Erebus One ship, two epic voyages, and the greatest naval mystery of all time

Michael Palin

Book - 2018

"Michael Palin brings the fascinating story of the Erebus and its occupants to life, from its construction as a bomb vessel in 1826 through the flagship years of James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition and finally to Sir John Franklin's quest for the holy grail of navigation--a route through the Northwest Passage, where the ship disappeared into the depths of the sea for more than 150 years. It was rediscovered under the arctic waters in 2014"--

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Subjects
Published
Vancouver : Greystone Books [2018]
Language
English
Main Author
Michael Palin (author)
Physical Description
xiv, 334 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781771644419
  • Introduction: Hooker's Stockings
  • Prologue: The Survivor
  • 1. Made in Wales
  • 2. Magnetic North
  • 3. Magnetic South
  • 4. Far-off Shores
  • 5. 'Our Southern Home'
  • 6. 'Farther south than any (Known) human being has been'
  • 7. Dancing with the Captains
  • 8. 'Pilgrims of the Ocean'
  • 9. 'Such a wretched place as this you never saw'
  • 10. 'Three years from Gillingham'
  • 11. Homeward Bound
  • 12. 'So little now remains to be done'
  • 13. North by North-west
  • 14. No Signal
  • 15. The Truth
  • 16. Life and Death
  • 17. The Inuit Story
  • 18. Resurrection
  • Epilogue: Back in the Northwest Passage
  • Appendix: Timeline
  • Acknowledgements
  • Picture Acknowledgements
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Palin's enthusiasm for seafaring tales and Victorian-era polar exploration enliven this history of the Erebus, a warship that disappeared in the most severe sailing conditions of the mid-19th century. Commissioned in 1826, the Erebus had a stout build ideal for braving polar ice, and she and her sister ship, Terror, were designated for this duty by the British admiralty in 1839. Palin's detailed, affectionate descriptions of the ships' construction, outfitting, and crewing reveal an almost boyish enthusiasm. His astute use of ship's journals and crewmen's letters gives vividness to the tale, and his amiable travel-show narrator's persona comes through in amusing asides and descriptions of great seamanship. He recounts the somewhat hastily organized polar expedition of 1845, led by the aging explorer Sir John Franklin, with appropriate foreboding of the looming disaster that caused both ships to go missing for over a century (it is believed they were trapped in the ice, and everyone on them died of disease or abandoned ship). He also offers a thoughtful, compelling description of the climate-change-affected Arctic landscape today. The grim coda recounts abortive rescue attempts, fleeting clues to the explorers' fates, and the modern reverence for their doomed efforts and for the recently rediscovered wreckage. Though this is an oft-told story, Palin's version makes for cracking good reading. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.