Sara Wheeler

Does William Barents deserve to have a sea named after him?

Andrea Pitzer thinks so, though the explorer’s failed attempts to find a route to China ended in mutiny, starvation and his own early death

They thought it would be warm: William Barents and his crew among the Arctic ice. Illustration after Gerard de Veer’s 1598 account of the three voyages. Credit: Getty Images
  • Comments

  • Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

    Andrea Pitzer

    Simon & Schuster, pp. 308, £20

Already a subscriber? Log in

This article is for subscribers only

Get a free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label when you subscribe to The Spectator for just £12 in our Black Friday sale

  • Free bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky, worth £30
  • Unlimited access to our website and app
  • Enjoy Spectator newsletters and podcasts
  • Explore our online archive, going back to 1828

Read next

Trending

Yuan Yi Zhu

The ICC has destroyed its own credibility 

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity (a third warrant was issued against a Hamas commander, believed to be dead). In so doing, the ICC has undermined – perhaps fatally – its own credibility,

More on exploration

Also by Sara Wheeler

Latest

Comments

Black Friday sale: Get 10 weeks for just $1

Unlimited access to the The Spectator, online and via the app

Already a subscriber? Log in