Searching for Franklin

New Answers to the Great Arctic Mystery

De: Ken McGoogan

Narrado por: Bob Souer

Two of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin's expeditions were monumental failures. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discover the Northwest Passage.

This book interweaves two 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. 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 promise to yield more clues about what cost the lives of the expedition members, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism. Contemporary researchers 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?

©2023 Ken McGoogan (P)2024 Tantor

Great story with poor narrator

This is easily the best available work on the Franklin expedition and well worth your time!

That being said, good lord the narrator is awful. I mean, first of all could they not find a British guy?? This should’ve been read by a British guy. But beyond that, the narrator genuinely sounds like an AI voice and I’m still not 100% convinced it’s not. Really weird, stilted inflection, strange pauses in places that don’t make sense, and no emotion. It’s a crime, because this is such a fascinating story!

Amazing and in depth

Absolutely fantastic book. One of the better Franklin reads. Outstandingly researched, excellent narration. Well worth your time.

This Isn’t The Book You Want It To Be

One of the most confused and egotistical books on the topic I’ve ever come across. It’s all over the place. This should’ve been several blog posts on the authors website. Its a few minutes of decades-old theories, the entire work of David Woodman, and snippets from The Man Who Ate His Boots, presented as new information, sandwiched in with hours of bland information about the authors own travels and experiences. The author is self obsessed, they barely touched on the implications of where the ships were found, for instance. They actually brag multiple times about being the first to write a book centered around the theory of tainted bear meat being the cause of the failure of the entire expedition, this somewhat plausible theory has gone around online for 30plus years, but it’s just a theory. It doesn’t explain why in the end they all chose to walk south, away from any search party that might come looking for them, for instance. I expected so much more. Guess we’ll have to keep waiting.

Terrible narrator that sounds like AI.