The age of exploration was drawing to a close yet the mystery of the North Pole remained Contemporaries described the pole as the unattainable object of our dreams' & the urge to fill in this last great blank space on the map grew irresistible In 1879 the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to cheering crowds & amid a frenzy of publicity The ship & its crew captained by the heroic George De Long were destined for the uncharted waters of the Arctic But it wasn't long before the Jeannette was trapped in crushing pack ice Amid the rush of water & the shrieks of breaking wooden boards the crew found themselves marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies facing a seemingly impossible trek across endless ice Battling everything from snow blindness & polar bears to ferocious storms & frosty labyrinths the expedition fought madness & starvation as they desperately strove for survival