John Murray acquires a ‘gripping Arctic exploration tale’ by Giles Milton

John Murray has acquired a “gripping Arctic exploration tale of horror and endurance” by Giles Milton.

Joe Zigmond, publishing director at John Murray and Basic Books, imprints of John Murray Press, bought exclusive rights throughout the British Commonwealth and Europe for Milton’s Island of Ghosts, set for publication in spring 2027, from Georgia Garrett at RCW. Serena Jones at Henry Holt will publish in tandem in the US.

“Set during the great age of Arctic exploration, Island of Ghosts charts one man’s obsession with colonising the most isolated place on earth,” the synopsis says. “A visionary to some, a trickster to others, William Stephenson was intent on seizing Wrangel Island in Siberia’s Arctic Ocean, gateway to the riches of the frozen north. His messianic energy provoked misguided expeditions, a catastrophic shipwreck and the horrors of colonial experiment. Stephenson’s personal ambition would prove extremely costly in human lives, as became clear when he was confronted with the only survivor of his colonial experiment – a 23-year-old Inuit heroine named Ada Blackjack.”

The synopsis adds: “This epic saga sets the stage for modern times, as the early 20th-century governments of Great Britain, America, Canada and the Soviet Union found themselves inexorably drawn to a patch of frozen land exploding in value. A little-known slice of history, Island of Ghosts is a tale of madness, super-human endurance and the political cost of manic ambition.”

Zigmond said: “Giles has found another gem, another of those hard-to-believe stories that change the world. A classic exploration epic, Island of Ghosts will lead readers through a harrowing adventure at the frayed edge of early 20th-century geopolitics.”

Milton added: “Island of Ghosts is an epic tale of hubris, vaunting ambition and superhuman endurance. It is also a tale of raw and aggressive geopolitics. I am incredibly excited to be recounting this remarkable saga through the handwritten letters and diaries of those who survived – and those who died – on the remotest island in the world.”