marpesea's review against another edition
3.0
Excellent account of the long-lasting British search for the Northwest Passage through the frozen seas of northern Canada.
Narrator is fantastic, but I might recommend the physical book as maps would have made the travel routes easier to follow.
And now I'm off to track down a book about the intriguing Lady Jane Franklin.
Narrator is fantastic, but I might recommend the physical book as maps would have made the travel routes easier to follow.
And now I'm off to track down a book about the intriguing Lady Jane Franklin.
superike's review against another edition
4.0
Quite an exhaustive story of the various expeditions of the 19th century that mapped the Canadian artic archipelago and discovered the famous North-West "Passage", which turned out to be impossible to navigate - until the invention of ice-breaker ships in the 20th century - owing to being permanently iced-over. Anthony Brandt does a good job of telling the stories, the personalities and the harrowing, terrible hardships the explorers faced, culminating with cannibalism during the fateful Franklin expedition.
If you only want to read one book about the North-West Passage, you can't go wrong with this one.
If you only want to read one book about the North-West Passage, you can't go wrong with this one.
besidekick's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Terminal illness
hsblechman's review against another edition
4.0
Readable, informative, detailed— and with a real gut punch of a last line
yorkslass70's review against another edition
5.0
Harrowing tales of daring do in the Artic and Northern Canada during Britain's often ill fated search for the Northwest Passage. This book was made all the more interesting for me after I recently discovered that I have a connection through marriage to Sir John Franklin, then man referred to in the book's title.
patthebook's review against another edition
4.0
This is a pretty remarkable, exhaustive accounting of one of mankind’s greatest follies. The insistence that the northwest passage must be navigable just because certain people thought it should be is nothing short of astounding. The fact that the British never learned a damn thing that could’ve helped them survive from the Indigenous peoples of what would become Canada is astounding. The cost of the repeated missions to the north is astounding. The whole damn thing is astounding.
alijc's review against another edition
4.0
A harrowing tale, even if I already knew how it would turn out. The disadvantage to listening to an audiobook was that I missed the maps that were surely in the printed book. And I wanted maps, to see where the voyages actually went. Actually, I wanted to see an interactive map that would show all of the rescue parties running around the arctic not quite meeting up with each other. And most definitely not meeting up with any of the survivors of Franklin's expedition.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this book because I enjoyed [b:The Terror|3974|The Terror|Dan Simmons|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165368437s/3974.jpg|3025639] and that book is a "what if" about the Franklin expedition.
It's a thumping good read.
This is coming from someone who is only mildly interested in the topic of the Northwest Passage.
Brandt makes the reader feel cold, which considering the weather in Philly when I was reading this book, is surprising. I felt cold even when I was sitting outside in the sunlight.
Brandt also seems to be fair. While acknowledges the stupidity or hubris of the British in not listening to the Inuit, it is quite clear that he feels something for the men. He does not blindly hero worship, but he is not "string them up" either. He presents the book in a balanced sympathy, if that makes sense.
I also enjoyed the slight tangnent where Brandt presents details about the life of Lady Jane Franklin, who sounds like a hell of a woman, just as much of an explorer as her husband. I suppose some people would find the passages pointless, but I enjoyed them.
If you are interested in naval exploration, Canada (quite frankly, despite the fact that I am a Yank, it seems Canada "owns" the NorthWest Passage, except for the tip that goes around Alaska), or [b:The Terror|3974|The Terror|Dan Simmons|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165368437s/3974.jpg|3025639], you should read this book.
It's a thumping good read.
This is coming from someone who is only mildly interested in the topic of the Northwest Passage.
Brandt makes the reader feel cold, which considering the weather in Philly when I was reading this book, is surprising. I felt cold even when I was sitting outside in the sunlight.
Brandt also seems to be fair. While acknowledges the stupidity or hubris of the British in not listening to the Inuit, it is quite clear that he feels something for the men. He does not blindly hero worship, but he is not "string them up" either. He presents the book in a balanced sympathy, if that makes sense.
I also enjoyed the slight tangnent where Brandt presents details about the life of Lady Jane Franklin, who sounds like a hell of a woman, just as much of an explorer as her husband. I suppose some people would find the passages pointless, but I enjoyed them.
If you are interested in naval exploration, Canada (quite frankly, despite the fact that I am a Yank, it seems Canada "owns" the NorthWest Passage, except for the tip that goes around Alaska), or [b:The Terror|3974|The Terror|Dan Simmons|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165368437s/3974.jpg|3025639], you should read this book.