Absorbing.artfully narrat[es] a possible course of events in the
expedition's demise, based on the one official note and bits of debris
(including evidence of cannibalism) found by searchers sent to look for
Franklin in the 1850s. Adventure readers will flock to this fine
regaling of the enduring mystery surrounding the best-known disaster in
Arctic exploration.--Booklist
""A great Victorian adventure story rediscovered and re-presented for a
more enquiring time.""--The Scotsman
""A vivid, sometimes harrowing chronicle of miscalculation and
overweening Victorian pride in untried technology.a work of great
compassion.""--The Australian
It has been called the greatest disaster in the history of polar
exploration. Led by Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, two
state-of-the-art ships and 128 hand-picked men----the best and the
brightest of the British empire----sailed from Greenland on July 12,
1845 in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. Fourteen days later,
they were spotted for the last time by two whalers in Baffin Bay. What
happened to these ships----and to the 129 men on board----has remained
one of the most enduring mysteries in the annals of exploration. Drawing
upon original research, Scott Cookman provides an unforgettable account
of the ill-fated Franklin expedition, vividly reconstructing the lives
of those touched by the voyage and its disaster. But, more importantly,
he suggests a human culprit and presents a terrifying new explanation
for what triggered the deaths of Franklin and all 128 of his men. This
is a remarkable and shocking historical account of true-life suspense
and intrigue.
