Unknown Piri. Shparo D.

In the history of the struggle for the achievement of the northern and southern poles of the Earth, the first decade of the twentieth century was the key. It was on these years that the main campaigns on dog teams to both poles have been going on, who were successful at the turn of the first and second decades. We all well remember the polar competition of Rual Amundsen and Robert Scott when conquering the South Pole. But, oddly enough, we know much less about the history of the achievement of the North Pole and the drama, which was played out, in this regard. The Arctic is a deserted, lifeless, inaccessible area of ​​our planet. Going there, we can say with confidence: everything that you then present to the public, neither confirm nor refute no one except a few of your comrades in the campaign, will not be able to. And so it happened with two American polar explorers - Frederick Cook, who announced the first to achieve the North Pole in the history of mankind in 1908, and Robert Piri, proving that this is an extraordinary achievement - his feat, which he performed in 1909. The confrontation, such a dispute of Cook and Piri, probably does not know the polar story.

In the book of Dmitry Shipo, two bright and very different aspirations of a person arise before the reader. Robert Piri is one of the first people in the Arctic, who has perseverance, will and organizational talent, but at the same time crowded with malicious egoism, the desire to be the first to be the first to anything, that sweeps away competitors from his path, including unreasonable methods. And next to him - Doctor of Medicine Frederick Cook: “The main thing for me is not in achieving the goal itself, but in overcoming obstacles to it.” The author of the book, citing little -known American documents, exposes Piri and claims that his main victories - records and the achievement of the North Pole in 1909 are invented. Piri deliberately attributed to himself non -existent merits.

The book is, in fact, a geographical, psychological and political investigation of tragic events in the Arctic, in which Piri, who was ready for everything for his glory, participated. In the book, Dmitry Shparo analyzes in detail all the inconsistencies in the recordings and observations of Robert Piri - and does it professionally, because he himself skiing to the North Pole in 1979, overcoming all the difficulties of the drifting ice that Piri could meet. This is the second book of Dmitry Shparo about two polar antagonists. In 2016, his book “Frederick Cook on the top of the continent was released. We return McCinli to the great American, ”and now the new book about Robert Piri is ready. The book is so detailed and fascinating that, of course, it will cause great interest among readers of all ages.

Dmitry Shparo is a famous Soviet and Russian traveler and writer, the head of the expedition, who was the first in the world to reached the North Pole. This achievement of Dmitry Shparo was listed in the London Book of Guinness Records, in the USSR he was awarded the highest award - the Order of Lenin. In 1988, the Soviet-Canadian expedition led by D.I. Shparo crossed the northern Arctic Ocean along the route: the USSR - the North Pole - Canada. For this transition D.I. Shparo was awarded the second most important Soviet order of the “Red Banner of Labor”, as well as the prestigious prize of UNESCO “Fair Game”.