eBook North Pole Legacy: Black, White Eskimo download

This is an amzing current day historical account given by Dr Counter on his childhood hero Matthew Henson's and Robert Peary's North Pole discovery and the legacy they left.

I'm glad Professor Colter researched and published his findings. This is once again lost history that needs to be told. The product arrived on time and in excellent condition.

I was stationed far north of the artic circle twice on remote sites. Sorry I did not have a camera ro ewcoed my stay. This was 50-60 years ago.

Not worth the effort - there are lots better books about the Arctic out there. Basically of interest to the people involved.

I am deeply saddened by the fact that there's only 5 reviews for this wonderful book (all editions). It recounts the wonderful story of Harvard Professor Allen Counter's attempts to both bring Henson & Peary's Greenland Inuit relatives to America and to bring some MUCH overdue recognition & respect to the man without whom Peary probably would never have made it to the pole, Matthew Alexander Henson. It does not go into great detail about P & H's polar journeys, because that is not what the book is about. If you want detailed accounts of the grueling realities of Polar Exploration, look elsewhere. But if you're interested in the grueling realities of a great African-American man who has been shamefully ignored, and extremely moving accounts of the huge difficulties of bringing a large group of Greenland Inuit to the United States to visit their ancestors' graves and meet relatives, this is a wonderful book.

I repeatedly encounter (in the few places that books on Arctic Exploration even mention Henson) statements to the effect that he couldn't read, couldn't write, couldn't navigate, along with offhand declarations that his book, "A [African-American] Explorer at the North Pole*," was ghostwritten (generally the authors don't even bother to explain this claim, apparently leaving it as obvious that Henson --an African American man-- couldn't possibly write a book, let alone a good one). Drives me nuts. Counter presents evidence to the contrary as well as arguments that these claims are products of pernicious racism, but I sort of wished he'd gone farther. Perhaps he got too depressed...goodness knows I couldn't blame him. I would dearly loved to have read more quotes from Henson's letters, diaries, and other papers Counter...encountered....more precise ammo against those who insist that Henson was just a dumb "manservant," for he certainly was not. Perhaps I'll have to make my own pilgrimage to Henson's papers & see them for myself.

The copy I have of this edition did have one serious problem, but it wasn't with the writing. While mine is signed by Dr Counter (which is very cool, tho not to me, alas), it also contains a printer's error which results in duplication of a chunk of the book & some unknown amount of print left out. It's a great book incomplete; I can't wait to see how enjoyable it is entire. I was particularly excited when I first got it, to see there were TWO big sections of photos, but it turned out to be the same section twice. Ah well. I've already ordered another.

Edit: received & read the complete version of the book, & am even more thrilled with it than when I'd read only most of it. The part of the book that was missing in my first edition contained considerable material refuting the claims of those who insist that Peary & Henson didn't get to the Pole. Dr Counter presents excellent and considerable evidence, from several sources, which prove unequivocally that P & H's detractors are wrong. My absolute favorite bit is when he shows the considerable scholarship & research done on the claims of one of the main detractors, Dennis Rawlins, who claimed to have cracked a "code" of Peary's wherein he hid the fact that he didn't make it to the Pole. Rawlins "discovered" secret "equations," which were in actuality Peary's jotted recording of the serial numbers of his navigational watches.

Counter also goes to some length to refute the oft-repeated claims that P&H couldn't have made the distances that they claimed, by (among other things) pointing out that runners of the Iditarod routinely clock up far higher daily distances, many without the incredible decades & lifetimes of experience & skill of Henson & the Eskimos Ootah, Egingwah, Ooqueah, & Seegloo.

Counter also, bless him, attempts to stamp out the notion that Henson, after a lifetime at sea and of exploration, couldn't navigate his way out of a paper bag. Sadly, I suspect that most of those who cling to this notion will continue to do so, in spite of any data or proof to the contrary, for the same reason that it was widely claimed that Peary took Henson to the Pole in the first place or that Henson's book was ghostwritten; because he was an 'unreliable' & ignorant witness, because he could not possibly write...because, of course, Henson had dark skin. Because of pernicious racism which is immune to reason, facts, and evidence of all kinds. It cannot be untaught, I fear, it can only be outlived in the hope that further generations will have minds and eyes that are open and aware rather than closed, sealed, and vile.

it just occurred to me that I'm going to have to get yet another copy, as this second one does not contain the chapter on the launching of the USS Matthew Henson, a picture & partial paragraph of which were in my first (tho printed later) copy. I'm going to end up with a whole shelf of this book. But it's worth it.

*Bizarre; I had to rewrite this review 4 or 5 times before Amazon stopped rejecting it...not sure if they objected to the "E" word that used to be used for the Inuit, or the 2nd word in Matthew Henson's own book...which is why his book isn't properly titled here. Somewhat absurd, given that the book is sold here (though not nearly enough).

found this in my local library, and it was a great read. For a neuroscientist to be the writer, he is also a good writer. One passage describes as Peary's wife, coming to the artic from New York City on a relief ship, must have seen an Inuit woman with a Inuit child of white skin complexion, and "must have understood. A stoic woman", as the book describes, decided in not saying anything. Very very detailed, it filled the dots in many areas. Would have liked a critical analysis of the 1912 Henson book "A Polar Explorer" in light of the culture during the time it was written, and how it would have been re-written today, since the book publication could only be possible after Peary's review. And would have also mentioned more about the meteorites found and hauled in the 1890's. But still, the amount of detail and effort in stringing it all together is majestic.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It's endlessly fascinating. It's wonderfully open, inquisitive, unflinching, hilarious, and, above all, human. It's an exciting adventure, but at the same time an expertly researched work of scholarship. It mines fathoms into the human experience, what it means to be a human being, how race, family, and culture define or don't define us, and how prejudice destroys our humanity. I absolutely love this book and recommend it to anyone, unreservedly.

I've read a good number of books by and about Peary, Henson, Rasmussen, Freuchen, Ehrlich, and others, and this is the best of the lot. It's a fascinating story that recounts the Peary/Henson trek to the N Pole and bundles it with such topics as Eskimo culture, race relations a century ago, and race relations today. Throughout it all, Dr. Counter writes with great sensitivity and objectivity about controversial topics. That he was able to discover the modern relations of Matthew Henson and bring them to the states for reunion and recognition is remarkable. If you are at all interested in history, the N Pole expeditions, or artic living, you'll really enjoy this book.