Empire at the Edge of the World
On sale
24th September 2026
Price: £24.99
‘A fabulous tale of ambition, madness and catastrophe’ William Dalrymple
One man’s lust for empire sent a team of adventurers into the Arctic – only one came back.
1913, the Arctic Circle. Charismatic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson is obsessed with a frozen speck of land in the Siberian Arctic: Wrangel Island. Believing that whoever possesses it will control the future – air routes, resources, even the balance of power in the northern hemisphere, he takes an impossible gamble. Dispatching a small, ill-equipped venture to stake a frozen colony in Britain’s name, it is a triumph of brilliance, ego and breathtaking hubris.
What follows is a catastrophe of starvation, madness and geopolitical jeopardy. As winter seals the island in ice, relief ships fail to arrive and tensions among the colonists spiral toward despair. While diplomats spar and warships steam north, the settlers are left to endure scurvy, polar bears, and the terror of abandonment. At the centre of it all stands one unlikely survivor – a young Inuit seamstress who miraculously outlasts them all . . .
Sweeping, chilling and stranger than fiction, Empire at the Edge of the World is a true story of greed and justice at the edge of the world.
One man’s lust for empire sent a team of adventurers into the Arctic – only one came back.
1913, the Arctic Circle. Charismatic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson is obsessed with a frozen speck of land in the Siberian Arctic: Wrangel Island. Believing that whoever possesses it will control the future – air routes, resources, even the balance of power in the northern hemisphere, he takes an impossible gamble. Dispatching a small, ill-equipped venture to stake a frozen colony in Britain’s name, it is a triumph of brilliance, ego and breathtaking hubris.
What follows is a catastrophe of starvation, madness and geopolitical jeopardy. As winter seals the island in ice, relief ships fail to arrive and tensions among the colonists spiral toward despair. While diplomats spar and warships steam north, the settlers are left to endure scurvy, polar bears, and the terror of abandonment. At the centre of it all stands one unlikely survivor – a young Inuit seamstress who miraculously outlasts them all . . .
Sweeping, chilling and stranger than fiction, Empire at the Edge of the World is a true story of greed and justice at the edge of the world.
Reviews
A killer, page-turning narrative, full of thrilling twists and turns . . . The kind of book which reminds me why I love history
With his characteristic deep scholarship and literary verve, Milton has thrust back into the limelight someone who once was never far from it, but today is virtually unknown
Giles Milton sheds light on a part of the world that has become suddenly and urgently relevant, telling a cracking adventure story from the past with verve, panache - and a twist worthy of Hollywood
An astonishing piece of work and research: my fingernails are bitten to the quick. It's thrilling, humbling and awe-inspiring . . . Eye-stretching in its ghastliness, bravery and cruelty. A fabulous true story brought to life
No one is better than Giles Milton at recovering the great forgotten dramas of history and bringing them to vivid life. Giles has become one of our most beloved narrative historians and here he excels in his craft. A fabulous tale of ambition, madness and catastrophe that combines dogged research with wonderful storytelling