the Noose of Laurels

Wally Herbert received unprecedented cooperation for this book from both the Peary family and the National Geographic Society, the custodians of the Peary Archives. Most important, he was the first man in seventy-five years to be granted access to the famous "Peary Diary," Peary's journal from that fateful expedition of 1909. This diary, long thought lost or destroyed, presents shocking evidence (and, at times, a shocking lack of evidence) that redounds on Peary's claims. Wally Herbert also quotes extensively from the autobiographies of Peary and Matt Henson, Peary's companion on all of his polar expeditions (and one of the first Black American heroes), earlier biographies of Peary, and, most revealingly, Peary's correspondence. His frequent letters to his mother and wife give us an extraordinarily personal view of the man, from his unabashedly romantic sentiments toward his wife, and his strikingly proprietary feelings about the North Pole, a place he believed it was his God-given right to discover. The Noose of Laurelsalso features dozens of spectacular photos, many of them taken on Peary's expeditions and not seen in over seventy-five years.

From his early disappointments (the tragic northern forays of 1899 and 1901) and successes (the "Farthest North" of 1906) through to his final, controversial polar voyage, Peary's travels are here filtered through the keen, judgmental eye of Wally Herbert. Similarly analyzed are the records of Dr. Cook, who claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1908, a year before Peary. Half-truths and outright lies are exposed, as Wally Herbert—employing the knowledge gained in years of intensive research and 20,000 miles of sledging experience retracing the routes of both Peary and Cook—sheds new and surprising light on the exploits and claims of both men.