RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewMadhouse at the End of the Earth—Julian Sancton’s exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing account of the Belgica’s disastrous Antarctic expedition—is a narrative of cascading system failures ... The crew of the Belgica kept diaries of the expedition, which provide an extraordinary treasure trove for Madhouse. Sancton uses the explorers’ personal accounts to tease out the personalities and fears and rivalries of his subjects ... There’s more scope in Madhouse for dark humor than for general levity, and Sancton knows when to employ it ... Although Sancton devotes the latter portion of his book to the post-Belgica exploits of Cook and Amundsen, it’s the blinking, confused return of the crew to civilization that really brings the narrative home.
