleep your way to a peaceful death? The writing is so real (remember this isn't fiction) that you cannot help but to put yourself right next to Albanov and wonder whether you would have it in you to persist and go on and not give up. I don't know the answer to that. I think probably not. But I am strengthened, by the fact that men like Albanov did. And this knowledge makes my own small winter more bearable.

I often end up reading a polar adventure story at this time of year. It seems to be appropriate for the stormy weather outside and the long dark nights. The west coast of Scotland, where I live, has a mild climate for such a northerly location, but we can’t escape the effects of latitude on the hours of daylight. At this time of year in northern Scotland, daylight is like an exceedingly shy dinner guest, who creeps in apologetically and is gone again at the first opportunity, almost before anyone noticed they were there.

This book is essentially the journal of Valerian Albanov, second-in-command of a ship called the Saint Anna, which in 1912 left the port of Alexandrovsk (I think this is the present day town of Polyarny, near Murmansk) with the intention of sailing to Vladivostok via the northeast passage, along the north coast of Russia. This journey had only been undertaken once before, in 1879 by the Swedish explorer Baron Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. The Saint Anna was not on a voyage of exploration as such, but it was intended the journey would identify new locations for the hunting of seals, walrus and other arctic animals.

There were lots of delays to the departure of the Saint Anna, which did not sail until the end of August 1912. Starting so late in summer pretty much guaranteed the ship would be iced in that winter, and that duly happened in the Kara Sea in October. Getting iced-in for winter was a normal thing on an arctic journey and the ship had several years supply of food, though they had inexplicably failed to take any antiscorbutics. What the crew hadn’t realised though, was that ocean currents would carry the ice, and thus the ship, far to the north. The ship remained trapped in the ice during the summer of 1913 and the crew spent another winter on board. By the spring of 1914 the ship lay at 82º 58’ N, somewhere to the north of the Franz Josef archipelago, though at the time no-one knew the precise location of those islands.

Albanov thought that the ship was now so far north it would have no chance of escaping the ice. With the agreement of the commander, Lt. Brusilov, he and 13 others decided to try to make it back to civilisation by sledge and kayak, and it is this story that is related in the book. Brusilov and another part of the crew took their chances on the ship.

Albanov’s story is an absolutely gripping tale. I’m not going to go into detail about it because even though this is a true-life account it reads like a thriller. If you don’t know the story I would strongly recommend avoiding the Preface and Introduction (which outline the events in full) until after you have read Albanov’s account. The only thing I will say is that because it’s a journal, the style is very simple and direct.

Most British people of my generation know the stories of the polar expeditions of Scott and Shackleton (though I don’t think many younger people do). Albanov’s journey happened at more or less the same time, but is far less well-known in the Anglophone world. His tale deserves to be placed alongside those of his better known contemporaries.

"The mind must command the limbs and convert itself into a force that controls the body, even if part of that body refuses to obey. Those who let themselves go in these circumstances quickly fall prey to death."

Walrus are to be feared much more than polar bears...I did not know that.

A harrowing epic of survival, hope and the will of the human spirit to survive, Good story, and best have a warm fire going or read it in the summer...

Albanov's story is a breathtaking, astounding read, and reasonably well translated. I finished this relatively quickly as, every time I put it down, I wondered how the men were going to get out of the mess that seemed to get worse at every stage. How anyone survived at all is a miracle.

I found the Introduction by David Roberts compelling, but stopped reading after a page or two because it was clear he was giving the story away. I returned to it after finishing Albanov's text. The Epilogue, also by Roberts, was excellent and added important depth and context to Albanov's tale, as it revealed additional details (including one bombshell) from Konrad's journal that Albanov omitted. The Epilogue also explained what Albanov did following his return to the mainland, and how he died.

Very much recommended for any fans of Arctic exploration, Russian history, or survival literature in general.

An engrossing first-hand account of a trek across the Arctic wilderness in a quest for survival. In this translation of Albanov's journal kept throughout his ordeal, Albanov describes, in great detail, the trials he and his followers faced while trekking towards safety. Despite knowing the ending before opening the book, it was easy to be held captive by his writing, waiting to see what happens next. While Albanov comes off as a smidge arrogant, it's hard to find fault with that--he managed to get himself and one other man to safety after countless near-death experiences...I think he earned that arrogance.

I did find myself speed reading through small sections here and there. You can only read so much about walking on ice and shooting seals and polar bears before it becomes a bit monotonous.

The publishers do a fantastic job of adding historical context to the journal in the prologue and epilogue, particularly in including excerpts of the journal of Albanov's fellow survivor. It definitely helps to round out the tale. The one thing I would have liked to have seen was more about what the two did after finding safety. There was a bit in the epilogue, but I longed for more.

The only other thing to say about this book is that I am certainly not cut out for polar expedition. Shocking revelation, I know!

I choose this as my Adventure Genre pick for my 2018 Reading Challenge. What a story, one of perseverance, survival, the human instinct to continue against all odds. Set in the Arctic, this is an account of the Saint Anna's ill-fated expedition, locked in the ice flowing further northward and how 13 crewman left the ship bound for land. Their journey covered 253 miles of ice, snow blindness, starvation, fighting the elements every step of the way. This is the account of that journey from Albanov's journal. Incredible, suspense-filled, compelling, miraculous. If you read anything on the Shackleton or Scott expeditions to Antarctica, you will want to read this as well. Being a true story it is better than any fictional adventure story one could find.

This was hard for me to get through. Felt monotonous as I’m sure it was along with awful for them. Lots of cold, snow, depleting rations and nearly everyone does. I for one would not want to have taken the trip

Fact that it's a journal makes it even cooler!

Great read if you have an interest in arctic exploration or just want to read survival stories in the cold harsh climate of the arctic.
Very cool that it's taken from the first hand account of one of the survivors and leader. A journal not just written about it by someone who researched it.

We've all heard the amazing stories of various polar explorers whose ships were trapped in the ice and had to fight the very elements to survive. Some did, some did not. Whether is was due to poor planning, bad timing, weather, lack of supplies, whatever the reasons; their missions fill us with awe and cause us to wonder why anyone would be crazy enough to take that sort of risk. Have you heard of Valerian Albanov's adventure? Probably not. A Russian explorer on a doomed expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Told with brutal honesty through the pages of his personal diary; we feel his pain, struggle his struggle, and wonder how he ever actually managed to survive.