The North West Passage by Roald Amundsen is the well written and sometimes dramatic story about the “Gjöa Expedition”, led by Amundsen himself during the years 1903-1907.
This fine work was published after his successful return and it is richly illustrated with maps and high-quality photographs, considering the time. The expedition was sometimes quite dramatic, and only sheer luck separated survival from total catastrophe:
“In the pitch-dark night, which luckily was perfectly calm, a mighty flame, with thick suffocating smoke was leaping up from the engine-room skylight. A fire had broken out in the engine-room, right among the tanks holding 2,200 gallons of petroleum. We all knew what would happen if the tanks got heated: the “Gjöa” and everything on board would be blown to atoms like an exploded bomb. We all flew in frantic haste.”
The expedition was spectacular since it was the first time man navigated The North West Passage – the northern link between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. At the time, the passage was only partly open for short periods in the summer, making the voyage very difficult and the risk of getting stuck in ice was imminent.
Today, though, due to climate changes, the passage is increasingly open for commercial traffic and it has the potential to disrupt global sea transport.
The objective of the expedition was met, but the Norwegian Roald Amundsen was disappointed that he was not able to reach the magnetic north pole, which also was a goal of the journey.
Download The North West Passage PDF here in full length (349 pages/10MB):