Exciting and impressively researched ... Hartman’s book conjures an age when newspapers went to the earth’s far edges in search of stories that evoked deep longings of the soul. The pursuit of those stories brought great risk and sometimes great disgrace.
Hartman...has combined the saga of the jostling press lords with the narrative of the sometimes-deadly competition ... Can be a challenge for the reader, who may well get snowbound in a blizzard of mounting detail. Still, like reaching the pole itself, the journey is rewarding as Mr. Hartman adroitly re-animates a colorful and courageous era in American history.
A tale of polar adventure and newspaper warfare that will interest readers of Hampton Sides and Gay Talese alike ... Diligently researched and crafted in prose that rarely turns purple, Battle of Ink and Ice reads more like a literary history than a suspenseful page-turner. It covers a wide berth ... His structural choices sometimes warrant a scratch of the head. Short chapters keep the story moving, but 52 is perhaps too many. Some chapters seem as if they end before they even lift off, pulling you out of a particular arc right as you’re being drawn in.
Hartman delves into the actions of a host of contentious characters in this tale of polar-exploration controversies and the media hype that fueled them. There are a number of fascinating personalities here ... There is plenty of drama here as Hartman uncovers all sorts of conflicts and adventures, especially when it comes to Bennett and ongoing battles for dominance of Manhattan’s media landscape. A first-rate title for readers fascinated by history and all who love a good dishy true story.
Thorough ... Though Hartman occasionally succumbs to the challenge of keeping dual subjects on track, he is a natural storyteller who breathes life into the most obscure details, keeping readers invested as the tale progresses. This is an engrossing and readable account of polar exploration, the birth of the modern newspaper, and media wars that feel all too familiar to modern readers. Brace for media feuds and frostbite as Hartman entertains on the trail between New York City newspapers and the North Pole.
Energetic ... Hartman dramatically recounts the claims and counterclaims; draws colorful profiles of the explorers and their chief backers...and incisively analyzes the populist vs. establishment aspect of the controversy. It’s as bracing as a blast of Arctic air.
