Finding Franklin
The Untold Story of a 165-Year Search
Description
In 2014 media around the world buzzed with news that an archaeological team from Parks Canada had located and identified the wreck of HMS Erebus, the flagship of Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Finding Franklin outlines the larger story and the cast of detectives from every walk of life that led to the discovery, solving one of the Arctic’s greatest mysteries. In compelling and accessible prose, Russell Potter details his decades of work alongside key figures in the era of modern searches for the expedition and elucidates how shared research and ideas have led to a fuller understanding of the Franklin crew’s final months. Illustrated with numerous images and maps from the last two centuries, Finding Franklin recounts the more than fifty searches for traces of his ships and crew, and the dedicated, often obsessive, men and women who embarked on them. Potter discusses the crucial role that Inuit oral accounts, often cited but rarely understood, played in all of these searches, and continue to play to this day, and offers historical and cultural context to the contemporary debates over the significance of Franklin’s achievement. While examination of HMS Erebus will undoubtedly reveal further details of this mystery, Finding Franklin assembles the stories behind the myth and illuminates what is ultimately a remarkable decades-long discovery.
Reviews
"What becomes increasingly evident is Potter’s own fervent interest in his subject matter… [he] creates a contagious sense of excitement.” Quill & Quire
“With ambitious scope and profound depth, Potter deftly demonstrates that truth can indeed be stranger and more fascinating than fiction. This seamless blend of research and captivating storytelling showcases the curiosity, frailty, and endurance of the human spirit.” Publishers Weekly
"I can think of no-one more suited to telling this story." David C. Woodman, author of Unravelling the Franklin Mystery: Inuit Testimony
"Dr. Potter’s treatment of recent projects dedicated to uncovering clues to the Franklin mystery incorporates information from both historic and recent searches in a constructive, lively sequence. It juxtaposes clues in the writings of early searchers and
"Dr. Potter has pulled together the Franklin story into a compelling narrative of a search that focussed the attention of the world on the far north a century and a half ago, and has refocused it today. He hasn’t dived into Arctic waters or excavated anci
"Finding Franklin is a compelling book. Potter is one of the most respected Franklin scholars in the world and this volume shows us why. He has an intimate familiarity with the vast material on the search and understands - better than anyone else - its place within the cultural imagination." Michael F. Robinson, University of Hartford