This is one of those rare books where you can, and should, judge a book by its cover. Certainly not by the title; REALM OF ICE AND SKY makes it sound like one of those copycat YA paranormal fantasy thingies. (I joke with my children, who read such books, that they're going to run out of nouns eventually, and you are going to get books like A COURT OF OLIVE LOAF AND MAYO.) But the cover! The cover has a huge ginormous blimp on it, sailing quietly over an ice floe.

You see (or maybe you don't), in the first years of the twentieth century, it was a normal thing to do for eccentrics and vainglorious explorers to fly lighter-than-air craft over the North Pole. You read that right. Buddy Levy has given us in this book three -- three! -- different stories of people, who I am sure looked normal enough, and were not visibly drooling from the mouth, and had the bright idea to build hydrogen airships, equipped with gasoline engines, and take them to Svalbard, a teensy island deep in the Arctic Ocean, and from there fly to the North Pole.

So before you ridicule this idea--I mean, of course you're going to ridicule this idea, it involves flying a blimp to the North Pole--consider these considerations. First, at this point, the connection between flying ginormous hydrogen gasbags and burning people falling to earth, screaming their last scream, had not yet been cemented into the public imagination. Not to say that these early blimps were safe; they were not. A minor character in the narrative eventually dies in a separate airship crash over New Jersey in a craft called AKRON; if you go to look this up on Wikipedia you will find that this was not the deadliest crash of a blimp <i>with that same exact name</i>, USS AKRON crashed in (again) New Jersey in 1933, killing 73 souls. (Both ships were named after the home of Goodyear Rubber, you see, although that doesn't explain why New Jersey is hell on airships.) The people in these stories didn't know that airships were more dangerous than airplanes, because airplanes in that era were plenty dangerous as well.

And then second--well, read any polar explorer story. If you're going to the North Pole--if you just have to--and you do it by ship, and then by dogsled--you are just asking to get yourself killed in the most horrible, long, drawn-out way possible. Ask the unquiet ghost of Robert Falcon Scott, if you like. Even today, the Poles are, well, kind of a schlep. Is it any wonder that relatively bright, curious people--including Roald Amundsen his own bad self--took a look at the new airships and thought to themselves, "Hell with it, there's got to be an easier way."

If polar exploration does anything, it reveals character, and Levy has three to work with. Walter Wellman, who unfortunately in his photo looks somewhat like a dissipated Buddy Ebsen, comes across as having the sort of panache that is just begging for George Clooney to play him in a Coen Brothers movie. Wellman was a journalist, and a self-promoter par excellence, and was the first to try to take an airship that far north. Although he wasn't successful, Amundsen, a stoic, hawk-nosed figure, took a crack at it, with much better success. That ship was piloted by one Umberto Nobile, something of a comic-opera figure and erstwhile Fascist. Nobile would go on to try his luck again, which was a mistake.

It's a cracking story, and Levy tells it well. Highly recommended.

I am a huge geek about all things related to explorers and exploration–reading about Shackleton's Endurance was my gateway, and since then I devour any book I can about various explorers–and happily stumbled upon Buddy Levy's Empire of Ice and Stone when it came out, which I loved. I've been meaning to read more from Buddy Levy and was ecstatic when I saw Realm of Ice and Sky on NetGalley! This was another absolutely fascinating dive into something that I knew very little about. I love the way that Levy is able to make nonfiction accounts completely thrilling, and can manage to convey so much information in ways that are page-turning. I've read a bit about Amundsen and Cook in the past, but Wellman is a newer name to me so I was really keen to learn about his adventures, and I also liked getting to learn even more about Amundsen's experiences. This is a perfect read for any nonfiction fan who enjoys reading about exploration and adventures, and I'd highly recommend it (along with Buddy Levy's other work!).

Realm of Ice and Sky is a complete history of the polar air expeditions set forth during the early 1900’s. This period of relatively recent history has been forgotten and the many brave men who suffered and perished in their attempt to reach the North Pole have faded from recognition. Mr. Levy focuses his book on the expeditions that used the very new mode of transportation, the aircraft, to get to the North Pole. I was amazed at many of the historical facts, the number of lives lost, the staggering cost of the expeditions and the single mindedness of the men involved. This is a very complex non-fiction book with meticulous research. It would be interesting to any reader who enjoys learning about the history of adventurers, especially obscure figures of history.

Realm of Ice and Sky by Buddy Levy

This four star Buddy Levy account of the first crossings of the North Pole by dirigibles and aeroplanes in the early 1900s is long in details to start and with adventurous stories to finish. It is perfect for non-fiction readers interested in science, engineering and polar exploration.

The dirigibles, powered by motors, were also at the mercy of the wind and weather. Some scary scenes are ones where these floating behemoths narrow miss mountain peaks hidden by fog, disasters and recoveries. There’s no doubt polar explorers like Walter Wellman, Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile were brave, driven men. We have them and their crews to thank for their early explorations of Earth’s last unexplored frontier.

As a footnote, Lighter Than Air crafts are once again being built to use for humanitarian deliveries of food, water and medicine to remote or devastated areas in need, as well as for luxury travel to…yes, the North Pole, where passengers can get out and walk around on the polar ice!

This book is about the three explorations of the North Pole using air ships. The first trip was led by William Wellman, the second by Roald Amundsen and the last by Umberto Nobile. Each accomplished different achievements. The first that it could be done, the second that the Arctic was an ocean and could be flown across and the last involved scientific studies. The last one resulted in a crash that necessitated at rescue of those that survived. Overall a well written and researched book that read move like a novel than history.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

A well researched story about a little known chapter of Arctic exploration. That said, I have to admit that Buddy Levy’s style is not to my liking – I read two or three of his books, and while I am fascinated by subjects, the writing is too dry for me to be engaging. But I know that this author has a lot of fans, so if you liked his previous books, you definitely will like this one as well.

Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I am fascinated by artic explorations so I was very intrigued by this book. Overall I enjoyed it and reading about adventure. The writing was descriptive and made the setting come to life.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC for an honest opinion.

This book was a great narrative into polar exploration by three different groups of men determined to reach the true pole. This book would interest people who are into history. It is a great book and I would recommend it.

I never thought much about airships or arctic exploration. I certainly never thought that I would use phrases like ‘gripping’ or ‘edge of your seat’ to describe a book about either… the writing style of this book was riveting. I never knew just how important airships were or how involved they were in the history of exploration. Very interesting book!

2.5⭐
It’s not a fault of the book or the author, but I gotta say, spending basically 2/3rds of the book on expeditions meant to bolster the image and standing of a fascist government wasn’t really what I wanted to be reading in November 2024. So there’s no way that didn’t impact my feelings on this, which again, isn’t /Levy’s/ fault, but still.

I went into this knowing about Amundsen already, having read The Last Viking several years ago (and Nobile is in that book a lot as well but I did not remember him at all so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). First time hearing about Wellman, though.

Unfortunately, I struggled to click with the overall style. There are a lot of (presumably) firsthand recollections that aren’t direct quotes like “Riesenberg instinctively grabbed onto a rope and was thrown somersaulting from the car” and that sort of thing just irks me in this type of non-fiction. In this case that omnipresent knowledge that it was “instinctive” is obviously from Riesenberg’s autobiography, but it happened so often, and it was jarring each time.

Overall, there were some interesting parts (I had never really given a lot of consideration to how get the hydrogen to fill in a blimp in a remote area before pressurized tanks for transport existed), but it did feel like the story of the /Italia/ crash was the heart of the story, but on it’s own there isn’t enough there for a whole book, so the sections on the /America/ and the /Norge/ feel a bit like page fillers.

If you enjoy learning about early Polar exploration, this will be a good one to pick up. I have read several other books concerning this topic via dogsled or ship travel and then walking in, but this is the first one with air flight via a dirigible.
The writing is matter of fact with excellent research and I truly enjoyed it. I even finished it, and then started it over at the 50% mark just to read it again slower. I tried to get the correct names of the men in relation to what jobs they carried out and what fate beheld them.
This is one of those books that grows on you, getting more invested as you read. The author covers multiple daring vivacious dedicated brave explorers such as Walter Wellman, Umberto Nobile and Roald Amundsen. They truly were adventurers, a sextant for location and a wireless for communication, no GPS or satellite phones. None of our fancy warm outdoor clothing that we have now. Deer hide was the go-to warm fur. Mr. Levy, job well done.
I thank St. Martin’s Press along with NetGalley for providing this Galley edition for no requirement other than my offer to provide an unbiased review. High 5 stars.

This is a book for people with very niche interests, or those who want to expand their knowledge into areas they know little about. For me, as someone who is mostly interested in actual exploration, I was often bored since a large portion of the book is more about the invention of dirigibles and early planes than it is about true exploration, though the two subjects collided often. There just were too many instances of detailed information about flight and flying to keep me interested, too many stories about people flying places other than the North Pole. There also was, in my opinion, way too much time spent on the background of the main characters. It often felt like the author had a decent idea for a book but couldn't figure out how to make it long enough, so he shoved in as much background data and many things only tangentially related to the main story to reach a certain word count. It made the book really drag on and on for me. However, between some of this fluff, there were really interesting sections that shocked me, made me laugh out loud, and kept me eagerly turning the pages. Looking back from this point in time, it seems ridiculous what some of these people tried to do, but they didn't know then what we know now and it added a cool layer to the book.

I received this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting book of men ad machines pushed beyond their limits. A race to see who gets there first and how

This book is a fascinating journey into a time when the age of exploration overlaps with the age of flight. Levy profiles three explorers attempting to use airships to reach the North Pole at the start of the 20th century. I had only heard of one before, Roald Amundsen, but didn’t know the incredible story of his last exploits and the end of his life.

The risks inherent in the arctic seem almost tame compared with the risks of little-tested airship in extreme weather. Levy turns extensive research into fascinating character portraits and page-turning tales.

I never gave much thought to the different ways explorers tried to reach the North Pole, especially not considering exploration by air. This was a historical account of the many attempts, challenges, the successes and the failures. This account strips away all the political biases and the misrepresentations - we learn of them, but they do not sway the narrative. You learn what drives the early explorers, feel the rivalry, and fear for these brave men despite their fates being sealed in the past. The author not only did a great job of narrating the travels in linear time and in an impartial manner, but the included supporting information was just as interesting. This may be a historical account, but it is still edge-of-your-seat excitement/anxiety. I have a new interest in history thanks to Levy!

I wasn't sure this was going to be my kind of book, but it sounded interesting so gave it a try. I was so glad I did!

Levy tells of the attempts of three men who want to reach the North Pole by dirigible. We first learn of Walter Wellman, an American in 1906 who has his balloon outfitted in Europe and leaves for Norway to accomplish dream.

Then Roald Amundsen gives it a try with a larger crew including an Italian Umberto Nobile. At the end of their trip, the two men are at odds and are enemies.

Umberto Nobile decides he wants to do the trip for Italy after being on the Norge. He thinks he has everything handled to win a victory for Italy.

From the time these men were getting their equipment and teams together until the ending was an experience. You felt as if you were in the air or on the ice with these people and their triumphs as well as their failures were felt. You are introduced to their families and what drives these men.
Very good read about a history that I was not aware of and feel better for having read it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

5 stars

American journalist and self-promoting Walter Wellman was the pioneer of dirigible flight to the North Pole. Or, he would have been if he had succeeded in any of his five attempts. Following Wellman’s career, air flight with dirigibles became much more popular. Several countries threw their hats into the competitions to be the first to the Pole.

Next up was a short biography of Roald Amundsen and his accomplishments. He was the first to actually arrive at the North Pole. (Previous explorers claimed that they had made it, but their claims were vastly disputed.) Amundsen was a Norwegian national hero. His story is very interesting and inspiring. Mr. Levy tells the story well.

Following a very nice description of Mr. Wellman and Roald Amundsen and their adventures, the author, Mr. Levy turns his attention to Umberto Nobili.

Mussolini was in power in Italy. Nabili was in the Italian military and specialized in airships. His superior was Mussolini himself. Mussolini rubber stamped a joint expedition with famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen to pilot a dirigible to the North Pole. While they made it, the airship crashed.

He took a ship similar to the crashed one towards the Pole again, however it crashed. It was a horrendous disaster. Seventeen of his crew died. While the survivors waited many weeks for rescue. Nobile and others were badly injured in the crash. Finally rescued by a Russian icebreaker His reputation suffered greatly. His biggest disappointment, however, was how his relationship with Mussolini suffered. Eventually he was to leave his beloved military. He was hated by the Norwegians for while trying to locate the lost Nobile and his team, Roald Amundsen disappeared and was eventually pronounced deceased.

This is a wonderful book. I have read a great number of arctic explorer books, but they were all featured sailing ships. While I knew about the airship explorers, this book is my in-depth introduction to the names of individuals who were prominent in these adventures.
I found the book both interesting and informative. It is very well written; not too technical. Anyone with an interest in airships would be able to read it. Mr. Levy has included a bibliography and a list of other sources for those who would like to further explore the subject. The short biographies were detailed enough to get a sense of the men who braved the journeys.

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

I was stunned. I never expected to read about an Arctic exploration team blessed by the Pope and funded by Mussolini. How did Fascist Italy ever get involved in such an endeavor?

It was their state-of-the-art airship that was the attraction. After a hundred-plus years of sailing into the Arctic and finally reaching the North Pole, men of adventure were looking for the next big thing. The cutting edge technology of air power–airplanes and dirigibles–appeared to be the next vehicle to scientific discovery and fame.

The explorers of the frozen Arctic and Antarctic were the culture heroes of their time, like astronauts were in the early days of the Space Race. Of course, scientific discovery was their tacit reason, but who could deny the attraction of fame and the wealth that came with it, the newsheadlines, the income from speaking engagements and writing articles and books.

The first to use air power was explorer and newspaperman Walter Wellman. After his failure, the first man to reach the South Pole, Roald Amundsen, selected an Italian manufactured airship for his endeavor. The Italian engineer who designed the airship, Umberto Nobile, went along, and when Amundsen failed, Nobile determined to organize his own expedition, which met a most grievous end.

Such hubris! We imagine our science and technology can arm to battle nature’s gales and squalls and ice and freezing temperatures! We risk our lives and are shocked to discover our fate leads to tragedy.

Nobile’s party crashed, were separated. Men died. Hiss failure looked bad for his country and their story was suppressed and lost to time. Plus, Amundsen had flown into the Arctic searching for them, never to be seen again.

Levy again delivers a nail-biting, page-turner of an adventure story from the pages of history that reminds us of our fragility compared to the forces of nature.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Well researched and very well written. It reads like a fictional novel, which i always enjoy in this kind of non fiction book. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

There are no spoiler alerts for historical nonfiction, because duh. Now that we have that out of the way, Buddy Levy’s Realm of Ice and Sky is a fast-paced recounting of airship exploration of the North Pole in the first few decades of the twentieth century and the triumphs and tragedies that came with it. The book has three stories that are different attempts to reach the North Pole, with each successive trip being driven from its predecessor. The first story is about Walter Wellman, an adventurer and journalist who made the first few attempts to reach the North Pole by airship. Not surprisingly, he ran into multiple issues during each of his trips and fell short of 90 degrees north. But his attempts convinced our next protagonist, the much more well known Roald Amundsen that air travel was the way of the future to finding the North Pole. Learning from Wellman’s mistakes and taking advantage of experts and technological advances he made his own journey that would end more successfully in regards to achieving his goals but would create a divisive relationship with his pilot Umberto Nobile that would lead to Nobile captaining his own return trip in an attempt to complete a more comprehensive survey of the Arctic Circle and claim solo glory for himself and Italy with his own airship Italia. Can you guess how that went? If you guess it ends badly then you’re on point as the end of the book is a rescue mission to find the men of Italia, brings Amundsen out of his retirement and will leave people around the world questioning Nobile’s decisions for years to come. The book is engaging, reads quickly and pleasantly, has an interesting postscript about the resurgence of airships in recent years and why people feel like making and utilizing them again has a future. It ties the past and present together in a prescient and relevant way that wraps the book up in a satisfying way for the reader. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.