Madhouse at the End of the Earth
The Belgica’s Journey into the Dark Antarctic Night
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Madhouse at the End of the Earth
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Narrated by:
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Vikas Adam
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By:
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Julian Sancton
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
The harrowing survival story of an early polar expedition that went terribly wrong, with the ship frozen in ice and the crew trapped inside for the entire sunless Antarctic winter.
August 1897: the Belgica set sail, eager to become the first scientific expedition to reach the white wilderness of the South Pole. But the ship soon became stuck fast in the ice of the Bellinghausen sea, condemning the ship's crew to overwintering in Antarctica and months of endless polar night. In the darkness, plagued by a mysterious illness, their minds ravaged by the sound of dozens of rats teeming in the hold, they descended into madness.
In this epic tale, Julian Sancton unfolds a story of adventure gone horribly awry. As the crew teetered on the brink, the captain increasingly relied on two young officers whose friendship had blossomed in captivity - Dr Frederick Cook, the wild American whose later infamy would overshadow his brilliance on the Belgica; and the ship's first mate, soon-to-be legendary Roald Amundsen, who later raced Captain Scott to the South Pole. Together, Cook and Amundsen would plan a last-ditch, desperate escape from the ice - one that would either etch their names into history or doom them to a terrible fate in the frozen ocean.
Drawing on firsthand crew diaries and journals, and exclusive access to the ship's logbook, the result is equal parts maritime thriller and gothic horror. This is an unforgettable journey into the deep.
©2021 Julian Sancton (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"An unforgettable tale brilliantly told." (Scott Anderson)
"It grips from first sentence to last." (Lawrence Osborne)
"The next great contribution to polar literature." (Hampton Sides)
What listeners say about Madhouse at the End of the Earth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pete
- 07-05-23
Fascinating Antarctic adventure…
I really loved this book - a great, well-researched and insightful account of the journey of the Belgica. Informative and a gripping story, would wholeheartedly recommend, thank-you 👍
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sara o'malley
- 01-10-21
Inspirational
Epic! Wonderfully read. Don’t miss it!!
A beautifully written story informed with great sensitivity to people , time and place.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Fred
- 12-01-22
Not as good as the Endurance book
The book lacks the storytelling of the Endurance story. Narration wasn't as good either.
Obviously, an amazing story nonetheless.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J
- 03-11-21
A true adventure story
This is an incredible story, as exciting and gripping as any fictional adventure story. The story of the Belgian Antartic Expedition encompasses breathtaking incompetence, amazing heroism, appalling hardship and larger than life characters - including some well known in the history of polar exploration. I cannot understand why the story isn't better known. It would make an amazing film. Only two quibbles. The first is that the narrator has a very idiosyncratic way of pronouncing certain proper names and place names, which grated and confused me a little. The second is the lack of maps and illustrations. This is of course always a problem with audio books, but some do come with pdfs with this information. I assume that the print edition of the book has maps and I would have found these really helpful to understand the route of the Belgica
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Callum b.
- 14-05-23
A decent read
I have noted that there are some criticisms about the narrator, but to be honest with you, you do get used to him. The story is a fascinating read, with adventure all the way through. Seldom does it become boring. Well worth it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-03-22
most enjoyable
A great story. Very well written book. Good narration overall but several words consistently mispronounced throughout.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- J. Drew
- 12-08-22
Gripping read
‘Madhouse at the end of the world’ is story of The Belgica’s, a ship that was the first to journey into the Antarctic that ended up getting caught up an ice pack and became standard through the obsession of the Captain Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery with the intention of either finding the magnetic south pole or getting the ship to go as far south as possible. The story also tells of its crew, including the doctor on board, Cook, who would come up with a range of approaches, some still valid, whilst trying to stop the mum from scurvy and destitution from going insane and dieing. We know at the beginning of the book he and Armudson will survive as Armudson meets him in a Kansas prison where Cook is incarcerated. This is the same Armudson who beat Scott to the North Pole. He was already obsessed by the cold and exploration in a similar way to Cook and the captain. As all I have ever known prior to this book is that Armudson is that he beat Scott to the North Pole, it was interesting to learn more about the man. He would learn a lot from Cook and his experiences of being trapped for in the sea ice, are what probably helped him to beat Scott. It all started on this journey. As the trapped med learn to eat penguins and survive an incredible hardship until they eventually make a plan to escape, whilst also going mad and some of the men dying - it is a gripping and brilliantly told and enthralling tale. A fantastic tale really well told.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- RAC
- 23-04-23
Great story let down by narrator
Love discovering crazy tales of derring do that otherwise had past me by. One of the most fascinating parts was about Vitamin C and how concentrated lime juice doesn't contain enough to supplement a crew's diet whilst penguin and seal meat does.
Worth redoing the production with a different narrator of greater gravitas.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Xavier Smith
- 01-09-22
Inspirational
What a book! It took some time, but it’s definitely worth the read! Fantastic bit of work
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Miss H S Connolly
- 21-04-22
Beyond excellent!
I’ve loved everything about this fantastic book.. so well written.
I was there in the peril and terror of that frozen world with the men.
I recommend it if you have an adventurous mind …
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