IN THESE PAGES, the reader will meet one of America’s foremost seafaring men and explorers.

Donald B. MacMillan (1874-1970) was born in Provincetown on Cape Cod and orphaned at an early age. After working his way through Bowdoin College and a brief stint at teaching, he became one of Robert E. Peary’s chief assistants on the arctic expedition that finally fought its way across the bitter Polar Sea to reach the North Pole.

There followed a series of arctic expeditions spanning nearly half a century to Labrador, Baffin Island, to King Christian Island, Ellesmere Island and other unknown areas of the Arctic, resulting in valuable work in botany, ornithology, meteorology, and anthropology. He proved that Crocker Land did not exist.

The story of the schooner Bowdoin, which for many years visited the North with a crew of scientists and amateurs, is told in detail, as well as the researchers and friendships developed with the Eskimos, in which Miriam MacMillan played a significant part.

Arctic Odyssey is the thrilling story of a rich and exciting way of life, centering in the lusty and vigorous personality of one of the last and most colorful representatives of the heroic era of arctic exploration.

Everett S. Allen (1916-1990) was an experienced newspaper reporter for The Standard-Times in New Bedford, Massachusetts. For many years he followed the career of Rear Admiral MacMillan and worked closely with him while writing this book.