For most of his life, an explorer fought to conquer the North Pole

On March 1, 1909, only 413 miles of treacherous ice separated Robert E. Peary from realizing his lifelong dream of becoming the first man to set foot on the North Pole. On that dark morning on Canada's Ellesmere Island, it was cold enough to freeze a bottle of brandy. Though appearing solid, the ice sat atop seawater, and shifted violently according to the whims of the ocean below. Peary was used to the conditions-he'd barely survived them just three years before when he first tried, and failed, to reach the earth's northernmost point. But this time around, no amount of peril could dissuade Peary and his party from their attempt. He cried "Forward, march!" and the journey of a lifetime began.

Written with thrilling detail and heart-pounding suspense, Peary to the Pole is the definitive account of one man's trek through some of the world's most treacherous terrain, in search of adventure, discovery, and immortality.

Walter Lord (1917-2002) was an acclaimed and bestselling author of literary nonfiction best known for his gripping and meticulously researched accounts of watershed historical events. Born in Baltimore, Lord went to work for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. After the war's end, Lord joined a New York advertising firm, and began writing nonfiction in his spare time. His first book was The Fremantle Diary (1954), a volume of Civil War diaries that became a surprising success. But it was Lord's next book, A Night to Remember (1955), that made him famous. The bestseller caused a new flurry of interest in the Titanic and inspired the 1958 film of the same name. Lord went on to use the book's interview-heavy format as a template for most of his following works, which included detailed reconstructions of the Pearl Harbor attack in Day of Infamy (1957), the battle of Midway in Incredible Victory (1967), and the integration of the University of Mississippi in The Past That Would Not Die (1965). In all, he published a dozen books.