Searching for Franklin - by Ken McGoogan (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery. Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin's expeditions were monumental failures--the last one leading to more than a hundred deaths, including his own. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discovering the Northwest Passage. This book, McGoogan's sixth about Arctic exploration, challenges that vision. It rejects old orthodoxies, incorporates the latest discoveries, and interweaves two main narratives. The first treats the Royal Navy's Arctic Overland Expedition of 1819, a harbinger-misadventure during which Franklin rejected the advice of Dene and Metis leaders and lost eleven of his twenty-one men to exhaustion, starvation, and murder. The second discovers a startling new answer to that greatest of Arctic mysteries: what was the root cause of the catastrophe that engulfed Franklin's last expedition? The well-preserved wrecks of Erebus and Terror--located in 2014 and 2016--promise to yield more clues about what cost the lives of the expedition members, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism. Contemporary researchers, rejecting theories of lead poisoning and botulism, continue to seek conclusive evidence both underwater and on land. Drawing on his own research and Inuit oral accounts, McGoogan teases out many intriguing aspects of Franklin's expeditions, including the explorer's lethal hubris in ignoring the expert advice of the Dene leader Akaitcho. Franklin disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, yet people remain fascinated with his final doomed voyage: what happened? McGoogan will captivate readers with his first-hand account of traveling to relevant locations, visiting the graves of dead sailors, and experiencing the Arctic--one of the most dramatic and challenging landscapes on the planet."--

Book Synopsis

Arctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery.

Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin's expeditions were monumental failures--the last one leading to more than a hundred deaths, including his own. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discover the Northwest Passage.

This book, McGoogan's sixth about Arctic exploration, challenges that vision. It rejects old orthodoxies, incorporates the latest discoveries, and interweaves two main narratives. The first treats the Royal Navy's Arctic Overland Expedition of 1819, a harbinger-misadventure during which Franklin rejected the advice of Dene and Métis leaders and lost eleven of his twenty-one men to exhaustion, starvation and murder. The second discovers a startling new answer to that greatest of Arctic mysteries: what was the root cause of the catastrophe that engulfed Franklin's last expedition?

The well-preserved wrecks of Erebus and Terror--located in 2014 and 2016--promise to yield more clues about what cost the lives of the expedition members, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism. Contemporary researchers, rejecting theories of lead poisoning and botulism, continue to seek conclusive evidence both underwater and on land.

Drawing on his own research and Inuit oral accounts, McGoogan teases out many intriguing aspects of Franklin's expeditions, including the explorer's lethal hubris in ignoring the expert advice of the Dene leader Akaitcho. Franklin disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, yet people remain fascinated with his final doomed voyage: what happened? McGoogan will captivate readers with his first-hand account of travelling to relevant locations, visiting the graves of dead sailors and experiencing the Arctic--one of the most dramatic and challenging landscapes on the planet.

Review Quotes

"...as a prolific writer of popular history titles, [McGoogan's] storytelling experience is abundantly obvious on every page of this book...Exploration fans will find the work fascinating. A revisionary and deeply personal look at the infamous Franklin expedition." --Kirkus Reviews

"McGoogan builds on recent finds in the region to flesh out what happened to all those who were lost on this tragic expedition...McGoogan's recounting will engross exploration history buffs." --Booklist

"What an enthralling new book by Ken McGoogan which provides fresh answers to this Arctic mystery." --David Grann (via X), bestselling author of The Wager and Killers of the Flower Moon

"This book by Ken McGoogan is SO GOOD!! I love Arctic exploration stories and this one is riveting." --Shari Lapena (via X), international bestselling author of The Couple Next Door and Everyone Here is Lying

"Multi-award-winning MGoogan is probing a mystery that has engaged us for more than 175 years. . . . There's a raw immediacy, a forceful current of whiteknuckle suspense, to McGoogan's recreation of events." --Vancouver Sun

"Ken McGoogan has become our foremost chronicler of the Arctic explorers who sailed across the Atlantic to seek navigable waterways spanning northern seas that would take them all the way to "Cathay"--a Pierre Berton for the twenty-first century." --Philip Turner, The Great Gray Bridge

"[A]n in-depth, contemporary perspective on the legacy of Sir John Franklin, offering a new explanation of the famous Northern mystery." --Canadian Geographic

"Searching for Franklin is nothing short of a rewrite of Arctic history. McGoogan takes us well beyond the common narrative, and offers insight into the reasons why Franklin could not understand the risks he was taking by ignoring the advice of others. . . . Searching for Franklin introduces us to the man behind the myth, and it's about time." --Dave Obee, Victoria Times-Colonist