Fergus Fleming has written an excellent book on some of the more daring/crazy British expeditions of the 19th century:

"Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy"

http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outrig...

To my amazement after reading this book I discovered that one of the few bodies recovered from the Franklin expedition is buried a couple of hundred meters from my home in Edinburgh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_lost_expedition

http://hidden-tracks-book.blogspot.com/2010/05/lt-irving-mem...

Some Artic expeditions in the 19th century were stuck in the ice for years at a time when trying to find the North West Passage. One of the expeditions led by John Ross was stuck for four years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ross_%28Arctic_explorer%29

An excellent book about this is: "Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy"

http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outrig...

If anyone is interested in polar exploration I strongly recommend "Barrow's Boys: A Stirring Story of Daring, Fortitude, and Outright Lunacy":

http://www.amazon.com/Barrows-Boys-Stirring-Fortitude-Outrig...