In 1913, an expedition party of 25 people sailed out of British Columbia on the Karluk in scarch of an undiscovered Arctic continent. Blown off course by polar storms, imprisoned in ice, and abandoned by their expedition leader, the Karluk's crew was eventually forced to abandon ship on the ice pack somewhere in the remote, treacherous Arctic. While the captain set off on foot on a 700-mile trek to search for help, those left behind had no choice but to wait and struggle against hypothermia, snowblindness, and death from mysterious disease, starvation, or exposure. Finally, miraculously, after being stranded for nearly 12 months at the top of the world, eight men, one woman, and two children were rescued.Bringing together firsthand diary accounts, original documents, news reports, and interviews with descendants of expedition members and the one living survivor, The Ice Master is a tale of adventure and exploration, cowardice and heroism, brutality and hardship, betrayal and redemption. It is a story about unlikely heroes and unexpected villains -- human beings reduced to their primal needs by the infinite power of nature.