In 1926, against the backdrop of Mussolini's rising power, General Umberto Nobile, one of Italy's premier aeronautical engineers, gained acclaim by crossing the Pole in a dirigible, accompanied by the famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. It was an unprecedented achievement for a lighter-than-air craft, and it would have gone down in history as the first flight over the Pole had Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett not accomplished that feat in an airplane only three days before.

Encouraged by his success, Nobile decided in 1928 to take a newly designed dirigible to the North Pole, land men who could conduct scientific explorations, and then fly safely back to base. But on the Italia's return flight, disaster struck. The ship crashed down on the ice pack hundreds of miles from help. The survivors, including the injured Nobile, were stranded on an unstable ice floe, desperately trying to make radio contact with the outside world. Their disappearance inspired one of the most far-reaching rescue missions ever undertaken.

Drawing on interviews he conducted with Umberto Nobile and other survivors in the 1950s, Wilbur Cross resurrects a stunning tale that has been long overlooked by history. He brings to life the struggles of the survivors throughout nearly two months on the ice, including the fate of three men who set off on a doomed trek to reach help. - Jacket flap.