Guttridge, Leonard F. Icebound; the Jeannette Expedition's quest for the North Pole.

Berkley. 328p. illus. references. index. c1986. 0-425-18178-2. $14.95. SA

The story of the "quest" for the North Pole has been told before and will undoubtedly be told again, but to capture the desolation of the scenery, the isolation of the men, and above all the bone-chilling cold, in the way Guttridge does, captures the reader's attention even before the Jeannette Expedition leaves San Francisco. In 1879 there were more theories than facts about exactly what could be found north of the Bering Strait. Could there be a continent up there, and a civilization, with strange people and animals? The Jeannette had been thoroughly fitted out for a polar expedition, at great cost of time and money. She would be under military discipline, although only the officers were actually military people. George Washington De Long, a 12-year navy veteran, had had some experience in Arctic waters, and was practically obsessed with finding a passage to the North Pole.

Political troubles added to the Jeannette's woes. James Gordon Bennett, owner of the New York Herald, was the promoter and financial backer of the trip. He had legal troubles that kept him abroad, and political troubles that forced him to deceive De Long concerning the support of the Navy Department for the expedition. That led to another unfortunate miscalculation--a Russian ship was lost somewhere around the Siberian coast, and the Jeannette was ordered to search for her. By the time the Jeannette completed her search, and found that the Russian had appeared safely in July, it was September. The Navy Department had refused the Jeannette's request for an escort ship to carry extra coal. That meant that once her coal was used up, there would be no more. When it was half-used, they would have to turn back. The weather was not cooperative, and by October the Jeannette was encased in ice. The swelling ice cracked even the reinforced sides of the ship, and water began to appear everywhere. As the new year passed, the light returned, and the temperature crept above freezing, but the ice remained four feet thick or more. During the summer, the ship and her ice flow began to drift. They made little progress, and as winter approached the floe was again stuck fast. The Jeannette would face another winter in the ice, and the men would have to prepare to abandon her should her cracks prove fatal. The crew took to the ice with boats, sledges, dogs, and whatever supplies they could carry, and they gradually made their way to the open sea and then to Siberia.

There is no happy ending. De Long and several men died in Siberia, and two of the survivors killed themselves much later. The book, while basically fascinating and beautifully written, is hard going. The situations are so often desperate; even the good times seem forced, and we know the ending. The exploration itself was scientifically useful, but for a non-scientist reader, the question remains, "Was it worth it?" Recommended for history buffs who don't mind difficult reading. Judith H. Silverman, Chevy Chase, MD