1. West -- The boy from the Mountain Kingdom -- Polar apprentice -- An extraordinary plan -- Where Franklin died -- An education at Gjøahavn -- 2. South -- "I resolved upon a coup" -- The Napoleon of the Poles -- Dogs and skis -- A featureless expanse of snow -- 3. East -- A hero returns -- A new battlefield -- The frozen reaches of Tartary -- 4. North -- Grounded dreams -- The Arctic Phoenix -- The dirigible and the fascist -- A massed attack on the polar regions -- 5. Lost -- No more Poles to conquer -- Epilogue: the end of the Heroic Age