"Inconstant and forbidding, the Arctic lured misguided voyagers into the cold for centuries - pushing them beyond the limits of their knowledge, technology, and stamina. A Fabulous Kingdom: The Exploration of the Arctic charts these quests and the eventual race for the North Pole in unprecedented detail, chronicling the lives and misconceptions that would eventually throw light on this "magical realm" of sunless winters." "With an account of nineteenth and twentieth century exploration and the longstanding myth of an open polar sea, the authors reconsider the achievements of the conventional arctic pioneers - Frederick Cook, Robert Peary, and Richard Bird. Moreover, they consider the consequences and rewards of human ambition and our perilous desire to conquer the unknown."