He was known as Hornby of the North, the Brit who rejected his wealthy background for the frontier life of Canada"s frozen north. In 1926, Jack Hornby, the living legend, took his young cousin, Edgar Christian, and Harold Adlard to the remotest part of the Barren Lands, accessible only by canoe and dog team. Except he didn"t bring dogs, nor enough clothing or supplies. Instead, he staked their lives on the fifty-fifty chance of meeting with the great caribou migration. In his diary, the young Edgar wrote, "We live on our rifles and see nobody." Two years later, the diary would be found stashed in the stove near the skeletons of the three men. Powell-Williams has meticulously reconstructed this chilling and controversial adventure, considered by some a noble repetition of Mallory and Scott"s expeditions, by others a pitiful folly, and by those who lived it, an expression of honor, camaraderie, and courage. --Lesley Reed