A massive and massively detailed book, the most thorough examination yet of Peary and Cook's competing claims to have been the first-ever at the North Pole. Not surprisingly, Bryce chimes in with other scholars in concluding, "well, probably neither." It's may not be definitive but the book is long, marshals much evidence and is fascinating in its detail. Setting aside the controversy, it's also a good biography of the two explorers and their contemporaries. With 125 photographs, maps and many, many footnotes.  (ARC44, $50.00)