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Andrew Lambert
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Publisher | Faber & Faber | ||
ISBN | 978-057123160 | ||
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Wendy
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Synopsis
In 1845 Captain Sir John Franklin led a large, well equipped expedition to complete the conquest of the Canadian Arctic, to find the fabled North West Passage connecting the North Atlantic to the North Pacific. Yet Franklin, his ships and men were fated never to return. The cause of their loss remains a mystery. Shocked by the disappearance of all 129 officers and men, and sickened by reports of cannibalism, the Victorians re-created Franklin as the brave Christian hero who laid down his life, and those of his men. Later generations have been more skeptical about Franklin and his supposed selfless devotion to duty. But does either view really explain why this outstanding scientific navigator found his ships trapped in pack ice seventy miles from magnetic north? Andrew Lambert re-examines the life and the evidence with his customary brilliance and authority. In this riveting story of the Arctic, he discovers a new Franklin: a character far more complex, and more truly heroic, than previous histories have allowed.
Review
'Franklin' explores the life and times of Captain Sir John Franklin, who led the ill fated expedition to the Arctic in 1845, with the loss of 129 men and reports of cannibalism.
Just like the Victorians - many of us find the subject of cannibalism abhorrent, but in my opinion, the will to survive is man's strongest instinct going back to prehistoric man. This was shown back in 1970 when there were reports of cannibalism when a plane crashed in the Andes in South America. It left me thinking that perhaps this is one of man's 'baser instincts' and one we find difficults to understand - but what would you or I do if left in a situation of abject starvation. How many of us would cross that unspoken barrier?
Between 1847 and 1857, three separate expeditions were sent to the Arctic to find out exactly what happened to Captain Sir John Franklin and his crew, and it amazes me that after two very little evidence was found. Lady Jane Franklin never gave up and between 8151-58 with the help of the Admiralty funded her own expeditions to find her husband.
The cost of chartering a ship, filling it with supplies and employing a crew must have cost a small fortune, and I felt that the amount spent was not fully justified - with men living in appalling conditions and putting their lives at risk for very little return.
Andrew Lambert has written a superb piece of naval history, which in the cause of his research he visited the sites of the Franklin expedition. He found a cold and desolate place where many men lost their lives in the pursuit of science and exploration!
A brilliant book - highly recommended
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