Drawing on the Belgica's crew's diaries and journals and exclusive access to the ship's logbook, this epic tale of a polar expedition that went terribly awry follows the crew as they were condemned to months of endless night, plagued by a mysterious illness, and descended into madness.
In August 1897 young Belgian commandant Adrien de Gerlache set sail for a three-year expedition aboard the good ship Belgica with dreams of glory. His destination was the uncharted end of the earth: the icy continent of Antarctica. After a series of costly setbacks the commandant faced two bad options: turn back in defeat and spare his men the devastating Antarctic winter, or recklessly chase fame by sailing deeper into the freezing waters. Sanction tells the harrowing true survival story of an expedition that went terribly awry, of the ship stuck fast in the icy hold of the Bellingshausen Sea, the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless, Antarctic winter. -- adapted from back cover.
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