Realm of Ice and Sky delivers exactly what the subtitle promises: triumph, tragedy, and an Arctic rescue that feels stranger than fiction. Buddy Levy is clearly fascinated by the audacity of early polar explorers, especially those who tried to fly there by airship—giant, floating vessels that now feel like relics from an alternate timeline. The book traces the attempts of Walter Wellman, Roald Amundsen, and Umberto Nobile, with a focus on Nobile’s doomed Italia mission and the massive, chaotic rescue operation that followed.

There’s a lot to admire here. Levy has a strong eye for drama, especially in the sections where everything starts to go wrong. The aftermath of the crash is gripping, and the details about international rescue efforts—some heroic, some absurd—are genuinely fascinating. The book does a solid job showing just how much ego, nationalism, and personal rivalry shaped these expeditions.

But as compelling as the subject matter is, the pacing is uneven. The first half moves slowly, bogged down by repetitive trial-and-error narratives that feel more technical than emotionally engaging. Levy’s prose leans toward the factual, and while that works in sections, it doesn’t always bring the people to life. You get a sense of what these men did, but not always how it felt to be them—cold, alone, desperate, or defiant.

There’s also a missed opportunity in how the story frames its cast. The central figures—especially Nobile and Amundsen—are well developed, but the book pays far less attention to supporting crew, indigenous contributors, or lesser-known rescuers. For a story about collective survival, the lens often stays locked on the headline names.

Still, Realm of Ice and Sky succeeds as an accessible introduction to a strange, often forgotten moment in exploration history. If you’re patient through the slower chapters, there’s real tension and payoff by the end. Just don’t expect emotional depth to match the scale of the spectacle.

Great read full of wonderful information! Shared with my fiance and he loved it too! It was a good book for discussion between the two of us!

Swamp summer has begun so I’m hiding inside and pretending it’s cold with Buddy Levy’s polar micro history Realm of Ice and Sky. It traces the journey of 3 men and their impact of polar exploration and airship travel.
I appreciate the recommendations for other books on the subject. This acknowledges Levy is but one voice gathering history. It has a level of humility not displayed by some of our polar explorers. (Seriously, the pettiness is staggering.)
There were several times when I was reminded of how much knowledge we’ve gained in the last 100+ years. During these expeditions, they didn’t yet know there is no land under polar ice or what caused scurvy.*
Aviation was in its infancy. Airships were safer and more reliable than planes.
Exploration was also incredibly dangerous and frequently fatal. One of our successful explorers, Amundsen, was told “You’re supposed to be dead.” There was no tiny emergency beacon to get airlifted out. You saved yourself as best you could and hoped you ran across help.
The rise of 20th century fascism makes an appearance with the Italian explorer. It’s depressing to see but at least they called it what it was. It was almost refreshing to see people who know the difference between fascism, socialism, and communism. The ending reminds us of the true loyalties of fascism. It is narcissism as government.
Exploration and academia is drought with money and politics. We see this throughout as national loyalties impact choices made on crews, ship names, and financing. It was only peril and rescue that caused any mass unity, however brief.
If you’re curious but don’t want the commitment of the full book, the epilogue is a decent summary. The postscript is a fascinating look into the present and future of airship. They’re experiencing a renaissance. Who would have thunk?
If you’re into airships or the history of polar exploration, this deep dive is for you. It’s a very detailed look into a specific niche. That’s not for everyone. I don’t know if I’d have sought it out if it hadn’t been given to me but I liked it. Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s press. 4/5

* Random fun fact - Tang was an astronaut’s drink to help prevent scurvy on long missions

THE REALM OF ICE AND SKY

BY BUDDY LEVY




The world of geographic exploration at it's best! Mr. Levy chooses just the right words to carry us through the high and low points of Arctic travel by men of superior strength and desire to become the first to visit The North Pole.
With previous ventures unsuccessful these explorers ponder new ways to achieve their goal. From the initial planning, through securing financing, to the actual trials of the journey each becomes a thrilling and captivating saga.
My initial interest grew and grew even deeper as I progressed from page to page. Real people working with real people to add to the understanding of the world yet unknown.
This one will be added to my Most Favorite List!


5 Stars



Spencer Birt

Thank you for approving me for this title. After some thought, I’ve realized it’s not quite the right fit for me personally, so I won’t be able to provide a full review. I appreciate the opportunity to access it and wish the book great success.

Just as David McCullough is a favorite historian of mine for American history, Buddy Levy has become a favorite for the history of exploration. His stories bring the various personalities involved to life and provide great background information that creates a richer experience. I've never hard the slightest bit of interest in polar exploration, yet "Realm of Ice and Sky" and "Empire of Ice and Stone" are two highly engaging stories that I truly enjoyed reading.

If you enjoy books that bring history to life, you won't want to miss "Realm of Ice and Sky" and the international fervor it covers.

Thank you to Buddy Levy, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy provided for an honest review.

I’m fascinated with exploration of the poles from horror stories of voyages through the Northwest passage to stories of trials and tribulations in the Arctic and Antarctic, so when I saw this nonfiction book chronicling polar exploration by airship, I had to try it despite having no clue about airships.

This book chronicles airship exploration fails and successes in the early 1900s following three main explorers over the course of the book including American innovator Walter Wellman, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, and Italian aeronautical engineer Umberto Nobile. Not only were these missions fraught with dangers from the environment and the airship itself, they were filled with various political tensions, feuds and tons of rivalry for bragging rights.

While I admit that I got a little lost during the descriptions of the airship components and the mechanisms of flight, I thoroughly enjoyed the stories of the various excursions and how the explorers handled the many mishaps that occurred along the way. The adventure portions of this story were both suspenseful and exhilarating. I primarily listed to the audiobook for this read and followed along with the ebook at times.

This is my second listen from narrator Will Damron and did not disappoint. His narration with January LaVoy for Listen for the Lie was my favorite audiobook of 2024. Here he details the technical aspects of the airships in a mild manner and kept me on the edge of my seat for the travails of arctic exploration and the dangers encountered by the adventurers. I will definitely add this author’s other nonfiction adventure books to my backlist reads and since I’ve already noticed a few are narrated by Will Damron, I will probably listen to the audiobooks.

Recommended to those who enjoy reading about real life adventures, arctic exploration and history.

Before you could book your ticket on an Arctic cruise and participate in a polar plunge, there was a race to the North Pole. This book chronicles the attempts to reach the North Pole by explorers Wellman, Cook, Amundsen and Nobile.

This is an interesting look the attempts via airships to reach the North Pole. I liked the history, but the slow pace and detail felt heavy in the beginning. I enjoyed the second half that focused more on the actual exploration and subsequent rescue mission more. Overall a good read for those interested in this niche subject.

I am a bit biased as I love an Arctic adventure, but this story was very well written and so interesting. I think it had a perfect balance of being informative and engaging as narrative nonfiction should. I will definitely look for more to read by Levy.

Reading stories like this one are why books are written. It gives us the spirit and drive to try new things, risk the unknown, and keep searching for answers. Well researched, well written, and fascinating. There are stretches of the book that are tough to slog through, like the ice and snow, but well worth the pursuit.

Thank you for taking us on the journey of these brave arctic explorers.

The pacing of both Buddy Levy books I've read are simply amazing. One of the notes I find myself making when reading this is the ability he has in taking real life events and telling their story that almost seems a fantastical work of fiction. Buddy Levy is truly an artist when it comes to this ability.

If I were to sit down and simply read text books and other supporting documents which Levy does include in his references at the end of these, I feel I would still enjoy the details but wouldn't not feel nearly as entertained while absorbing the information.

The worldbuilding is always difficult for me to try and score when we are talking about real life events. This is the world we live in, just a different time within our world. I suppose this goes back to how Levy paints the picture for us. Getting the feeling of how dangerous the arctic is still today, let alone in the late 1800's and early 1900's. This was a story that had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next to the various crews covered in this book.

Again, character development is difficult to score when looking at non-fiction. I will say though we get to know a lot about many of these adventurers and from the sounds of things some of these men kind of got lost over the years as they are more well known for other things and the fact they tried to be the firsts to make these kinds of trips to the north pole didn't stand the test of time. Beyond that we seem to get to know more about what these men were like leading up to and after these events which to me was great!

In the end this was another homerun by Buddy Levy in my book. I really need to look into some more of his works. As I mentioned I love the fact that he includes footnotes throughout the book as well as an extensive list of references used to put his stories together. At the end of this one he even discusses his own trip made to some of these locations to gather further information on these men. That seems like such an amazing adventure of its own.

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue is about polar expolartion by way of airship and the men who gave up everything to make history. The book had me captivated from the beginning. It was well written and the author did a great job researching this one. All of this was new information for me and I am glad to read and learn about this. Overall, this was a enjoyable read and a look at history that I hadn't know about before. I would recommend this one to any reader who enjoys non fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this one in exchange of my honest review of Realm of Ice and Sky by Buddy Levy.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read and review Realm of Ice and Sky - Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue by Buddy Levy on NetGalley.

Published: 01/28/25
Stars: 4

Do you have a particular interest? Mine is the arctic. Realm of Ice and Sky is as described in the synopsis. This doesn't disappoint from an arctic enthusiast perspective. I have never studied formally.

I enjoyed the book, took my time and explored through the eyes of a fan of those with dreams I'm incapable of having.

I would recommend this to nonfiction readers and would gift to them as well.

3 out of 5 stars

I keep going into books expecting one thing and getting something completely different in return. Of course, this is no fault of the books, and I try to keep this in mind as I write my review. However, this book falls into this category and not in a positive way.

Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue provides a narrative tale of Walter Wellman, Roald Amundsen, and Umberto Nobile and their quests to fly in airships to the mostly unexplored North Pole in the early twentieth century. Wellman longed to be the first person to reach the North Pole, Amundsen wanted to advance polar exploration through air travel, and Nobile wanted to use the Arctic for scientific studies under the Italian flag. Buddy Levy goes into great detail covering each flight, the dirigibles the men flew in, the people involved, and the response the flights received.

Although Realm of Ice and Sky has exciting moments of challenging airship expeditions, they are drowned out by pages upon pages of dull details about the building of dirigibles and keeping them intact in the sky for long journeys with heavy loads. These descriptions make getting through this book a challenge. Along with that information, it became hard to keep track of the large number of people introduced in the narrative. Many people came and went and they all jumbled together without standing out amongst the group. However, even with the abundance of information, the book is well-written and contains a wealth of information. The detail, although overdone, provides context to the time and the men who sought fame and adventure in the North Pole.

Overall, I would say this book is fine. It contains a lot of interesting information and has exciting moments. However, it just is not to my taste. This book is great if you enjoy narrative history and are interested in the inner workings of airships. I do not need a play-by-play of the interpreted thoughts of historical people and events. I long for a smidgen of analysis, but this is not the genre for that. So, definitely pick up this book if you want to read an over-detailed narrative about an exciting time in history.

I have never read a Levy book before, but this was a bit dry for my liking. We also know that dirigible exploration did not grow to success as did the airplane. So he started with one strike against him, and then the explorers were faced with near-impossible odds and many difficulties. For me, every book of this genre gets compared to Endurance by Alfred Lansing. Few grueling and near-death explorations compare to that story or the excellent writing. I did enjoy more details about Roald Amundsen included in Realm.

It was a part of the polar exploration era that I didn’t know about. In that sense it was interesting and new. But I suppose it didn’t resonate with me because I didn’t connect it with larger issues.

Buddy Levy does a masterful job in telling the story of exploration to the Arctic by air. It’s the perfect history book that’s appealing to both Historians and history lovers. The prose is never dry and the topic is covered in detail.

I’m definitely going to reading more from Levy and on the topic of airship exploration.

Wow, this is well done. Buddy Levy has done a fantastic job bringing to life the air exploration of the arctic. Some of this I knew, some was new. Thank you for allowing me to tag along on the adventure.

Realm of Ice and Sky is a thrilling narrative of polar exploration via of airship and the men who sacrificed everything to make history:
Walter Wellman pioneered polar and trans-Atlantic airship aviation making history’s first attempt.
1908 American explorer Dr Frederick Cook first to claim he made it to the North Pole.
1909 American Robert Peary made it to the North Pole.
1926 Amundsen and Norge flew over the North Pole.
1928 Nobile returned but the journey ended in disaster.
If you like thrilling books, then you will love this book. Highly recommended!

Arctic exploration entered a new phase with the invention of the airplane and airship. Walter Wellman, Roald Amundsen, and Umberto Nobile, were three of these early pioneers. Wellman, an American newsman, made the first attempts at the pole. Roald Amundsen, the first to the South Pole, picked up where Wellman left off. Among his crew was Italian Umberto Nobile. After crossing the North Pole and flying on to Alaska, Amundsen and Nobile had a falling out. Two years later, Nobile returned to the arctic. His journey ended in a crash, injury, and international rescue attempts.

This book really brought history to life. The characters were dynamic, well written, and extremely relatable. The story was well paced, engaging and hard to put down. I look forward to reading more from this author. He is a true storyteller!