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Empire at the Edge of the World
Endurance and Madness in the High Arctic
Brief Description
One man's lust for empire sent fifteen people into the Arctic - only one came back. 1913, the Arctic circle. Charismatic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson is obsessed with a frozen speck of land in the Siberian Arctic: Wrangel Island. Believing that whoever possesses it would control the...
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Empire at the Edge of the World
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See moreA harrowing Arctic adventure of imperial rivalries at the frozen edge of the world.
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Description
One man's lust for empire sent fifteen people into the Arctic - only one came back.
1913, the Arctic circle. Charismatic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson is obsessed with a frozen speck of land in the Siberian Arctic: Wrangel Island. Believing that whoever possesses it would control the future - air routes, resources, even the balance of power in the northern hemisphere, he takes an impossible gamble. Dispatching a small, ill-equipped venture to stake a frozen colony in Britain's name, it is a triumph of brilliance, ego, and breathtaking hubris.
What follows is a catastrophe of starvation, madness, and geopolitical risk. As winter seals the island in ice, relief ships fail to arrive and tensions among the colonists spiral toward despair. While diplomats spar and warships steam north, the settlers are left to endure scurvy, polar bears, and the terror of abandonment. At the centre of it all stands one unlikely survivor - a young Inuit seamstress who can outlast them all...
Sweeping, chilling and stranger than fiction, Empire at the Edge of the World is a story of greed and justice at the edge of the world.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781399822732
Publisher: John Murray Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 24 September 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: John Murray Publishers Ltd
Illustration: N/A
Audience: General / adult, Tertiary education, Professional and scholarly
DIMENSIONS
Width: 153.0mm
Height: 234.0mm
Weight: 0g
Pages: 384
About the Author
Giles Milton is the million-copy, internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. One of Milton's previous works, Nathaniel's Nutmeg, is currently being developed into a major screen project. Milton is the writer and narrator of the acclaimed narrative podcast series, Ministry of Secrets, produced by Sony and available on all platforms. He lives in London and Burgundy.
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