The North Pole Conspiracy

An in-depth investigation into one of the great historical controversies of the 20th Century: who was first to the North Pole? -- And a thrilling, emotional, adventure and detective story with sparkling re-enactments, fabulous archive, many twists and a sensational conclusion. In 1909 two Americans: Commander Robert E Peary and his former friend and colleague Frederick A Cook each claimed to be first to the North Pole, one of the final goals in the great Age of Exploration. Peary was an American national hero, and a polar veteran with seven previous expeditions to his name. But Frederick Cook had evidence that he had reached the Pole a year before Peary. The world believed Cook -- until Peary mounted a vicious newspaper campaign, smearing his rival as a liar and a fraud. Since then the controversy has never died down. For nearly a century, many historians have believed that Peary stole his polar triumph from Cook. So it was a bombshell when Robert M Brice, a humble librarian in a Maryland college, published the results of twenty years of patient, detailed research. He analysed Cook’s expedition diaries and discovered that Cook had repeatedly altered position readings and dates in his official published account of his expedition. Cook even recorded his sighting of an island that did not exist. Cook’s credibility was destroyed by his own hand. He was probably never anywhere near the Pole. So was Peary first to the Pole after all? Suddenly his claim seemed to be strengthened. But major doubts remained. Many experts believed Peary claimed to have reached the Pole much too fast! So in 2004 young British polar explorer Tom Avery mounted an expedition using exactly the same equipment as Peary, to prove that Peary could have reached the Pole as fast as he claimed he had. Most experts said this was impossible, but after more than 8 weeks Avery’s team reached the Pole just five hours ahead of Peary’s previous record time.