Eternally frozen! Bitter cold! Silent! 

Such are the regions around the poles. 

What in those great frozen wastes could have attracted Robert E. Peary and Richard Byrd? Why did they risk their lives to reach the poles? 

Russell Owen, who visited the Antarctic with Admiral Byrd as a reporter for the New York Times, has told the story of these two extraordinarily brave and selfless Americans in a manner that makes the reader feel the fascination of the polar regions.

As Peary makes one attempt after another to reach the North Pole, we suffer with him the cold and the discomfort of each expedition. We also take part in the joy and excitement of finding a new world.

At Little America with Admiral Byrd, on the very first expedition ever undertaken to the South Pole by airplane, we see the wonders of the Antarctic: the brilliantly green setting sun and the waving lights of the Aurora Australia. We enjoy the antics of the clownish-looking but clever penguins, our only neighbors. We feel the eeriness of being the only human beings on a huge continent.

For those who would like to follow in the footsteps of Peary and Byrd, this book offers the assurance that there are still many avenues open for possible polar exploration. Armchair explorers will enjoy it too, for it is filled with discovery, suspense, nick-of-time rescues, and the self-sacrifice that makes real heroes.

From the dust jacket