The name of Lord Mountevans has long been associated with polar exploration. In this book he gives a concise history of the expeditions which have ventured in search of the North-East and North-West Passages, and of the North Pole itself; from the early explorers like Davis and Hudson, whose courage and vision led them to face the Arctic weather in small sailing vessels, through the great achievements of Nansen and Amundsen to the modern conquest of the pole by air.