Nonfiction: Battle of Ink and Ice by Darrell Hartman

It was certainly the title of today's book that drew me in. Darrell Hartman's Battle of Ink and Ice: A Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media is exactly as the name suggests. Taking a closer look at specifically the New York Times and the New York Herald, Hartman tells the incredible tale of not only the newspapers, but their owners, and the North Pole explorers they each decided to support.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a book of nonfiction that mostly explores the early 20th century rivalry between North Pole explorers Robert Peary and Frederick Cook. With the New York Times backing and supporting Peary, and the New York Herald behind Cook, the race to the Pole was a matter of pride, principle, and reputation. Hartman not only thoroughly explores the lives and history of the explorers, but also the dueling newspapers, their owners, and how all events molded and shaped the news cycle (and perhaps even social media) today. Readers will recognize the early precursors to familiar devices such as celebrity influence, and even clickbait. Starting with the early history of the newspapers, as well as their eventual owners, Hartman moves to explorers, the race to the North Pole, and the ongoing attempts to validate who truly made it there first.

My Verdict: I am endlessly fascinated by just how much the already bitter rivalry between Adolph Ochs of the New York Times and James Gordon Bennett Jr. of the New York Herald was made even worse through the race for the North Pole, of all things. Hartman explains the situation, in incredible detail, with all of the intricate factors that made it so distinctly of its time. Had this happened today, the speed of the internet would have changed most things, not to mention our access to much more efficient means for traveling long distances. But at the time, newspapers were where people got the news, and the stories of the New York Times and New York Herald alone could each inhabit their own books. Add the incredible story and ensuing scandals surrounding the North Pole explorers, and this book becomes a study in influence, and the power of information (and misinformation). 

Favorite Moment: Central to the book is the determination of whether Peary and Cook actually reached the North Pole. Who reached it first is naturally also of importance, but yet also becomes somewhat forgotten (at least to me) as part of the debate, given everything that is going on.

Recommended Reading: I recommend The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean.