An adventure story about an expedition by balloon to the North Pole in 1897.

In 1897, three adventurers gather to do what others have tried and failed to do - navigate their balloon, The Prinzess, to the North Pole and return. As they voyage, the narrator, Major Gustav Crispin, is haunted by thoughts of the beautiful, impetuous Luisa.

The story is a deliciously entertaining mix of adventure, sexual intrigue, philosophy and science. Harris based his story on an actual attempt by three Swedish explorers to reach the pole by balloon in 1897.

MacDonald Harris wrote The Balloonist in the 1970s and it was published with huge acclaim in 1976. Indeed it was runner-up in the National Book Award fiction prize the following year. Then, in the 1980s, it disappeared into obscurity and remained there until Philip Pullman sang its praises in The Observer in 2008.