Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars | 463 ratings

Price: 17.71

Last update: 02-03-2025


About this item

"...Damron's able narration carries listeners through this arduous journey with a steady tone that lightens at moments of joy and becomes grave at times of deep sadness and loss. While the tale has all of the trappings of a great adventure novel, neither the author nor Damron let listeners forget that the toll here was real, human, and significant."- Booklist

"Will Damron sweeps listeners onto the Arctic ice with the shipwrecked crew of the Canadian KARLUK."- AudioFile

The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it.

In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame.

Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her. As the ship became icebound, Stefansson disembarked with five companions and struck out on what he claimed was a 10-day caribou hunting trip. Most on board would never see him again.

Twenty-two men and an Inuit woman with two small daughters now stood on a mile-square ice floe, their ship and their original leader gone. Under Bartlett’s leadership they built make-shift shelters, surviving the freezing darkness of Polar night. Captain Bartlett now made a difficult and courageous decision. He would take one of the young Inuit hunters and attempt a 1000-mile journey to save the shipwrecked survivors. It was their only hope.

Set against the backdrop of the Titanic disaster and World War I, filled with heroism, tragedy, and scientific discovery, Buddy Levy's Empire of Ice and Stone tells the story of two men and two distinctively different brands of leadership: one selfless, one self-serving, and how they would forever be bound by one of the most audacious and disastrous expeditions in polar history, considered the last great voyage of The Heroic Age of Discovery.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Madqdog
    5.0 out of 5 stars Keep Your Computer Close By
    Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2024
    After reading Hampton Sides' "In the Kingdom of Ice... " years ago, I felt sure that no other non-fiction could ever approach the misery endured by the brave crew of the USS Jeanette. Not so. Enter the Karluk and Buddy Levy's excellent Empire of Ice and Stone. Both tomes are outstanding, and while Side's effort produces a more readable... dare we say "entertaining"... volume, Levy's work is denser and more akin to what a graduate student in arctic history might encounter. Both are filled with incredible feats of survival, heroism, survival, and sadness. SPOILER ALERT: Empire especially becomes clear that it is a work of nonfiction, for the villain in his lifetime is not exposed as such (to the general public). At the same time, the hero succumbs to the isolation brought by alcoholism.

    This is an excellent volume of Arctic history. That survival in such an environment over many months can and does occur is a testament to how tough man... and the will to live... may be. And that a woman is a key contributor to the survival, and is among the toughest of these brave souls, comes as no surprise.

    Here's a tip: The map at the beginning is helpful, but the territory covered is vast. Accessing a computer to find names of places not found on the included map is of immense help in following both the voyage and the trek.

    Empire of Ice and Stone is highly recommended.
  • Serena
    5.0 out of 5 stars Spectacular and Tragic Adventure
    Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2023
    I listened to the audio version over two long one day trips. The narrator is superb. This is a spectacular story of a ship stuck and sinking in the ice on what is supposed to be a scientific expedition in the Bering Sea. Almost on a par with Shackleton's story in the Antarctic.

    The leader of the expedition was a world class jerk, but the captain and much of the crew he hired was the best of the best. Otherwise most of what he did was a disaster.

    We liked the tale on audio book so much we also ordered the book. The book has pictures that the audio version can't have.

    What a story!
  • Liz Rascher
    4.0 out of 5 stars Amazon recommended this
    Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2023
    I ordered this for my husband for Christmas because Amazon recommended it and it sounded like something he’d be interested in. He enjoyed it and rushed to finish it so he could lend it to his dad, and when his dad finished it he passed it along to another relative. I didn’t read it but based on what my husband said it was an interesting story and fairly well written.
  • Capt Jack
    5.0 out of 5 stars Empire and Greely were incredible. Frosted nuts!!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2024
    Went 100 miles north of Barrow and never found ice in 1957. ?? Global warming in 1957?? Two Coast Guard ships went all the way over the top that year but did get stuck for a month. They were the Storis and Bramble. I was on the 255 ft Wachusett and might have joined then but Navy patrols kept calling us to go back to St Lawrence island for Russian subs. They were still going ashore snooping at the Navy P2V aircraft 2 Migs shot down in 1955. They all survived. How can I communicate with Buddy? I am 90 with 2 tin cans and a string and going sailing today!!
  • Danny
    5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
    Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2024
    An amazing story very well told by the author.
  • Panamint
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2024
    All of Buddy Levy's books are fantastic. This one is no exception. Gripping heroic incredible TRUE stories. Read this and any other of his books. You'll be well rewarded!
  • Topaz
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2024
    thanks
  • Michael J. Thorp
    4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story of real heroism
    Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023
    Great,true story about a truly harrowing adventure in the ice. Reinforces my belief that you cannot make up stories that are better than what really happened.

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