""We did not all come back." Thus begins this firsthand account of the ordeal of the Karluk, the flagship of explorer Vilhjalmar Stefansson's Arctic expedition of 1913-1916. When ice trapped the Karluk, Stefansson abandoned Captain Robert A. Bartlett (1875-1946) and the crew - eleven of whom perished - to their fate.".

"Bartlett, the greatest ice captain who ever lived, commanded the Roosevelt on Robert E. Peary's last two attempts to conquer the North Pole; pioneered the trail over rough ice that brought Peary to within 150 miles of his goal; and was the last white man Peary sent back before his final dash to the Pole. When the ice crushed the Karluk and sank her, Bartlett led the ship-wrecked survivors safely to Wrangell Island.

From there, with one Inuit companion, he journeyed across 700 miles of frozen seas and Siberian wilderness to return with rescuers. It is a feat that rivals Shackleton's own celebrated efforts to seek help for the crew of the Endurance."--BOOK JACKET.