There are few places in the world that have the mystique of the Arctic, and fewer that have attracted the same heroic breed of explorers. This book tells their story, starting in 1841 with the doomed Franklin expedition which attempted to find a sea route between the Pacific and the Atlantic. The Admiralty sent over 49 relief expeditions to rescue Sir John Franklin, but all they were were skeletons. The book tells the stories of explorers who tried to reach the North Pole by plane, hot-air balloon, submarine, and airship.