Traces the author's family's eight thousand five hundred mile voyage along the dangerous Northwest Passage, describing the divorce-related mistrust and the formidable environmental factors that posed constant threats.

In 1969, an icebreaking tanker, the SS Manhattan, was commissioned by Humble Oil to transit the Northwest Passage in order to test the logistical and economic feasibility of an all-marine transportation system for Alaska North Slope crude oil. Proposed as an alternative to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, the Manhattan made two voyages to the North American Arctic and collected volumes of scientific data on ice conditions and the behavior of ships in ice. Although the Manhattan successfully navigated the Northwest Passage—closing a five-hundred-year chapter of Arctic exploration by becoming the first commercial vessel to do so—the expedition ultimately demonstrated the impracticality of moving crude oil using icebreaking ships. Breaking Ice for Arctic Oil details this historic voyage, establishing its significant impact on the future of marine traffic and resource development in the Arctic and setting the stage for the current oil crisis.

A dramatic Arctic adventure set during Sir John Franklin's doomed search for the Northwest Passage George Chambers is a fourteen-year-old aboard HMS Erebus, one of two ships under the command of Sir John Franklin on his quest to discover the Northwest Passage. But when the Erebus and Terror are trapped in crushing ice, 129 men of the crew die from cold, scurvy, and starvation. Only two remain alive when George begins to recount his story: himself and Commander James Fitzjames. As his strength dwindles and starvation weakens him, George recalls the events that led him to Canada's desolate North, and the expedition's failure -- including gravediggers, a close call with a polar bear, standing up against sailors threatening mutiny, and his own impending death. George does not know whether the story he tells will be all that survives of Franklin's doomed Arctic expedition.

We've been meeting bears in the wilderness, and in our dreams, since the dawn of human history. Celebrated in art and myth since we began drawing on the walls of caves, they cast a long shadow over our collective subconscious. Wherever bears endure, they are an indicator of the health of their ecosystem. Their decline-some to the edge of extinction-foretells a bigger story: that of our planet's peril. In a series of remarkable journeys, Brian Payton travels the world in search of the eight remaining bear species. Along the way, he confronts poachers in the jungles of Cambodia, witnesses the cruelty of the bear bile trade in China, and delves into the politics of panda sex. From the reclusive spectacled bears of Peru to the man-eating sloth bears of India, Payton captures the power and beauty of these fascinating creatures while exploring their unique place within very different cultures. Vivid characters, exotic landscapes, and deft storytelling make for an unforgettable trek down the braided path of bear and human history.

When Wanda Broach-Butts and her husband Ted were asked to take in a foster child-a 14-year-old named Aaron, being held in jail on shoplifting charges-they were ambivalent about saying yes. They had already raised four foster youth and had given back as much as they could. They wanted to enjoy each other in retirement with no distractions, perhaps even live out their dream of relocating to a Caribbean island. But if they didn't accept the teenager into their home, the agency said there was a good chance no one would, so Wanda and Ted said yes. They were told little about Aaron's family history, but that had been the case with every young person they took in. They saw hints of the past in their habits and behaviors-just the tip of the iceberg, without really knowing what lay beneath. Yet this had never been a concern before, and besides, Aaron would be their last foster child. The Ice Underneath is an unsparing account of Wanda's passage through an unfathomable tragedy that tested, to the breaking point, her profound Christian faith. With introspective courage, she relentlessly examined and questioned what she thought she believed about herself, and found strength in her family's complex history of loss and redemption. This memoir is a testament not only to our capacity to endure the unimaginable, but to emerge from it with greater resilience and spiritual fortitude than we thought possible.

"Kiwi yachtsman Graeme Kendall was the first person to sail the Northwest Passage solo non-stop. Sailing east to west, he knocked off the "Everest of sailing" in just 12 days - the fastest recorded - as part of his extraordinary solo circumnavigation of the globe. This is a story of determination, meticulous planning and rugged courage. All alone for 193 days in his purpose-built yacht Astral Express, Kendall crossed 28,000 miles of ocean, facing some of the Earth's most terrifying seas. An enthralling adventure, To The Ice And Beyond will inspire you to live your dreams, and to never give up."--Jacket.

Frozen Passage, a lighthearted story of a time-traveling pirate ship, follows a salty old sea captain and his crew of ancient mariners across a frozen field of ice 400 years into the future and a new world. What happens when pirates from the 16th century take a disabled cruise ship? Will the Coast Guard or Navy capture our tall ship or will the captain sail to Cuba? And what about the treasure? But beware, because as the two worlds are brought together, one man's everyday experiences become another man's witchcraft, even as a love story threads its way across time and space, overcoming social and cultural suspicion.