|
Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot |  | Author: Ken McGoogan
Publisher: Basic Books
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $5.97
as of 11/22/2009 02:54 CST details
You Save: $9.98 (63%)
New (17) Used (11) from $1.95
Seller: beachwoodbooks
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 127698
Media: Paperback
Pages: 340
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0786711566
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780786711567
ASIN: 0786711566
Publication Date: April 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
In the spring of 1854, John Rae, a Scottish immigrant to Canada, led a small party of explorers across the Boothia Peninsula to map the missing link in the fabled Northwest Passage. That signal accomplishment, along with Rae's other contributions to Canadian and world geography, should have earned him glory. Instead, Ken McGoogan tells us, Rae faded from the record. Rae's trouble, McGoogan writes, came from unpleasant reports that he filed about the fate of an earlier expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, whose remains he discovered along the way. Lost "in a hummocky wasteland of yawning crevasses and ten-foot pressure ridges assailed by blizzards and blowing snow," the unfortunate party--or so Inuit hunters reported to Rae--resorted to eating the dead. The news scandalized Victorian society, drawing vigorous objections from none other than Charles Dickens, who argued that proper British heroes were incapable of such acts and had to have been done in by the Inuit themselves. Rae, the messenger, was effectively killed by the tidings he brought, and written out of the history books. In this insightful and adventure-packed book, McGoogan restores Rae's name to the long roster of heroes of Arctic exploration. --Gregory McNamee
Product Description
John Rae's accomplishments, surpassing all nineteenth-century Arctic explorers, were worthy of honors and international fame. No explorer even approached Rae's prolific record: 1,776 miles surveyed of uncharted territory; 6,555 miles hiked on snowshoes; and 6,700 miles navigated in small boats. Yet, he was denied fair recognition of his discoveries because he dared to utter the truth about the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew, Rae's predecessors in the far north. Author Ken McGoogan vividly narrates the astonishing adventures of Rae, who found the last link to the Northwest Passage and uncovered the grisly truth about the cannibalism of Franklin and his crew. A bitter smear campaign by Franklin's supporters would deny Rae his knighthood and bury him in ignominy for over one hundred and fifty years. Ken McGoogan's passion to secure justice for a true North American hero in this revelatory book produces a completely original and compelling portrait that elevates Rae to his rightful place as one of history's greatest explorers.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
 Orkney's Hero Well Remembered in This Worthy Book November 5, 2009
John D. Mackintosh (LEXINGTON, SC USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There isn't much that I can add to the fine reviews here, other than to say that the author may be unduly harsh on Franklin's widow for not accepeting Rae's account that the fate of her husband's expedition ended with some resorting to canabalism. After all, who wouldn't resist accepting the news that the last days of their spouse might have included this unspeakable horror?
Despite that, this is an excellent biography. I purchased my copy during a recent trip to Scotland which, fortunately, included a visit to Orkney, the birthplace of Rae. I was immediately intrigued when our driver explained some of the background of Rae as I knew about Franklin but not Rae. I purchased the book at a local bookshop in Stromness. Those who read this book will be gratified to know that efforts are underway in Orkney to restore and preserve Rae's birthplace, an empty home that is easily seen when coming into Stromness. Additioanally, he is well remembered at St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall with a beautiful memorial. This book serves as a worthy monument in print.
 Arctic Exploration August 27, 2009
Steven M. Anthony (Arkansas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I enjoy reading non-fictional accounts of exploration, and have found two geographic regions particularly interesting; Amazonian and Arctic exploration. Perhaps this is because the issues faced by explorers of those regions are particularly challenging.
This book is essentially a biography of Dr. John Rae, a longtime employee of the Hudson Bay Company, who spent much of his life on or North of the Arctic Circle. The author is an unabashed fan of Dr. Rae, and even points out in his preface that the purpose of the book is to elevate Dr. Rae to a position in the pantheon of Arctic explorers, a position that the author firmly believes that Dr. Rae has been unjustly denied.
As a result, the question arises as to whether the author presents an unbiased picture of Rae and his achievements. For the greatest part of the book, this is really not a factor. There is no dispute as to Rae's exploits, his discoveries, or the incredible feats of endurance and competence he displayed in his endeavors. However, the final quarter of the book, dealing with controversy concerning his report on the Franklin expedition and the long running feud between Rae and Lady Jane Franklin certainly have the potential to present a biased and perhaps overly complementary picture of Rae's actions.
The final segment of the book, dealing with discovery of the Northwest Passage and the honors associated therewith, give the author a final opportunity to argue the poor treatment accorded Rae. While virtually every other explorer with a hand in charting the region was awarded knighthoods and cash rewards, Rae was excluded from official plaudits. Doubtless, this was a political decision as was the decision by many to credit Franklin with discovery of the Passage (which he most certainly did not). However, to simply label Rae as the discoverer of the Northwest Passage borders on hagiography. Charting the Northwest Passage was a collaborative undertaking and required the combined efforts of literally dozens of explorers over the course of decades. While it is true that Rae identified the final piece in the puzzle (though it is unlikely that he knew it at the time), to give him full credit ignores the 95% of the puzzle that was already in place.
Despite its sometimes biased viewpoints, it cannot be argued that Rae was anything other than a fascinating individual and perhaps the most physically gifted Arctic explorer on record. I can recommend this book to anyone with an interest in exploration in general and Arctic exploration in particular.
Interesting tales about a unique man's perspective on discovering and mapping the Arctic March 19, 2009
Blase A. Ciabaton (Naples, FL)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am an avid fan of artic exploration, and have read books on the conquest of both poles. Typically this genre of books recants stories of ship-based parties attempting to penetrate deep into the artic. I was attracted to this book because Rae approaches penetrating the arctic from a completely different vantage point. He ventures through the arctic almost exclusively on foot and by using small watercraft. In addition, Rae embraces many of the habits of the indigenous people including their dress and igloo construction techniques. Rae is also one of the first Europeans to see the value of including native people in his expedition parties for the benefit of translation, navigation and hunting. To appreciate Rae's accomplishments, one has to understand that all of these techniques were seen as borderline savage by European society at the time, so that rather than celebrating Rae's phenomenal achievements at the time, those outside of Canada typically ostracized him and at best considered him an odd ball.
This book fails to earn a 5-star rating from me because McGoogan is so enamored by Rae's accomplishments that he fails to see virtually any flaws or weaknesses in Rae. As savvy as Rae was in the wilderness, he was equally as awkward in the political world of his time. This, unfortunately, reinforced the odd ball image that he had, and because of his poor communication surrounding the fate of the Franklin expedition, he was, in fact, vilified by some powerful people in Britain. McGoogan goes out of his way to suggest that Rae's letter about the Franklin expedition wasn't meant for public distribution, and that this is what ultimately led to his poor public perception, but the reality is that in Rae's time or in modern day, if you upset powerful people and say unfavorable things about their loved ones, you will suffer negative consequences. For me, McGoogan's failure to identify flaws when they seemed apparent casts a bit of a shadow over the entire image of Rae throughout the book.
I found this book to be a very enjoyable read, with only a few areas of slower reading mostly toward the end. By all measures, the combination of Rae's innovative spirit and extreme physical prowess outdoors make his journeys throughout the book awe-inspiring and entertaining. If you're looking for an original work on Artic exploration, then this book is for you.
The story of John Rae ... wait, who's John Rae? February 21, 2009
Paul Weiss (Dundas, Ontario Canada)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
When one thinks of Arctic travel, the names that probably come to your mind first are Scott, Peary, Shackleton, Amundsen, Henry Hudson, Davis and, of course, Sir John Franklin.
Wait a minute ... what about John Rae?
"John Rae?" you say ... "Who's John Rae?"
Well, exactly! One might say that this is precisely the point of the book. Ken McGoogan's "Fatal Passage" is a thrilling biography of John Rae who is probably the least known, least understood and least respected Arctic explorer in history but he is also arguably the finest, the strongest, most accomplished, most extraordinary and most skilled white man to ever set foot into Canada's far north!
The list of his accomplishments, frankly, beggars the imagination. Endowed with almost superhuman physical strength and endurance, he led four major Arctic expeditions traveling more than 23,000 miles. Educated in Orkney as a medical man, he essentially taught himself the mechanics of surveying and cartography. Having done so, he then proceeded to accurately survey over 1,700 miles of unexplored territory including more than 1,500 miles of Canada's northern coastline. Demonstrating unparalleled stamina, resourcefulness and resilience, he trekked over 6,500 miles in the Arctic alone, most of it on snowshoes with a fully loaded pack and sledge, and he traveled an additional 6,600 miles in canoe and small boats. Whether alone or leading a group of men, he traveled light and fast often walking 30 to 40 miles per day (on snowshoes, in frigid temperatures with that fully loaded pack, mind you!).
In a career of exploration spanning almost twenty years as a doctor in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, he lost but one man during his travels and that was due to accident - nary a single fatality due to illness, malnutrition or starvation, murder, hypothermia or mismanagement. True to his character, he regretted the loss of that single man to his dying day.
But that wasn't enough. In the course of these travels, he also solved the two greatest Arctic mysteries of the day - the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the final navigable link in the fabled Northwest Passage.
Despite this unmatched record of accomplishment, John Rae passed away in England never having been truly acknowledged, recognized and rewarded by his peers. He received no knighthood. He had to fight and struggle to receive even the Hudson's Bay Company compensation that was his due. He struggled against the lifelong bitter animosity and unreasoning hatred of Lady Jane Franklin. He was even soundly criticized for living "like a savage - in snow houses and so forth. This behaviour did not seem cricket to the British public ... the object of polar exploration was to explore properly and not to evade the hazards of the game through the vulgar subterfuge of going native."
"Fatal Passage" is exciting history written with an enthusiasm and a flair that easily rivals the style of Pierre Berton, one of Canada's favourite home grown historians. I certainly hope that Ken will direct his writing skill to further subjects in the pantheon of Canadian history. Goodness knows, we could stand to applaud ourselves and our past much more loudly than we are typically wont to do.
Count me a fan, Mr McGoogan. Well done and highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
A point well made March 12, 2006
Westmore C. Willcox (Chapel Hill, NC United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
After finishing Fatal Passage, I felt perhaps a twinge of the same frustration that John Rae must have felt in his last years. Rae had the misfortune of delivering the disturbing accounts of cannibalism among the members of the Franklin Expedition. The report was so disturbing, especially to the powerful Lady Jane Franklin, that public opinion turned against Rae, who was only reporting accurately what he had learned. The net result was that Rae became a controversial figure in his time, rather than being recognized as the amazingly adaptive explorer that he was. McCoogan helps restore Rae to his rightful place in history and I am grateful for the author's efforts. The book is well-written and looks at the search for the Northwest Passage from a unique angle. It is a shame that the political climate of the time robbed Rae of the recognition he deserved. As a snowshoer who could cover 50-60 miles in a day, he was also perhaps an athlete of incredible stature and this aspect is well documented in the book as well. I am happy I read the book and recommend it to anyone interested in Arctic exploration.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
|
|
|
|
Return to Math.com | |
