A profile of Hubert Wilkins chronicles the seminal contributions of the accomplished journalist, pilot, war hero, scientist, spy, and adventurer, especially in terms of his achievements in the field of polar exploration, the use of new technologies--including the submarine and airplane--and the role of the poles in changes in global weather and climate. Unlike such famous explorers as Amundsen, Peary, Scott, and Shackleton, Sir Hubert Wilkins is little known. Nasht has now brought Wilkins' exploits to readers' attention with this book. He writes that Wilkins began his exploration by sledging thousands of miles across ice and slogging for years on foot through the deserts and tropics. He was the first to grasp the potential of discovery from the air and by submarine and, in 1928, completed a map of the world in eight months of flying. In August 1931, aboard the submarine Nautilus, Wilkens and his crew were the first to dive into the Arctic Ocean. He was the first to fly across the North Pole, resulting in a knighthood; the first to fly to the Antarctic; and the first to discover land by plane. Wilkins, a scientist, was the first to understand the link between the pole and changing global weather. Anyone interested in the history of polar exploration will want to read this book. George Cohen Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Simon Nasht's thoroughly captivating account of the exploits of Hubert Wilkins makes for an exhilarating edge-of-your-seat read." -- John Berendt "Wilkins Flies From Alaska To Spitzenbergen In 20-1/2 Hours; Covers Polar Seas In Tiny Plane And Finds No Land; Isolated Five Days On Uninhabited Island Near Goal --New York Times banner headlines, Sunday, April 22, 1928 Praise for Hubert Wilkins "The greatest flight in history . . . An amazing victory of human determination amounting to genius . . . Captain Wilkins has done what few men of his generation have been permitted to do: he has changed the face of the known world." --New York Times "No flight has been made anywhere, at any time, which could be compared with it." --Roald Amundsen "Not since Balboa stood on a peak in Darien and saw for the first time the broad Pacific has so significant a new view of the world been spread before human eyes as when Wilkins flew across the unexplored Arctic." --Lord Avery, British Colonial Secretary "A deciding moment in Arctic aviation . . . [and] a decisive moment in oceanography." --Admiral Richard Byrd and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, about Wilkins's landing on the polar ice cap to take depth measurements of the Arctic Ocean Simon Nasht is a veteran correspondent for newspapers and television and an award-winning documentary producer, writer, and director. He lives in Australia and is at work on a new book. Used Book in Good Condition