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.

I love the extreme survival genre so I picked this one up. This is slightly different in that it is a collection of stories about air journeys instead of just a single account. I had never heard of any of these crazy adventures, though, if you read this genre there will be some familiar faces. This is another good edition to the icy peril books. The narrator has a nice voice for the material and this was a enjoyable listen. Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio the the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Though this book had some very sloggish parts, this story is absolutely fascinating and riveting! I had no idea how much a part of life airships actually were, and it was super cool to learn so much about them in one book. The first half is a lot of setting, context, and info, then the latter half is the exploration and rescue story.

The narrator was good! Easy and clear to listen to.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for a copy to read and review honestly and voluntarily.

I've read a fair amount of books about polar exploration but Buddy Levy's "Realm of Ice and Sky" still managed to be a fresh take on the subject for me. The first third of "Realm of Ice and Sky," a section Levy labels "The Pioneer," is devoted to American Walter Wellman and his conviction that airship flights would replace the traditional dogsled expeditions as the most efficient way to explore the polar region. Levy chronicles not only the development of Wellman's innovative airship "America" and his multiple attempts to fly it to the north pole, but also turn-of-the-century politics, the evolution of the press in America, and the Cook/Peary controversy among other things. Wellman was a new name to me but Part Two, "The White Eagle of Norway," follows the exploits of a more famous explorer, Norway's Roald Amundsen. Rather than feeling like a retread of a familiar story, however, Levy's descriptions of his expeditions aboard the "Norge"managed to feel compelling and fresh. And the final section, "The Italia," continued the story of Umberto Nobile, a member of Amundsen's Norge crew who, after a spectacular falling out with his former crewmates, leads his own expedition to the pole aboard the "Italia." This last section, with its Mussolini era politics, triumph-to-tragedy arc and dramatic rescue storyline, was perhaps the most gripping of the book. NOTE: I listened to this selection on audiobook and narrator Will Damron does an excellent job of conveying the often technical information clearly but also with all the emotions of suspense, fear, excitement that the text warrants. I thoroughly enjoyed listening.

Thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this title in return for my honest review.

A genuinely enjoyable look at a part of history I hadn't read as much about. It felt a bit disjointed at first, but came together quickly and was a very interesting and fast paced read.

I am always interested in parts of history that I am unfamiliar with. I can guarantee Buddy Levy is going to do a TON of research, outline the events in complete detail and tell it like a thriller.

Thank you @stmartinspress for my early listening copy of THE REALM OF ICE AND SKY, publishing January 28, 2025.

This book chronicles the story of Arctic exploration via airship. A VERY specific content and historical time period, but super interesting reading!

The book is broken into parts, with great details of the struggles of all men involved in this exploration (along with some false stories discovered along the way!). It chronicles Walter Wellman, Cook & Peary’s problematic voyages, Roald Amundsen, and Umberto Nobile.

A gripping look at three intrepid explorers who set out for arctic reaches during the brief but impressive era of dirigible flight. When reaching the North Pole was to the world what flight the moon became in the middle of the 21st century, it was eventually clear that attempting to make the attempt on the ice was not possible. Flight was the only answer, and before airplanes had been proven, the airship was a barely workable option. And barely workable was enough for men like these to bet it all.

Time and again, on a wing and a prayer, these voyages were begun, and often ended prematurely or in disaster. But Levy uses primary sources, excellent pacing, and a great feel for the human side of these heroics to keep us grounded and connected to the people on the ice. I really enjoyed these treks through stark times, political machinations, and miracle moments.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy. These opinions are my own.

REALM OF ICE AND SKY

And so who discovered the North Pole? Dogsledders Frederick Cook or Richard Peary? Matthew Henson? Richard Byrd in his Fokker airplane? Or was it an airship man? In a dirigible. A blimp. A modified Zeppelin. National honor and bragging rights, a lot of intense competition, the answer isn’t exactly settled.

This was a really terrific nonfiction book set in the early 1900s about the exploration of the polar region by airship. It focused mainly on three people and their attempts to be the first to reach the North Pole. In each case there is a very detailed description of the goals they set, the preparation for their individual trips, and results of these attempts.

Walter Wellman, American journalist with extensive business and political connections, was an early believer that the days of dogsledding to the North Pole were to be replaced by air travel. As Frederick Cook and Robert Peary attempted land exploration, Wellman’s vision of flying over the polar region set the course for future ventures. His background in the news business inspired him to use the De Forest Wireless Telegraph system to report the journey in real time from the Airship America, increasing public interest in his daring polar adventures.

Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen, with his successful prior expeditions to Antarctica, partnered with wealthy American Lincoln Ellsworth to attempt reach the North Pole. Beloved as a Viking hero in his homeland, Amundsen was an explorer at heart. His flight of the airship Norga resulted in historic navigational feats, and some stiff competition with Richard Byrd’s airplane Fokker.

Italian General Umberto Nobile, furthered polar airship exploration under the rule of Mussolini’s facism. National pride fostered competition among the world’s nations to be the first to the North Pole. Nobile’s voyage of the airship Italia resulted in the greatest polar rescue attempt in history.

I love to be amazed by the things that people will do, things that I wouldn’t ever even think to do. To command an airship - a dirigible - a blimp. To be responsible for a crew of many men, and fly over the polar region? Never in a million years.

All amazing stories and terrific to learn about these brave and determined men. Nothing better than learning history told in story form, and this book does it very well. Exciting and tension filled, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I both read and listened to the audiobook version, which was also very good. I would like to thank NetGalley, Buddy Levi, and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Y'all will not catch me at the North Pole, or on an airship. But I adore armchair exploring Earth's frigid places.

This book expanded my knowledge of early polar exploration by leaps and bounds. The bravery of these men is astonishing. I had never heard of the majors player in this story (other than Amundson) and had no idea airships were used in the attempts to reach the North Pole.

While this is a solid and fascinating read (or listen, in this case) for a person like me, I don't think the average reader would be as enthralled. That--along with the subdued narration--brings my rating down to a 3 out of 5. Still completely respectable, but I don't think I can recommend it to everyone, nor will I want to reread it.

If you have the slightest interest in polar exploration, airships, the history of exploration in general, or just want a mind blowing intro to what mankind was doing approximately 100 years ago, by all means pick it up. If even one of these topics bores you, stay far, far away.

Thank you to NetGalley for my audio ARC.

I have a real love for old or even ancient explorers -their bravery, their daring adventure and almost always the horrendous survival situations they end up in. These brave explorers took out into areas never explored before in vehicles like helium filled dirigibles where death was more likely than success. What made them even try?

Did you know they flew dirigibles to the North Pole? Did you know there is a magnetic North Pole and a geographic North Pole and they are in two different places? I learned a lot in this book and it got truly exciting in the last third of of this book. If you enjoy non-fiction exploration adventure books, check out this one. There is a good bit of history without the nail-biiting adventure and death defying "will they make it" ending that the last third provides but I enjoyed learning so much about things I never knew.

My thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Macmillian Audio for an advanced copy of this audio book.

When I saw this book, I knew I had to [request] read it as all my previous reads about arctic exploration have been ship-based and this is about an AIRSHIP [actually several of them when its all said and done] that makes the attempt, and it was completely mind boggling to even think about it. I mean, what could possibly go wrong, right? *grimace*

One of the things that I continue to see in book like this is, while these men were brave, daring, and smarter than I will ever be, they were also incredibly arrogant [beyond the arrogance one would need to do ANY kind of exploration] and selfish. Their inability to see past their own wants and arrogance results in unnecessary danger and quite often death [so. much. death.], and while I love the whole adventure and daring of this [and the others] book, this knowledge always tinges these book with anger and frustration for me.

That said, this was an amazing read [even with the arrogance, I cannot imagine going to the Arctic in any conveyance, much less in a hydrogen-filled {essentially} BALLOON], that was edge-of-your-seat for most of it [I DID get bogged down with some of the technical parts of it], and then you get to the final flight of the book and the crash and the rescue and BOY-HOWDY I dare you to take a breath!!!

If you love history and adventure [tinged with deep sadness, arrogance, and deep, deep, regret], this book [and any book Mr. Levy writes in my humble opinion] is 100% for you. I was captivated from the very beginning and very sad at the end and was left just marveling at all I had just read. Amazing.

Will Damron is one of my top 10 favorite narrators and once again, he does an amazing job, given that there is a lot of technical language, Swedish/Norwegian/Italian names and places, and often tough subject matter [I am not sure how narrators get through scenes like the one where two men have to leave a friend on the ice to die - I was crying my eyes out listening, and I am sure had I had to read it out loud, no one would have been able to understand me!!]. If you are an audiobook listener, this will be a real treat for you. If not, this is an excellent one to start with, especially if very cool history is your jam. Very well done!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Buddy Levy, Will Damron - Narrator, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

**** RELEASES. 1-28-25 ****

OK. So, to be honest, when I started listening I said to myself....what did you get yourself into? There were a lot of statistics and info that I was not really interested in learning about... (such as, other books on the explorers and their excursions...coordinate points, etc... ) This was definitely NOT for me, but for those interested in this subject, I'm sure they would find it very enlightening.

However, the more I read, the more involved I became. The more I was invested in what was happening and who was actually going to be able to claim the Title of being the first to find and claim The North Pole....

And so, we delve into the life and times of several early explorers who traveled via air ship (what???) in the very early 1900's. And as they are talking about flames, gases, candles, etc... I (me...not the book!) was HOLDING MY BREATH!! This sounds like a disaster WAITING to happen!!! =0

And then we learn about the failed attempts of the first explorer (Wellman)...well, in my eyes, they were NOT failed attempts. If he never made them, then maybe we'd never know any better! And he learned a lot on each of his trips.

And then Amundsen, who had the knowledge and experience and wanted to make a name for Norway, but the Italian (Nobile) also wanted to make a name for Italy...and so the fighting and quarrelling began... as it was Amundsen's idea, planning, forethought, experience...etc.

The excursions were full of problems, wonder, and fright...but WOW, what an amazing read. And, what amazing accomplishments these men made. And the info that was gained from their trips! Priceless!!!

And then when Nobile (the Italian) goes off (on his own this time) and decides that he is going to bring all the glory back to Italy... well, the course ahead is not all that it seems...

This one opened my eyes to many things I had no knowledge of, and shed light on so many more. And, at times, it felt like it was taking a piece of my heart along with it...

#RealmOfIceAndSky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History's Greatest Arctic Rescue by #BuddyLevy and narrated beautifully by #WillDamron.

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to be released in a few weeks on **** 1/28/25**** So, look for it then!!!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!

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Thank you to Netgalley for the oportunity to listen to and review this book. Though a long book it does notlet up on decribing the adventures of airship exploration of the arctic ream. The author and narrator have done a great job in describing the dangers of this early exploration, especially in highly flammable hydrogen craft. Wellman, Amundson, and Nobile are explorers with distinct personalities that are often in conflict with each other. How do you prepare for going into the unknown? This story reads like a fast paced fictional adventure. Highly recommended.

What a chilly and thrilling adventure this was! But then again, I’d expect nothing less from author Buddy Levy. If you enjoy polar exploration books, such as Madhouse at the End of the Earth and In The Kingdom of Ice, then you will enjoy stepping off those ships and up onto the next level of exploration that was the Airship.

Follow the earliest attempts to find the North Pole with Walter Wellman, as well as Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen. Having been the first to reach the South Pole, Amundsen was ambitious to match that success yet again. Learn about Italian engineer Umberto Nobile as he finds triumph and tragedy through his flights, all under the watchful eye of Benito Mussolini.

This book tells of the fame, the rivalries and that ever pressing drive to be the first that motivated men to put their lives at risk for glory. Another great story from Mr. Levy!

A special Thank You to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advanced copy, via audiobook, in exchange for a review.

3.5 stars

Another exceptionally researched and written book about polar exploration by this author. I absolutely adored his last one.

This one takes readers into the history of aeronauts from the early 20th century and their quests to conquer the north pole. This was all new information for me, and it was fascinating. It was also incredibly dangerous, which had me shaking my head and wondering how these explorers are able to do what they do.
#RealmOfIceAndSky
This book follows three prominent aeronauts in particular and their accomplishments. Their stories were varied, and I found the last one by far the best. The book read more like three short stories to me, with the first two interesting but lacking in jawdropping polar adventure. For this, it lost some points.

The audio narration was good. A nonfiction worth the listen if you enjoy polar exploration stories.

Thank you, #NetGalley and #MacMillanAudio for an advanced audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

During the race for the artic, there were many brave men that tried to make the trip. However, one decided to try it with an airship. There was the thought that the airship would make the trip safer, and much faster.
Instead, there were accidents. Lots of accidents. While the ultimate goal was the artic, they met instead with death, starvation, and the brutal cold. There were no guarantees of survival or rescue. As the world waited with baited breath, the men stranded did their best to keep their spirits high, and maintain as much of their physical health as possible.

Oh my goodness, I absolutely LOVED this book. It was so very hard to put down. You could almost feel the bitter cold as the author talks through what the conditions were like. This book was hands down, one of the best that I read this year.
I had both the print and the audio version from the publisher and NetGalley. I enjoyed the print version, but the audio version really brought this one home. Being able to close my eyes, and let my mind play through the series of events that led to the unfortunate events.

Put this book on the list of books to read, because this will not disappoint! Buddy Levy never lets the reader down, and this book was no exception. Prepare for one of the best adventures yet!

A really solid book about events that I didn't know much about. It was interesting to hear about the airships and their exploits (or attempted exploits) in one of the harshest environments on Earth. The bravery of those men deserve to be recognized.

An outstanding account of polar explorers attempting to use airships to reach the North Pole that reads like fiction.

This is an excellent example of how wildly entertaining narrative nonfiction can be when it’s well told. I’ve long been fascinated by both polar exploration and air ships, and the combination of the two felt like a sure winner.

But we have to credit Levy for writing a rollicking, intense account of these events, which can and have in the past felt quite banal in the telling if the wrong person is in charge of the material.

Levy covers multiple air ship voyages to the Arctic here, culminating in Captain Nobile’s disastrous trip, which ended in tragedy and resulted in multiple deaths, most notably that of Amundsen, who disappeared while trying to rescue his rival and was never seen again.

Though this topic was of particular interest to me, I’m now very sold on Levy as an excellent chronicler of narrative nonfiction, and look forward to his next offering, no matter the subject.