Cover Crush: Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and Tragic Greely Polar Expedition by Buddy Levy

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Not only am I interested in this story but the cover is fantastic and gives you the perfect imagery for the story. Adding this book to my reading pile for 2020! By the way…follow St. martin’s Press on Facebook. They have a brilliant vidio/promo on the book.

LABYRINTH OF ICE by Buddy LevyBased on the author’s exhaustive research, the incredible true story of the Greely Expedition, one of the most harrowing adventures in the annals of polar exploration.

In July 1881, Lt. A.W. Greely and his crew of 24 scientists and explorers were bound for the last region unmarked on global maps. Their goal: Farthest North. What would follow was one of the most extraordinary and terrible voyages ever made.

Greely and his men confronted every possible challenge—vicious wolves, sub-zero temperatures, and months of total darkness—as they set about exploring one of the most remote, unrelenting environments on the planet. In May 1882, they broke the 300-year-old record, and returned to camp to eagerly await the resupply ship scheduled to return at the end of the year. Only nothing came.

250 miles south, a wall of ice prevented any rescue from reaching them. Provisions thinned and a second winter descended. Back home, Greely’s wife worked tirelessly against government resistance to rally a rescue mission.

Months passed, and Greely made a drastic choice: he and his men loaded the remaining provisions and tools onto their five small boats, and pushed off into the treacherous waters. After just two weeks, dangerous floes surrounded them. Now new dangers awaited: insanity, threats of mutiny, and cannibalism. As food dwindled and the men weakened, Greely’s expedition clung desperately to life.

Labyrinth of Ice tells the true story of the heroic lives and deaths of these voyagers hell-bent on fame and fortune—at any cost—and how their journey changed the world.

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader 

Other book bloggers who participated in the great cover crushes series. 

Magdalena at A Bookaholic Swede
Colleen at A Literary Vacation
Heather at The Maiden’s Court
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired

Anthropologist & Historical Fiction Writers: How are they linked?

me-iiAs a child I was inquisitive and longed for adventure. When I was ten years old or a little younger, I dreamed of being an archaeologist. I remember my friends and I at lunch recess digging in the sand for fossils. As I got older, I still wanted to know more about the past, thus began my deep love for history and anthropology.

There are different types of scientific fields.  Scientists from various fields many times work together to find answers and to uncover the past. They use hypothesis, evidence, technology for solving problems, and ask questions on what they observe to help them come to some sort of conclusion. We know that not everything we question has answers which leads us to different avenues to explore.

When scientists investigate and come to conclusions they usually write a scientific paper of their findings; then they publish their work. When scientists publish their work, not everyone will agree with their findings resulting in more questions and discussions. I would say it takes as much courage to be a scientist as it does an historical fiction writer because they will be both judged on the accuracy of written history.

How are the two linked? The definition of anthropology is the “study of human societies and cultures and their development.” Anthropologists study different aspects of humans from the past; how they lived, worked, cultivated the land, and so on. Anthropologists provide vital information on human existence.

Truths and or hypothesizes are revealed when we look to the past. The past speaks to us in many ways. The history of cultures and the human condition reveal these realities. A good historical fiction writer gives us tangible material to bring the past to life. In their research they must look to the past and study the civilizations and cultures-very much like anthropology.

Stephanie M. Hopkins