Trial by Ice: The True Story of Murder and Survival on the 1871 Polaris Expedition
August 17th, 2009 | 
Author: 
From Publishers Weekly
During the first U.S. attempt to reach the North Pole, the doomed 1871 Polaris expedition’s team leader, Charles Francis Hall, mysteriously died. In this book, Parry, a novelist (That Fateful Lightning, etc.), provides a vivid but uneven account of the captain’s death, which may have been brought on by a muddled command structure that encouraged insubordination, even mutiny, among the crew. Suspense builds as Parry describes the events leading up to Hall’s “mu…
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I did not expect to find “Trial by Ice” so good.
Using very colorful and vivid writing style, author presents events during the ill-fated polar expedition. Action takes place on the deck of steamer Polaris, along the north/west Greenland’s shore and on the ice floes of Baffin Bay.
This is a classic tale of survival describing international motley crew of officers, seamen, scientists and Inuits fighting for their lives after Polaris destruction.
Without leadership and teamwork all efforts are difficult and dramatic. Dark human nature and low morality quite often prevails, hardship creates lack of loyalty, national partiality and racism.
This book has an extra flavor – elements of crime and detective story.
Writing and explanations are enhanced by author’s scientific and medical knowledge combined with his experience of living in a harsh climate of Alaska. He knows what he is writing about.
The story of Polaris is just another example of how little we usually know about causes and reality of current political, criminal and social events. True facts and motives stay hidden and masked to be fully exposed and published at much later time.
I rank this book in the same category as “Wreck of the Medusa”, “In the Heart of the Sea” and “South”.
If Dr. Parry was as good surgeon as he is now a writer, then many patients must be missing his medical practice.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating history poorly presented
The history of the 1871 Polaris expedition to the North Pole and the mysterious death of it’s leader Charles Francis Hall is poorly presented by this effort.
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent History Written Like a Dime Store Fiction
I was very glad that I read this book, but also very glad that I was finished reading this book, if you know what I mean.
Mr. Parry tells the story of the Polaris expedition in a highly readable fashion. Gleaning facts from the sailor’s journals and court testimonies, he paints the grim picture of what occured on this tragic journey.
Although C. F. Hall had grand plans to reach the North Pole, he was thwarted on many levels. Most of the men he wanted along on the journey were passed over and others placed under his command had little regard for this self-taught man. Hall had the hardiness to succeed and hard won knowledge of survival in the inhospitable Arctic climate, but he was undermined again and again by men who had their own agendas. Conflicts arose along lines of nationality and difference of opinion as to the more important tasks of the expedition – finding the North Pole or scientific research of the region.
Hall dies a terrible death at the hands of a murderer. Soon after, discipline falls by the wayside and eventually it is “every man for himself”. Interspersed with the facts, Mr. Parry has placed vivid descriptions of the Arctic panorama, from the beauty of the aurora borealis to the thunderous sounds of the colliding icebergs. The reader feels as if he is there with the crew as they endure unthinkable hardships. This is a first-rate story of impossible odds and the will of man to survive.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enthralling example of history more exciting than fiction
As a huge fan of American history, I found the book a wonderful discovery of a virtually unknown expedition and a superlative example of how the excitement delivered in historical…
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable reading
I am a avid reader of Non-fiction only so when I find a book that can combine fact with good reading i highly recommend it.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Trial by Ice by Richard Parry
Four stars for the research and the history, one star for the author’s attempt to describe their environement. This is an interesting account of the Hall North Pole attempt.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great True Crime Book
It was a great book written by Richard Parry. The decription from the book was very well written and it felt as if you were there on the ship.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Historical True-crime
Trial by Ice is very well written and gives you a history lesson you can’t forget. Extremely well documented! If you liked The Alienist by Caleb Carr you will love this book.