
Ada Blackjack
A True Story of Survival in the Arctic
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Narrated by:
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Laural Merlington
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By:
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Jennifer Niven
About this listen
In September 1921, four young men and Ada Blackjack, a diminutive 25-year-old Eskimo woman, ventured deep into the Arctic in a secret attempt to colonize desolate Wrangel Island for Great Britain. Two years later, Ada Blackjack emerged as the sole survivor of this ambitious polar expedition. This young, unskilled woman - who had headed to the Arctic in search of money and a husband - conquered the seemingly unconquerable north and survived all alone after her male companions had perished.
Following her triumphant return to civilization, the international press proclaimed her the female Robinson Crusoe. But whatever stories the press turned out came from the imaginations of reporters: Ada Blackjack refused to speak to anyone about her horrific two years in the Arctic. Only on one occasion - after charges were published falsely accusing her of causing the death of one her companions - did she speak up for herself.
Jennifer Niven has created a compelling history of this remarkable woman, taking full advantage of the wealth of firsthand resources about Ada that exist, including her never-before-seen diaries, the unpublished diaries from other primary characters, and interviews with Ada's surviving son. Ada Blackjack is more than a rugged tale of a woman battling the elements to survive in the frozen north - it is the story of a hero.
©2003 Jennifer Niven (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Neal Bascomb, a New York Times best-selling author, delivers the spellbinding story of the downed Allied airmen who masterminded the remarkably courageous - and ingenious - breakout from Germany's most devilish POW camp.
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Excellent!
- By Kathleen Wadworth on 04-08-24
By: Neal Bascomb
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The Great Polar Fraud
- Cook, Peary, and Byrd - How Three American Heroes Duped the World into Thinking They Had Reached the North Pole
- By: Anthony Galvin
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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The Great Polar Fraud explores the history of the three men who claimed the pole, their claims, and the subsequent doubts of those claims, effectively rewriting the history of polar exploration and putting Amundsen center stage as the rightful conqueror of both poles.
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A good read
- By rjay on 09-08-17
By: Anthony Galvin
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Sons of the Waves
- The Common Seaman in the Heroic Age of Sail
- By: Stephen Taylor
- Narrated by: Matthew Waterson
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now, Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs.
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Navy Guy Recommends this Title
- By Lexcast on 06-17-20
By: Stephen Taylor
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Lost in the Jungle
- A Harrowing True Story of Survival
- By: Yossi Ghinsberg
- Narrated by: Pat Young
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Four travelers meet in Bolivia and set off into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, but what begins as a dream adventure quickly deteriorates into a dangerous nightmare, and after weeks of wandering in the dense undergrowth, the four backpackers split up into two groups. But when a terrible rafting accident separates him from his partner, Yossi is forced to survive for weeks alone against one of the wildest backdrops on the planet.
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Interesting story, awful narrator.
- By Adrian Bardue on 02-17-16
By: Yossi Ghinsberg
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God's Shadow
- Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Alan Mikhail
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 16 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. Yet, despite its towering influence and centrality to the rise of our modern world, the Ottoman Empire's history has for centuries been distorted, misrepresented, and even suppressed in the West. Now Alan Mikhail presents a vitally needed recasting of Ottoman history, retelling the story of the Ottoman conquest of the world through the dramatic biography of Sultan Selim I (1470-1520).
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Entertaining narrative, but poor scholarship
- By Yosemite on 09-15-20
By: Alan Mikhail
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Final Voyage
- A Story of Arctic Disaster and One Fateful Whaling Season
- By: Peter Nichols
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1871, an entire fleet of whaling ships was caught in an arctic ice storm and destroyed. Though few lives were lost, the damage would forever shape one of America's most distinctive commodities: oil. New Bedford, Massachusetts, was fertile ground for this country's first multimillion-dollar industry. Founded by assiduous Quaker merchants seeking refuge for their austere religion, the town also lent unparalleled access to the high seas.
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Approach with caution
- By Tim on 09-03-10
By: Peter Nichols
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The Klondike Stampede
- By: Tappan Adney
- Narrated by: Eric Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Gold was discovered in the Klondike in August 16, 1896. When news of the discovery arrived in Seattle and San Francisco the following year it triggered one of the largest gold rushes in the history of North America. Tappan Adney, a young writer and photographer who worked for Harper's Weekly, set out on a journey to uncover and record what it was like in the Klondike stampede. This audiobook is a fascinating portrayal of adventurers and prospectors who descended on the Yukon during this extraordinary event in the late 19th century.
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Great Read
- By judy on 12-10-18
By: Tappan Adney
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Adventure North
- By: Sean Bloomfield, Colton Witte - foreword
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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After accelerating their studies and graduating high school early, two teenagers set off from their hometown in Minnesota to embark on a 2,200-mile canoe journey up the heart of North America. Their destination: the permafrost shores of Hudson Bay. Inspired by a passion for the simple life, where gadgets and schedules are replaced by nature and its harsh beauty, the duo found something that many believe is lost: a true adventure.
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Great story of adventure
- By Amanda on 03-18-25
By: Sean Bloomfield, and others
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Batavia's Graveyard
- The True Story of the Mad Heretic Who Led History's Bloodiest Mutiny
- By: Mike Dash
- Narrated by: Guy Bethell
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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It was the autumn of 1628, and the Batavia, the Dutch East India Company's flagship, was loaded with a king's ransom in gold, silver, and gems for her maiden voyage to Java. The Batavia was the pride of the company's fleet, a tangible symbol of the world's richest and most powerful commercial monopoly. She set sail with great fanfare, but the Batavia and her gold would never reach Java.
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Perhaps the best book ever
- By Ray928 on 03-12-19
By: Mike Dash
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Hell on Ice
- The Saga of the Jeannette
- By: Edward Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1870s, newspaperman James Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald drummed up excitement and publicity for his paper through highly publicized missions of exploration. In 1879, Bennett's idea for a voyage was his most audacious to date: the North Pole. To do this, he hired a team of naval veterans in addition to a smattering of civilians with specialized knowledge in meteorology, whaling, and naturalism. The men on board the Jeannette set off in September of 1879. This would be the last time anyone saw them for two years.
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Great story, and great way to approach the telling
- By Christopher on 08-22-14
By: Edward Ellsberg
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My Old Man and the Mountain
- A Memoir
- By: Leif Whittaker
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1963, the world followed the first American Mount Everest Expedition, and watched as "Big Jim" Whittaker became the first American to stand on top of the world. He returned home a hero. My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker's engaging and humorous story of what it was like to "grow up Whittaker" - the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in an extended family of accomplished climbers. He shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on.
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Lief and Eric what a great combination
- By Mountain Guide on 11-10-23
By: Leif Whittaker
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Empire of Ice and Stone
- The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world’s greatest living ice navigator. The expedition’s visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame. Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her. As the ship became icebound, Stefansson disembarked with five companions and struck out on what he claimed was a 10-day caribou hunting trip. Most on board would never see him again.
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My Second Favorite Polar Exploration Book
- By Than on 02-23-24
By: Buddy Levy
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River of Darkness
- Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
- By: Buddy Levy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1541, the brutal conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his well-born lieutenant Francisco Orellana set off from Quito in search of La Canela, South America's rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, "the golden man". Driving an enormous retinue of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, hunting dogs, and other animals across the Andes, they watched their proud expedition begin to disintegrate even before they descended into the nightmarish jungle, following the course of a powerful river.
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Amazing!
- By Sammi on 02-17-18
By: Buddy Levy
What listeners say about Ada Blackjack
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- Anonymous User
- 01-08-25
Ada’s amazing story of survival
I enjoyed listening to a story of how strong and resilient Ada was while faced with so many difficulties in her life.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-26-23
Inspirational
Ada Blackjack’s story is long and enduring, but this book is full of the facts of her life and the circumstances surrounding her heroic survival, as well as the men who played a role in her story. Highly recommend this read.
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- Tawni Padilla
- 02-26-23
Exposè on the arctic and human greed
What a sad book. It would seem that the story of the actual expedition is sandwiched between numerous accounts of of deceit and greed surrounding it. I didn’t know what to expect when I started this book besides a harrowing adventure tale. What I got was an underlying current of greed.
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- Sisuanna
- 04-01-21
A wonderful woman
I write this as a native Alaskan who knew of vilhjalmur stefansson and nothing of Ada Blackjack. The story starts slowly, but is thrilling in it’s detail. It gives much on the ethno-culture of the adventurers and nothing of Ada’s. This would have enlightened the culture clash on Wrangel. Some mispronunciations of Alaska names!
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1 person found this helpful
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- mom76
- 08-06-21
Someone we should be learning about in school!
Loved this story. I particularly live how the last section of the book is devoted to what happened after the exploration. If it didn't include that, I would have been on the internet for hours.
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- Sandra Woolstenhulme
- 02-12-25
Story of a brave woman
Always love true stories of long forgotten strong women. Too many are forgotten and or overlooked.
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- Cereza
- 01-20-24
Ada’s will to live
Reader was a bit deadpan.
Story itself was fascinating. The degree of prejudices and stereotypes in that time period are so disheartening even though many of those still exist today.
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- Stephanie Hurtado
- 04-15-25
Brave woman
Liked the whole story ads was a very brave woman to be admired and looked up to
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- DML
- 04-18-25
Compelling adventure!
Written and told well. Ada Blackjack is a true survivor and hero. I really enjoyed this book.
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- Uptight Mom
- 04-18-23
one of the most incredible stories I've ever heard
First of all, somebody needs to make this into a movie or Netflix series. This story of a young, insecure "eskimo" woman who endures the most trying life of survival and self discovery should be known to the world. The author does an excellent job of leading you piece by piece through the maze of trials and tribulations of the expedition and the aftermath of societal horrors put upon both Ada and the families of the deceased explorers.
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