TRACKS BOOKS: July 22

Rocky staff and wire reports

Published July 21, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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* The book: In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival on the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Albanov

* Cost: $14.95 (paperback, Random House)

* Why it's worth a read: This small book is important enough to warrant an introduction by David Roberts and a preface by Jon Krakauer. That said, even without those endorsements, this is a riveting story of Valerian Albanov, a 32-year-old Russian navigator who headed out in 1912 on a ship called the Santa Anna to find new Arctic hunting grounds. The ship became trapped in the ice, and after a year and a half, Albanov and 13 others left to save themselves, walking 235 miles across the frozen sea.

* The best part: Albanov kept a diary, and this book is a translation that doesn't lose any of the real-life drama as events unfolded. It drives the reader on with passages such as this one: "Our rosy dreams of imminent salvation suddenly vanished when, on awakening, we were confronted by a desperate situation. One hundred yards ahead of us was the steep frozen wall of a formidable glacier, stretching from west to east as far as the eye could see, roughly ninety feet high, rising almost perpendicular to the sea."

* Who should read it: Fans of adventure journals, polar exploration and stories of human survival.

Deb Acord

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