As the 20th century started, technology was on the march. Explorers were trying to reach the Arctic and Antarctic poles. Walter Wellman (1858–1934) tried to reach the North Pole by land, but failed. After this setback, he decided to use cutting-edge technology to reach the North Pole first. He would fly there. This book presents the stories of Wellman and other explorers who sought to reach the North Pole by air.
Wellman had already made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Pole using dogsleds in the late 1800s. A newspaper man, he founded what became the Cincinnati Post and gained fame writing about his adventures. He also gained a reputation as a huckster because he used self-promotion to raise funds for his ventures, yet Levy shows that Wellman was a serious explorer.
