Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk by Buddy Levy tells the true story of the 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition, focusing on the ill-fated voyage of the ship Karluk and the contrasting leadership styles of Captain Bob Bartlett and expedition leader Vilhjalmur Stefansson. The book details the ship's entrapment in the ice, the abandonment by Stefansson, and the subsequent struggle for survival under Bartlett's leadership, culminating in a perilous journey to seek rescue.