Real People/Real Stories: A Nonfiction Book Group

Real People/Real Stories meets the third Thursday of each month to explore the best in nonfiction history, biography, science, nature, and the arts.

Join us as we discuss N-4 Down: The Hunt for the Arctic Airship Italia by Mark Piesing.

In 1928, the zeppelin Italia, code-named N-4, was on a polar research expedition when it crashed in the Arctic. As the survivors struggled to stay alive, a collection of famous Arctic explorers, including Roald Amundsen, mobilized a huge international rescue effort.

“Mark Piesing evocatively brings to life a lesser-known tale in the ill-fated history of polar exploration. Like the stories of Franklin and Shackleton, it combines triumph, disaster, heroism, hubris and mystery—but unlike them it features dashing aviators in airships and seaplanes. It is an epic tale that deserves to be far more widely known.” — Tom Standage, New York Times bestselling author of A History of The World in 6 Glasses