Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition

The book provides a brief outline of disappearance the Franklin Expedition on its quest for the Northwest Passage in the early 1800s and the aftermath of the search conducted by various international parties, government and otherwise. It then relates the events of three research expeditions undertaken by the author, a forensic anthropologist who was interested in finding and reviewing various skeletal remains originally discovered decades after the loss of the Franklin party.

Eventually, he concentrates his efforts on exhuming the frozen bodies of three crewmen who had died in the Franklin Expedition's first icebound season, before they had well and truly plunged irrevocably into tragedy. These men had been buried in well-prepared graves on a small island north of Canada's Hudson Bay. Even to this day, the bodies remain fantastically preserved, and the author was able to uncover intriguing evidence that suggests that the expedition did not succumb in a heroic struggle against the large and grand forces of nature, but rather fell to altogether more pedestrian and minute agents.

The exhumation and autopsy processes are well described, and the theory that later develops is explained simply enough for the layman to follow.

Perhaps the biggest strength of this book is the beautifully composed color photos that show the gravesites and the actual bodies. These pictures are truly stirring and invocative.

The maps are also nicely done. However, the book would have benefited from a timeline and from an additional map showing the location of various Franklin party remains and artifacts. It sometimes becomes difficult to recall who was found where and when, since as it turns out, the expedition members covered a lot of ground and some of them split up. With that exception, though, this is an interesting book and a quick but thought-provoking read.


Informative and Readable   December 28, 2000
Liana Winsauer (Chicago-ish, IL)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful

I can't argue with the other reviewers of this book, and I won't bother reiterating their comments. I would like to add that the author had done a wonderful job of explaining technical subjects in a way that the average reader can understand. As an example, tissue samples from the expedition victims were analyzed for unusual concentrations of various substances. The author explains the hows and whys of the analysis, and what the results mean.

Also, he appears to have gone into his investigation with a relatively unbiased state of mind, and his conclusions are logical and don't sound to me as if he made the facts fit his ideas. A refreshing change from some books on polar exploration.


Wow!   August 3, 2000
jered bahr (nashville, tn usa)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

This work of nonfiction reads like a suspense thriller. I have read several nonfiction, survival books, "Yukon Alone" and "Into the Wild" and "frozen in time is at par with boh of these. There are very few slow sections, it flows very nicely. starting off with a few chapters of the history of the Northwest passage expeditions, and moves into the search for the three bodies of men involved in the Franklin expedition. Every chapter end will have you looking at the clock and hoping you have enough time to read the next. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys history and true life mysteries. Although if you have a week stomach, don't look at the pictures in the center, they are rather graffic.


A Well-Researched Book on the tragic Franklin Expedition.   June 12, 2000
Paul Arellano (VA, USA)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

This book provides an in-depth look into what really happened to the Franklin expedition when it left England in 1845 with 2 ships: the Erebus and the Terror. Led by Sir John Franklin, 129 men set sail in search for the Northwest Passage in the labyrinth of the Canada's arctic archipelago, the expedition boasted the most technologically advanced ship at that time with thousands of provisions that was to last for three years. After four years with no word from the expedition, the Royal Navy and the public decided to launch several search and rescue expeditions to locate the lost expedition. For several years, the rescue expeditions yielded only bits and pieces of the expedition's final days. One of the most significant finds in these rescue expeditions were 3 well-preserved corpses (due to the cold temperatures) of the Franklin expedition buried in one of the small rock islands dotting arctic Canada. Thus begin's the books forensic investigation as to what happened to the Franklin expedition. Beattie and his team exhumes the 3 corpses and conducts extensive autopsies of the remains. The book will make the reader feel as if he/she is part of the team. It never leaves the reader out of touch but rather it brings the reader into the experiences which the researchers felt as they moved closer to the truth. Great reading! One of the best true adventure books I have ever read. Pick it up!