ENG When Robert E. Peary announced that he had reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909 he learned that another American, Dr. Frederick A. Cook had announced a week earlier that he had reached the pole a year prior in 1908. A congressional inquiry and the National Geographic Society upheld Peary’s claim, and he was credited as the first white man to reach the Pole for much of the twentieth century, though Cook continued to promote his claim as well. Both claims have since been subject to doubt and controversy. With Peary at the pole were Matthew Henson and four Inuit: Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah.

This book presents both Cook's own story of his discovery, and the story of Commander Peary's discovery, together with the record of former arctic expeditions. Their stories are inspiring examples of human spirit and perseverance.

(The first consistent, verified, and scientifically convincing attainment of the Pole was on 12 May 1926, by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his US sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth from the airship Norge. The first confirmed surface conquest of the North Pole was accomplished by Ralph Plaisted, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean Luc Bombardier, who traveled over the ice by snowmobile and arrived on 19 April 1968.)

1st edition (in English).

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