The Cold Coasts

THE COLD COASTS – A detailed and factual account of the 1955 spy-ship mission of the Norwegian sealing vessel Godønes. Written and illustrated by an American who was aboard. On that mission, American and Norwegian intelligence officers and scientists conducted an electronic intelligence mission covering Soviet mining operations in Svalbard as well as facilities on nearby Soviet shores. Members of the team also went ashore on Bear Island and Spitsbergen to locate potential sites for military airbases. This was a Cold War adventure in the high Arctic, featuring pack ice, seals and polar bears, and frigid islands just a few hundred miles from the North Pole. It could have become an international incident – until a huge ice floe intervened and abruptly ended the mission. In text and photos, the book also describes the lifestyle, now disappeared, of the Norwegian hunters. The Cold Coasts is also the story of a young family man: a geologist who seemed to disappear from the face of the earth while on this mission. Fresh from witnessing atomic testing in the American West, he found himself bound for Russian waters, sharing food and quarters with the seal hunters. The book is available in hardcover, paperback, and Kindle Edition formats.