The North Pole

The History of an Obsession

By: Erling Kagge

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Paperback | 5 February 2026 | Edition Number 1

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The epic, multi-millennia story of humanity's obsession with the North Pole, from Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge who travelled there in 1990

'Extraordinary . . . an elegant travel account, a learned history and a psychological thriller wrapped in one' ANNE APPLEBAUM

'Erling Kagge is a deeply thoughtful writer . . . The North Pole proves to be the perfect subject for him' MICHAEL PALIN

'The book of a lifetime, from a rare writer-adventurer whose obsession and passion for his subject know no bounds' ELIF SHAFAK

'A beautiful book' ALAIN DE BOTTON

Throughout recorded human time, few places on Earth have inspired as much fascination as the North Pole. This is an otherworldly place where the sun rises and stays aloft for six whole months before setting, plunging the expanse of ice and water into darkness for half a year.

Foot-stepping alongside Erling Kagge, who ventured to the North Pole in the spring of 1990, we hear the story of the North Pole as never told before. From Herodotus who first wondered what the northernmost point of our planet might be like, to the intrepid early cartographers who mapped the world, and the legendary expeditions led by Fridtjof Nansen and Robert Peary - the first polar explorer global celebrities - who were in the grip of a dangerous obsession to get to the North Pole first. What emerges is a new history of the world, spanning thousands of years, as seen from the 'silver-shining vacantness' of the North Pole.

Blending memories from Kagge's own 1990 trip with this epic history, The North Pole is an adventure story, a book about enacting hidden human dreams, about difficult fathers and their difficult sons, and a psychological record of what it means to keep putting one foot in front of the other in the face of adversity. It is for anyone who's gazed out at the horizon - and wondered what happens if you just keep walking.

'As an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted' SIR RANULPH FIENNES

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