Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.Sample Book Insights: #1 The Italian airship Italia crashed into the ice in 1928, and the crew members survived by huddling on the ice. They were never seen again.#2 The Norwegian government was planning a rescue expedition, but Mussolini refused all assistance from Norway. The French government approved the use of a Latham twin-engine biplane equipped with pontoons, and a crew, to be put under Amundsen’s command.#3 Amundsen was the most famous Norwegian explorer, and he was the most famous living explorer in the world in the early twentieth century. He was a skillful publicity seeker who made the rounds of the lecture circuit telling hair-raising tales of his death-defying adventures and geographical conquests.#4 Amundsen was not a cold and austere man. He was a supreme man of action, and he sold excitement and adventure to the public. He was a towering public figure during the early twentieth century.