First British edition, which preceded the American edition published later the same year. --------- From the jacket: "The vision was clear: a trading route across the top of the world, a shipping lane north of America to the fabulous riches of Cathay. The way was unknown, unmapped, and its defenses were formidable. But for centuries men were to argue, to search, to suffer and to die in the attempt to trace this route that was known only as an idea, a mythology, a potent name: the North-West Passage... Thomson tells the story of that search, from the birth of the idea to the final unexpected triumph. It is a panorama that encompasses five centuries, that links immortal names - Cabot, Frobisher, Hudson, Ross, Champlain, Franklin, Parry, Amundsen - in a saga of unequalled endurance." ------- Bindings are tight and square. Text clean, light even toning. Moderate shelf handling wear. Jacket price clipped and shows a light shelf handling. 8vo; 9.5 inches tall; ix, 288 pp. Notes on sources, bibliography, and index follow text.