From Paris to New York by Land

A railway connecting Paris and New York supplies the practical question behind Harry De Windt's account of travel through Siberia and Alaska. He sets out to examine whether such a link could be built, drawing on the hard lessons of an earlier expedition that failed in 1896. His route combines the Trans-Siberian Railway with horse sleighs, reindeer teams and dog sleds as he approaches Bering Straits. The opening explains how transport shortages dictate the supplies his party can carry.

Along the Arctic coast, the account becomes a record of cold, hunger and difficult decisions on unstable ice. Rocky pinnacles resemble enormous human figures, storms flatten the tent, and finding driftwood can determine whether the travellers eat. Tables of distances, station lists, glossaries and weather records accompany the narrative. Readers interested in the history of travel can follow both the proposed continental connection and the daily work required to cross this remote terrain.