Andree's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 was an effort to reach the North Pole in which all three Swedish expedition members S. A. Andree, Knut Fraenkel, and Nils Strindberg perished. Andree, the first Swedish balloonist, proposed a voyage by hydrogen balloon from Svalbard to either Russia or Canada, which was to pass, with luck, straight over the North Pole on the way. The scheme was received with patriotic enthusiasm in Sweden, a northern nation that had fallen behind in the race for the North Pole. [from Wikipedia]
Through the air: a narrative of forty years' experience as an aeronaut. Comprising a history of the various attempts in the art of flying by artificial means from the earliest period down to the present time. With an account of the author's most important air-voyages and his many thrilling adventures and hairbreadth escapes. Also, an appendix, in which are given full instructions for the manufacture and management of balloons
