The book is an astonishing story, an almost unbelievable feat of survival.Booklist

Robertson Deans reading [is] well paced and keeps the narrative moving.AudioFile

an inspirational survival story.Publishers Weekly

Dogged research and hard travel to distant places make for a gem in the literature of survival under dire conditions.Kirkus Reviews

When David Roberts came across a reference to four Russian sailors who had survived for six years on a barren Arctic island, he was incredulous. An expert on the literature of adventure, Roberts had never heard the story and doubted its veracity. His quest to find the true story turned into a near-obsession that culminated with his own journey to the same desolate island. In Four against the Arctic Roberts shares the remarkable story that he discovered, perhaps the most amazing survival tale ever recorded.

In 1743 a Russian ship bound for Arctic walrus-hunting grounds was blown off course and trapped in ice off the coast of Svalbard (Spitzbergen). Four sailors went ashore with only two days supplies. Upon return they found the ship had vanished, apparently crushed and sunk by the ice.

The men survived more than six years until another ship blown off course rescued them. Four against the Arctic is a riveting book about man versus nature and a delightfully engaging journey deep into an obsession with historical rediscovery. But it is more even than that: It is a meditation on the genius of survival against impossible odds that makes a story so inspirational that it still fires the imagination centuries later.

Robertson Dean has played leading roles on Broadway, off Broadway, and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a B.A. degree from Tufts University and an M.F.A. from Yale. He now lives in Los Angeles where he divides his professional time between stage, film, television, voiceovers, and audiobook narrating.