Lawyer and independent scholar Wamsley has written and lectured extensively on 19th-century Arctic exploration and explorers. Here he narrates how Hayes (1832-81), a Quaker physician from rural Pennsylvania, got a taste of Arctic exploration early then became a leading advocate of it as a means of advancing science and geography. Overcoming public apathy, he organized and led the first privately funded American expedition to find the North Pole, thus initiating the modern pole race. His timing was such that his accomplishments were shadowed by the Civil War, and he received little of the acclaim he sought either during his lifetime or by historians. Annotation 2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
