From Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Larson, a thrilling chronicle of the adventurous year 1909: the year when three daring expeditions - led by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Peary, and the Duke of the Abruzzi - simultaneously aimed for the two ends and the highest peak of the world!

At the dawn of 1909, the most precious jewels in the crown of exploration had not yet been claimed: the North and South Poles and the so-called "Third Pole," the highest point in the world, in the uncharted peaks of the Himalayas. Before the calendar pages turned, three expeditions would have faced death, mutiny, and the harshest conditions on the planet, to plant their flags at the ends of the earth.

Based on a wealth of documents and on-site research, Edward Larson weaves these three stories into a captivating adventure. Author of the acclaimed work on the poles Empire of Ice, Larson also draws from his personal experiences in the Himalayas, the Arctic, and Antarctica, where he himself reached the South Pole and stayed at Shackleton's Cape Royds, participating in the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program.

The three expeditions of 1909, sharing common points in time, the dangers involved, and the stakes at play, were celebrated to the brink of legend, and their leaders were considered heroes. Stripping away the layer of myth, Larson sheds new light on the events, reminding us that at the heart of this unique story of exploration were not gods but humans - and that is what makes their achievement even greater.