This book is about the Arctic. And the Russian Arctic is a huge space, immersed in the darkness of the polar night, then in the inexhaustible light of the polar day. The Arctic is beautiful in the dazzling whiteness of the snow and the might of the eternal ice wanderers. The Arctic is dangerous for the ferocity of wildlife, the temper of which is sometimes very, very difficult to predict. The Arctic did not suddenly open to man, not at random. Penetration into this deserted land lasted centuries.