An Old Captivity, first published in 1940, is Nevil Shute's engrossing novel of an archaeological expedition to Greenland. Replete with Shute's attention to detail, the book centers on pilot Donald Ross, who has spent time flying seaplanes in the far north of Canada. Upon his return to England, he is offered a job flying a seaplane for a proposed survey in Greenland. The survey is commissioned by an Oxford don, Professor Lockwood, who will be accompanied by his daughter Alix. Adventure follows the crew and a romance develops between Ross and Alix.
Donald Ross is a young pilot, out of work and in desperate need of a job. So, despite the extreme danger involved, he jumps at the chance to fly Oxford professor Cyril Lockwood and his daughter Alix to the frozen wilds of Greenland to study Viking ruins. But the perils of the journey are nothing compared to what will happen when they arrive. Ignoring the warnings of the terrified natives, who believe the ruins are haunted, the explorers set up camp there and undergo a strange and mystical experience that will lead to a discovery that none of them could ever have foreseen ...
