Book excerpt: The memoirs by Fridtjof Nansen tell about the epoch-making attempt to reach the North Pole, which ended in the farthest northern journey in the history of his time. Fridtjof Nansen had an extraordinary idea of how to get to the North Pole by ship. After discovering that the remains of the boat, wrecked near Russian Siberia, were found in the Northern Atlantic, he presumed that there should be some drift through the North Pole. So, he developed a specifically customized ship that was frozen into an ice cube and crossed the Polar waters in this shape. The vessel did freeze successfully. Yet, the journey was too long, and Nansen left the ship to reach the Pole on skis. He and his companion Hjalmar Johansen left for the pole but didn't manage to get it. However, they were the first people to achieve the farthest north latitude of 86°13.6′N. The story tells about this challenging journey through snow and waters makes a unique record of one of the most incredible northern expeditions.