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Fatal Passage: The Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot
John Rae's accomplishments, surpassing all nineteenth-century Arctic explorers, were worthy of honors and international fame. No explorer even approached Rae's prolific record: 1,776 miles surveyed of uncharted territory; 6,555 miles hiked on snowshoes; and 6,700 miles navigated in small boats. Yet, he was denied fair recognition of his discoveries because he dared to utter the truth about the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew, Rae's predecessors in the far north. Author Ken McGoogan vividly narrates the astonishing adventures of Rae, who found the last link to the Northwest Passage and uncovered the grisly truth about the cannibalism of Franklin and his crew. A bitter smear campaign by Franklin's supporters would deny Rae his knighthood and bury him in ignominy for over one hundred and fifty years. Ken McGoogan's passion to secure justice for a true North American hero in this revelatory book produces a completely original and compelling portrait that elevates Rae to his rightful place as one of history's greatest explorers.
340 pages, Paperback
First published January 22, 2001
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December 3, 2022
The story of John Rae ... wait, who's John Rae?
When one thinks of Arctic travel, the names that probably come to your mind first are Scott, Peary, Shackleton, Amundsen, Henry Hudson, Davis and, of course, Sir John Franklin.
Wait a minute ... what about John Rae?
"John Rae?" you say ... "Who's John Rae?"
Well, exactly! One might say that this is precisely the point of the book. Ken McGoogan's FATAL PASSAGE is a thrilling biography of John Rae who is probably the least known, least understood and least respected Arctic explorer in history but he is also arguably the finest, the strongest, most accomplished, most extraordinary and most skilled white man to ever set foot into Canada's far north!
The list of his accomplishments, frankly, beggars the imagination. Endowed with almost superhuman physical strength and endurance, he led four major Arctic expeditions traveling more than 23,000 miles. Educated in Orkney as a medical man, he essentially taught himself the mechanics of surveying and cartography. Having done so, he then proceeded to accurately survey over 1,700 miles of unexplored territory including more than 1,500 miles of Canada's northern coastline. Demonstrating unparalleled stamina, resourcefulness and resilience, he trekked over 6,500 miles in the Arctic alone, most of it on snowshoes with a fully loaded pack and sledge, and he traveled an additional 6,600 miles in canoe and small boats. Whether alone or leading a group of men, he traveled light and fast often walking 30 to 40 miles per day (on snowshoes, in frigid temperatures with that fully loaded pack, mind you!).
In a career of exploration spanning almost twenty years as a doctor in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, he lost but one man during his travels and that was due to accident - nary a single fatality due to illness, malnutrition or starvation, murder, hypothermia or mismanagement. True to his character, he regretted the loss of that single man to his dying day.
But that wasn't enough. In the course of these travels, he also solved the two greatest Arctic mysteries of the day - the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the final navigable link in the fabled Northwest Passage.
Despite this unmatched record of accomplishment, John Rae passed away in England never having been truly acknowledged, recognized and rewarded by his peers. He received no knighthood. He had to fight and struggle to receive even the Hudson's Bay Company compensation that was his due. He struggled against the lifelong bitter animosity and unreasoning hatred of Lady Jane Franklin. He was even soundly criticized for living "like a savage - in snow houses and so forth. This behaviour did not seem cricket to the British public ... the object of polar exploration was to explore properly and not to evade the hazards of the game through the vulgar subterfuge of going native."
FATAL PASSAGE is exciting history written with an enthusiasm and a flair that easily rivals the style of Pierre Berton, one of Canada's favourite home grown historians. I certainly hope that Ken will direct his writing skill to further subjects in the pantheon of Canadian history. Goodness knows, we could stand to applaud ourselves and our past much more loudly than we are typically wont to do.
Count me a fan, Mr McGoogan. Well done and highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
When one thinks of Arctic travel, the names that probably come to your mind first are Scott, Peary, Shackleton, Amundsen, Henry Hudson, Davis and, of course, Sir John Franklin.
Wait a minute ... what about John Rae?
"John Rae?" you say ... "Who's John Rae?"
Well, exactly! One might say that this is precisely the point of the book. Ken McGoogan's FATAL PASSAGE is a thrilling biography of John Rae who is probably the least known, least understood and least respected Arctic explorer in history but he is also arguably the finest, the strongest, most accomplished, most extraordinary and most skilled white man to ever set foot into Canada's far north!
The list of his accomplishments, frankly, beggars the imagination. Endowed with almost superhuman physical strength and endurance, he led four major Arctic expeditions traveling more than 23,000 miles. Educated in Orkney as a medical man, he essentially taught himself the mechanics of surveying and cartography. Having done so, he then proceeded to accurately survey over 1,700 miles of unexplored territory including more than 1,500 miles of Canada's northern coastline. Demonstrating unparalleled stamina, resourcefulness and resilience, he trekked over 6,500 miles in the Arctic alone, most of it on snowshoes with a fully loaded pack and sledge, and he traveled an additional 6,600 miles in canoe and small boats. Whether alone or leading a group of men, he traveled light and fast often walking 30 to 40 miles per day (on snowshoes, in frigid temperatures with that fully loaded pack, mind you!).
In a career of exploration spanning almost twenty years as a doctor in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, he lost but one man during his travels and that was due to accident - nary a single fatality due to illness, malnutrition or starvation, murder, hypothermia or mismanagement. True to his character, he regretted the loss of that single man to his dying day.
But that wasn't enough. In the course of these travels, he also solved the two greatest Arctic mysteries of the day - the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the final navigable link in the fabled Northwest Passage.
Despite this unmatched record of accomplishment, John Rae passed away in England never having been truly acknowledged, recognized and rewarded by his peers. He received no knighthood. He had to fight and struggle to receive even the Hudson's Bay Company compensation that was his due. He struggled against the lifelong bitter animosity and unreasoning hatred of Lady Jane Franklin. He was even soundly criticized for living "like a savage - in snow houses and so forth. This behaviour did not seem cricket to the British public ... the object of polar exploration was to explore properly and not to evade the hazards of the game through the vulgar subterfuge of going native."
FATAL PASSAGE is exciting history written with an enthusiasm and a flair that easily rivals the style of Pierre Berton, one of Canada's favourite home grown historians. I certainly hope that Ken will direct his writing skill to further subjects in the pantheon of Canadian history. Goodness knows, we could stand to applaud ourselves and our past much more loudly than we are typically wont to do.
Count me a fan, Mr McGoogan. Well done and highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
December 18, 2023
I started this book with high expectations. I tend to like books about the Arctic, the average GR rating was 4.25, and the book features a Scotsman unfairly maligned by the British establishment. It all seemed a good fit for me! It can be a mistake to have high expectations though. The book has to be exceptional to match up to them.
This one is intended to rescue the reputation of John Rae, an Orcadian employed by the Hudson Bay Company, who became one of their most noted Arctic travellers and explorers. One of the reasons for his effectiveness was his willingness to observe and learn from the Inuit peoples, adopting their ways to survive in the north.
As set out in the blurb, in 1854 he became the first man to discover the fate of the Franklin expedition. Sir John Franklin had led a naval expedition to discover the Northwest passage, and the expedition’s disappearance was of huge interest to press and public in the UK. Rae encountered Inuit in possession of artefacts from the expedition, which he purchased. He also cross-referenced Inuit accounts of what had happened to its members, taking the items and the news back to London.
It would probably have been bad enough for Rae to have been simply the bearer of these bad tidings, but he also relayed Inuit accounts that members of the Franklin expedition had been reduced to cannibalism at the last. Sir John’s widow, the formidable Lady Franklin, took this as an insult to her husband’s honour, and therefore to her own. She used her influence with the British ruling class to blacken Rae’s name, even enlisting Charles Dickens to propagate an alternative version of events, in which the expedition’s survivors had been massacred by “Esqimaux savages”.
I felt the author went overboard in his praise of Rae, suggesting for example that he could “out-hike, out-shoot, out-hunt, out-track, out-snowshoe, out-canoe, out-survey, out-smart, and out-survive any man in North America—certainly any European.” There are hints of less attractive aspects of Rae’s character – and after all what person is without their faults – but these are glossed over quickly. Generally he is portrayed as someone who combined uncommon decency and honesty with unfailing good judgment. I was left thinking “well, maybe”.
The author also adopts a writing technique that I’m not keen on in non-fiction, that of presenting us with scenes which surely exist only in the imagination. Take the example quoted below.
“As he stood looking over the Mackenzie River, swiping at the mosquitoes that swarmed around his head, John Rae wondered: Why, oh why, hadn’t Franklin stayed home?”
And how would the author know that? The book is full of similar examples.
The book is at its best with the story of Rae’s return to the UK. The reader’s blood pressure will likely rise as he or she reads of Lady Franklin’s vindictive campaign against him, one that was largely though not completely successful.
Rae’s fate is best summed up by an American historian, Beau Riffenburgh, who is quoted in the book describing Rae as “an explorer shunned for presenting facts with which the establishment, the public or the press were not pleased.” That’s about the size of it!
This one is intended to rescue the reputation of John Rae, an Orcadian employed by the Hudson Bay Company, who became one of their most noted Arctic travellers and explorers. One of the reasons for his effectiveness was his willingness to observe and learn from the Inuit peoples, adopting their ways to survive in the north.
As set out in the blurb, in 1854 he became the first man to discover the fate of the Franklin expedition. Sir John Franklin had led a naval expedition to discover the Northwest passage, and the expedition’s disappearance was of huge interest to press and public in the UK. Rae encountered Inuit in possession of artefacts from the expedition, which he purchased. He also cross-referenced Inuit accounts of what had happened to its members, taking the items and the news back to London.
It would probably have been bad enough for Rae to have been simply the bearer of these bad tidings, but he also relayed Inuit accounts that members of the Franklin expedition had been reduced to cannibalism at the last. Sir John’s widow, the formidable Lady Franklin, took this as an insult to her husband’s honour, and therefore to her own. She used her influence with the British ruling class to blacken Rae’s name, even enlisting Charles Dickens to propagate an alternative version of events, in which the expedition’s survivors had been massacred by “Esqimaux savages”.
I felt the author went overboard in his praise of Rae, suggesting for example that he could “out-hike, out-shoot, out-hunt, out-track, out-snowshoe, out-canoe, out-survey, out-smart, and out-survive any man in North America—certainly any European.” There are hints of less attractive aspects of Rae’s character – and after all what person is without their faults – but these are glossed over quickly. Generally he is portrayed as someone who combined uncommon decency and honesty with unfailing good judgment. I was left thinking “well, maybe”.
The author also adopts a writing technique that I’m not keen on in non-fiction, that of presenting us with scenes which surely exist only in the imagination. Take the example quoted below.
“As he stood looking over the Mackenzie River, swiping at the mosquitoes that swarmed around his head, John Rae wondered: Why, oh why, hadn’t Franklin stayed home?”
And how would the author know that? The book is full of similar examples.
The book is at its best with the story of Rae’s return to the UK. The reader’s blood pressure will likely rise as he or she reads of Lady Franklin’s vindictive campaign against him, one that was largely though not completely successful.
Rae’s fate is best summed up by an American historian, Beau Riffenburgh, who is quoted in the book describing Rae as “an explorer shunned for presenting facts with which the establishment, the public or the press were not pleased.” That’s about the size of it!
May 4, 2017
This is the biography of the Arctic explorer, discoverer of the final link in the Northwest passage and that of the fate of Sir John Franklin's failed expedition, Dr. John Rae.
Author Ken McGoogan brings Rae's character to life by describing his incredible feats of exploration in detail, including many passages from Arctic historians, illustrations of landscapes, maps and characters, and many quotes taken from the journals of Rae himself.
The man was an expert hunter, geographer, leader, outdoorsman and traveler, by land or sea. He traveled more than 23,000 miles and surveyed 1,751 miles of uncharted territory (nearly all of it arctic coastline), all in the span of nine years (1846 to 1854). Rae personified endurance, integrity and achievement.
John Rae was ahead of his time in many ways - he was open-minded and eager to work with the Inuit, Metis and other First Nations people, learning survival skills from them and counting on them during his expeditions. He refused to accept the unconditional superiority of the British people, and was dutifully honest and openly critical of their exploratory outcomes. These were critically taboo behaviours in the 1800s and they ultimately cost Rae his much-deserved glory from his greatest achievements.
As incredible as his physical feats were, Rae's greatest feat was the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his failed expedition - information he had acquired and verified from the dependable Inuit of the area. After learning that Franklin and his men had all died, with some resorting to cannibalism, Rae dutifully shared the details with his superiors in England. (he had also purchased items from the Inuit which were recovered from Franklin's wreck, further validating the story).
When his confidential report of Sir Franklin's failure got out to the public and were published in the national newspaper, the romanticized image of British arctic exploration was shattered. Such revelations attacked the character of the deceased Franklin and his widowed wife, the British Navy who launched the expedition, and the superiority complex of the entire British empire.
Rather than accepting the horrible truth, the elitist class, Crown and navy all turned against Rae, with the widowed and politically powerful Lady Jane Franklin leading the campaign. So powerful was her influence, and so imperative was the nation's need to save face, that Rae's character and accomplishments (most importantly his discovery of the final link in the Northwest passage) were denied, distorted and discredited.
Thus, history would go down as Sir John Franklin being the discoverer of the final Northwest passage link, and all major arctic explorers except Rae being knighted. But the truth remained, and has been verified time and time again (albeit after Rae's passing in 1893), that it was Dr. Rae who solved the Franklin mystery and completed the Northwest passage.
In short, Fatal Passage is a restoration of the incredible Dr. John Rae, "The Arctic Hero time forgot". It's a must-read for anyone interested in arctic exploration, the Northwest passage, the politics of exploration, and historical personifications of endurance and integrity.
Author Ken McGoogan brings Rae's character to life by describing his incredible feats of exploration in detail, including many passages from Arctic historians, illustrations of landscapes, maps and characters, and many quotes taken from the journals of Rae himself.
The man was an expert hunter, geographer, leader, outdoorsman and traveler, by land or sea. He traveled more than 23,000 miles and surveyed 1,751 miles of uncharted territory (nearly all of it arctic coastline), all in the span of nine years (1846 to 1854). Rae personified endurance, integrity and achievement.
John Rae was ahead of his time in many ways - he was open-minded and eager to work with the Inuit, Metis and other First Nations people, learning survival skills from them and counting on them during his expeditions. He refused to accept the unconditional superiority of the British people, and was dutifully honest and openly critical of their exploratory outcomes. These were critically taboo behaviours in the 1800s and they ultimately cost Rae his much-deserved glory from his greatest achievements.
As incredible as his physical feats were, Rae's greatest feat was the discovery of the fate of Sir John Franklin and his failed expedition - information he had acquired and verified from the dependable Inuit of the area. After learning that Franklin and his men had all died, with some resorting to cannibalism, Rae dutifully shared the details with his superiors in England. (he had also purchased items from the Inuit which were recovered from Franklin's wreck, further validating the story).
When his confidential report of Sir Franklin's failure got out to the public and were published in the national newspaper, the romanticized image of British arctic exploration was shattered. Such revelations attacked the character of the deceased Franklin and his widowed wife, the British Navy who launched the expedition, and the superiority complex of the entire British empire.
Rather than accepting the horrible truth, the elitist class, Crown and navy all turned against Rae, with the widowed and politically powerful Lady Jane Franklin leading the campaign. So powerful was her influence, and so imperative was the nation's need to save face, that Rae's character and accomplishments (most importantly his discovery of the final link in the Northwest passage) were denied, distorted and discredited.
Thus, history would go down as Sir John Franklin being the discoverer of the final Northwest passage link, and all major arctic explorers except Rae being knighted. But the truth remained, and has been verified time and time again (albeit after Rae's passing in 1893), that it was Dr. Rae who solved the Franklin mystery and completed the Northwest passage.
In short, Fatal Passage is a restoration of the incredible Dr. John Rae, "The Arctic Hero time forgot". It's a must-read for anyone interested in arctic exploration, the Northwest passage, the politics of exploration, and historical personifications of endurance and integrity.
February 18, 2023
I could imagine that if John Rae had happened to chance upon fellow Scots The Proclaimers mid 'I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more...' one snowy winter's morning his response would be something like 'alright lads, I'm up for that...do you fancy a game of 5-aside when we get back this afternoon?'
This account of Rae falls into 2 broad categories. The 1st concerns his exploration of the Canadian Arctic. This isn't rendered in a way that's too interesting - mostly Rae seems concerned with exterminating anything edible and the detail in the geography really comes across for the purist interested in the mid-northern Canadian coastline.
The 2nd part is entirely more interesting - Rae's fight against the establishment and vested interest in his case around the discovery of Franklin's ill-fated expedition. Who knew Dicken's was such an imperialist lackey?
On balance, its an interesting introduction to the subject of Rae and the exploration of this area and McGoogan is clearly a fan, but its a bit repetitious and could do without the last 20-30 pages.
This account of Rae falls into 2 broad categories. The 1st concerns his exploration of the Canadian Arctic. This isn't rendered in a way that's too interesting - mostly Rae seems concerned with exterminating anything edible and the detail in the geography really comes across for the purist interested in the mid-northern Canadian coastline.
The 2nd part is entirely more interesting - Rae's fight against the establishment and vested interest in his case around the discovery of Franklin's ill-fated expedition. Who knew Dicken's was such an imperialist lackey?
On balance, its an interesting introduction to the subject of Rae and the exploration of this area and McGoogan is clearly a fan, but its a bit repetitious and could do without the last 20-30 pages.
March 31, 2009
My son who loves history recommended this book to me. It is the story of John Rae, an amazing Arctic adventurer. This book is rich in detail and characterization. I could almost imagine being by Rae's side as he walked 50 miles in the wilds of the northern hemisphere, as he befriended the local native population, and learned over the years the best way to navigate in the unforgiving wilderness of the North Pole area. I felt as if I were with him and his intrepid crews as they sailed the frozen waters of Baffin Bay and the Barrow Strait as they searched for the lost Franklin expedition which had disappeared without a trace while searching for the elusive North-West Passage which would enable sailing across frozen waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific.
This book definitively answers the question of who ultimately deserves credit for finding the North-West Passage as well as who discovered the truth about Franklin and his ill-fated crew. If you enjoy history and would like to know more about the exploration of the Arctic, this is a great and entertaining book.
This book definitively answers the question of who ultimately deserves credit for finding the North-West Passage as well as who discovered the truth about Franklin and his ill-fated crew. If you enjoy history and would like to know more about the exploration of the Arctic, this is a great and entertaining book.
Read
July 30, 2011Best book I've read this year - thanks Dad!
Fascinating story of the Orcadian John Rae, Arctic explorer par excellence who was marginalised through snobbery and spite and his discoveries credited to other, less competent men.
I recommend everyone read about the real discoverer of the North-West passage and the fate of the Franklin expedition. This guy was seriously hardcore, learning from the Inuit and surviving the harshest winters by building snow huts and shooting game.
Meticulously researched and with a compelling story-telling style, I was particularly fascinated by the way Rae was shunned by Victorian society for bringing back the truths that nobody wanted to hear. Deserved recognition at last.
Fascinating story of the Orcadian John Rae, Arctic explorer par excellence who was marginalised through snobbery and spite and his discoveries credited to other, less competent men.
I recommend everyone read about the real discoverer of the North-West passage and the fate of the Franklin expedition. This guy was seriously hardcore, learning from the Inuit and surviving the harshest winters by building snow huts and shooting game.
Meticulously researched and with a compelling story-telling style, I was particularly fascinated by the way Rae was shunned by Victorian society for bringing back the truths that nobody wanted to hear. Deserved recognition at last.
July 21, 2021
As with most stories about arctic travel, this book is both uplifting but tragic. But this one is tragic because John Rae didn't get the recognition he deserved in his lifetime.
This is both a quick history of the search for the Northwest Passage, and a biography of John Rae, but there's also a fair amount about the Franklin Expedition too. But the author weaves all these strands together really well and I never became lost.
I really enjoyed the abundance of maps and illustrations throughout the book. I don't think enough non-fiction authors use pictures within the text to be honest.
John Rae comes across as a man way ahead of his time - he had crazy ideas like listening to and learning from the local Inuit communities, paying his men well, and telling the truth. Things which didn't go down well in his time.
It's great that his story has been told in this book, as he deserves one.
This is both a quick history of the search for the Northwest Passage, and a biography of John Rae, but there's also a fair amount about the Franklin Expedition too. But the author weaves all these strands together really well and I never became lost.
I really enjoyed the abundance of maps and illustrations throughout the book. I don't think enough non-fiction authors use pictures within the text to be honest.
John Rae comes across as a man way ahead of his time - he had crazy ideas like listening to and learning from the local Inuit communities, paying his men well, and telling the truth. Things which didn't go down well in his time.
It's great that his story has been told in this book, as he deserves one.
December 9, 2019
Riveting read.
January 12, 2024
Charles Dickens was a lil b*tch
September 17, 2019
I remember learning about the race to find the Northwest passage in school, back when the abacus was still in use.... and just as the book said there was very little, if any, mention of John Rae. Reading about the hardships he and his team endured was quite exciting, there were no devastating mishaps or catastrophes, proving that John Rae was as good as his advocates claim at surviving in the wild. Afterall, you only have harrowing ordeals if you have bungled things because you are ill prepared or completely out of your element.
The Franklin expedition was one such failure. While undoubtably a good man, Franklin was completely out of his depth and should never have ventured into the Arctic, losing all hands from both of his ships was the price paid for the hubris of both the British Admiralty and of Lady Franklin. Whom convinced Sir Franklin to mount the expedition in the first place, to increase her social status amongst the elite class.
John Rae admired and respected skill, strength, and knowledge, which lead him to learn survival in the cold north from those that had the most eperience. The native tribes of Canada, especially the Inuit.
His choice of teammates reflected his practical outlook. It was not, as many of his detractors suggested, him going native, it was knowing that in order to survive an unforgiving wilderness you needed to have the best and most reliable with you. Preferring to hire fellow Orkadians, French voyageurs, Metis, Natives and seasoned HBC men, while refusing the unskilled and often unfit Naval men of the Royal Navy.
If you enjoy great stories of bygone ages where life was anything but easy, then you would do well to read this book. It takes the reader through a very important time in North American and British history.
History doesn't have to be pleasant to be important, remember this as you read.
The Franklin expedition was one such failure. While undoubtably a good man, Franklin was completely out of his depth and should never have ventured into the Arctic, losing all hands from both of his ships was the price paid for the hubris of both the British Admiralty and of Lady Franklin. Whom convinced Sir Franklin to mount the expedition in the first place, to increase her social status amongst the elite class.
John Rae admired and respected skill, strength, and knowledge, which lead him to learn survival in the cold north from those that had the most eperience. The native tribes of Canada, especially the Inuit.
His choice of teammates reflected his practical outlook. It was not, as many of his detractors suggested, him going native, it was knowing that in order to survive an unforgiving wilderness you needed to have the best and most reliable with you. Preferring to hire fellow Orkadians, French voyageurs, Metis, Natives and seasoned HBC men, while refusing the unskilled and often unfit Naval men of the Royal Navy.
If you enjoy great stories of bygone ages where life was anything but easy, then you would do well to read this book. It takes the reader through a very important time in North American and British history.
History doesn't have to be pleasant to be important, remember this as you read.
February 7, 2011
I should have liked this book and there were sections that were very interesting. Rae was an interesting person - he came from the Orkneys and worked for the Hudson Bay Company that sponsored his expeditions. It was interesting to see how different HBC expeditions were from the standard Navy or gov't sponsored expeditions. Rae also was the first (early to mid 19th century) to recognize the value of the native peoples' approaches to life in the arctic. He was willing to learn from the Inuit and native peoples and used snow houses and native fur clothing to much advantage. He also appears to have judged men (I think it was all men) on their capabilities not on their social status and paid them fairly for their incredible exertions. He also appears to have been a good and capable leader (hard to tell because the author is so biased). BUT, the author had/has an agenda. Rae is his hero and I don't think we can write books about our heroes. The author wants to exonerate Rae and show how he was maligned by a classist, racist British society and never given credit for his accomplishments. This agenda finally made the book unreadable. Too bad.
May 8, 2014
I generally love polar expedition stories, but I didn't particularly enjoy Ken McGoogan's "Fatal Pasage: The True Story of John Rae, the Arctic Hero Time Forgot." In a way, I understood why time forgot Rae as his story, at least told by McGoogan, isn't terribly interesting.
The book is pretty dry and the most interesting bits about Rae come at the tail end of the book. I think the book needed to be totally restructured to make it a lot more interesting.
Rae, a prodigious walker, organized several expeditions in the Arctic, several with the design of looking for the lost Franklin expedition, which disappeared while searching for the Northwest Passage. Rae never finds the expedition itself, but finds relics and speaks with Eskimos who provide the information that pinpoints where the remains of about 40 members of the expedition can be found. However, Rae's conclusions about the expedition upset Lady Jane Franklin so much that she set out to destroy his reputation.
All this would be fairly interesting reading but it makes up such a small portion of the book. There is a ton of less interesting detail to wade through in order to get to the meat of the story.
The book is pretty dry and the most interesting bits about Rae come at the tail end of the book. I think the book needed to be totally restructured to make it a lot more interesting.
Rae, a prodigious walker, organized several expeditions in the Arctic, several with the design of looking for the lost Franklin expedition, which disappeared while searching for the Northwest Passage. Rae never finds the expedition itself, but finds relics and speaks with Eskimos who provide the information that pinpoints where the remains of about 40 members of the expedition can be found. However, Rae's conclusions about the expedition upset Lady Jane Franklin so much that she set out to destroy his reputation.
All this would be fairly interesting reading but it makes up such a small portion of the book. There is a ton of less interesting detail to wade through in order to get to the meat of the story.
January 17, 2019
A decent, mostly engaging read that highlights the achievements of a dynamic arctic explorer, who accomplished so much in surveying the nether regions of bitter ice and unrelenting cold, making good use of the native people and their ways. Traversing on foot, by snowshoe, sledges and canoe, he charted much of the coastline north of Hudson Bay and was among the many expeditions searching for the infamous Franklin ships and crew. McGoogan weaves a fine story of adventure, scattered with humorous tales, actual transcripts, maps and photos. Though a slightly biased biographical account, which was duplicative at times during the telling, the author also describes this raw land in such a pure voice that you are practically swept back to a time when the land was new and rarely touched by man. My middle-of-the-road rating mainly reflects my personal preference for the meat of the book (the arctic expeditions) rather than the entire account of Rae's life.
April 5, 2010
I had been looking for a book about the search for the Northwest Passage and the lost Franklin expedition. I found this title that seemed to wrap those two subjects up in one book. John Rae found a strait that would be the final link for the Northwest Passage. He also found evidence that the Franklin expedition had been tragically lost in the ice.
The reason for the three stars? The author's hero worship of this forgotten Arctic explorer was obvious, especially at the end where the author and two others travel to the Arctic to place a plaque in honor of Rae. However, that aside, McGoogan tells Rae's tale in a straightforward and non embellished way. Since John Rae seemed a straightforward and non embellished type from McGoogan's description, he would have appreciated this account of his time in the Arctic.
The reason for the three stars? The author's hero worship of this forgotten Arctic explorer was obvious, especially at the end where the author and two others travel to the Arctic to place a plaque in honor of Rae. However, that aside, McGoogan tells Rae's tale in a straightforward and non embellished way. Since John Rae seemed a straightforward and non embellished type from McGoogan's description, he would have appreciated this account of his time in the Arctic.
July 29, 2017
His greatest accomplishments took place on his epic journeys in the Canadian Arctic, filling in the blank places on the map, and the great work he did there stands as his monument. But he obtained fame of another and more sensational sort when he became the first to cast light on the mysterious fate of the Franklin expedition after Sir John Franklin, two Royal Navy ships and 128 men vanished into the Arctic gloom in 1845 in search of the North West Passage, never to be seen alive again.
In terms of things that matter (rather than sensationalism) Rae's real claim to fame is that he was one of the first Northern explorers in North America to adopt the techniques of 'living off the land,' i.e. of supporting himself and a small party by hunting and fishing to the extent that he was able to stay in the field almost indefinitely.
In terms of things that matter (rather than sensationalism) Rae's real claim to fame is that he was one of the first Northern explorers in North America to adopt the techniques of 'living off the land,' i.e. of supporting himself and a small party by hunting and fishing to the extent that he was able to stay in the field almost indefinitely.
July 13, 2013
A very real account of the sacrifices and tenaciousness of Mr. John Rae, and the fight for him to get the recognition he deserved as the discovery of the Northwest passage. Unfortunately, his contemporaries of his time derided him as they refued to accept the truths he had disconvered, but history has given him the recognition he deserves. Kudos to Ken McGoogan for bringing this story to life with such riveting stroy telling. History books should be written with this type of human interest side of history.
September 28, 2011
Never expected to enjoy books about arctic/antartic but have read 3 or 4 and all have been good: Man vs the elements!
September 2, 2019
Well written and fascinating book about smaller scale exploration of Northern Canada and the Northwest Passage.
September 5, 2019
Amazing tale of a hardy Orcadian
An interesting and fascinating story about endurance, guile and hardship in the Canadian Arctic. Rae was an incredibly fit person.
An interesting and fascinating story about endurance, guile and hardship in the Canadian Arctic. Rae was an incredibly fit person.
November 6, 2019
I enjoyed this trek through the history of Arctic/NW Passage exploration and learning about about the great explorer John Rae.
March 4, 2023
Fuck me, that man liked a walk
February 25, 2021
An utterly compelling book on many levels. I went into it having never heard of John Rae, and only knowing Sir John Franklin as the leader of an ill-fated Arctic expedition, lamented in a folk song. I learnt a great deal about both of them.
The bulk of the book is, to me, the most interesting, telling the story of Orkneyman John Rae’s life and explorations up to the point of collision with the Franklin story. Rae seems to have been an extraordinary man, almost super-humanly fit, capable of incredible feats of endurance under extreme conditions, a man of attention to detail but also open to different ideas. He joined the Hudson Bay Company at the age of 19 as a fully qualified doctor, having begun training at Edinburgh University at the age of 15. Right from the start he was drawn to the Arctic, and soon abandoned his original plan to be a ship’s doctor and settled into life as a Company man.
Within a very few years, he had become a consummate man of the Arctic. His success was founded on three skills. Firstly, his physical fitness, strength and endurance, even under the most harsh conditions. Secondly, his ability to hunt and provide food for himself and his travelling companions wherever he went. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, his willingness to befriend and learn from the Inuit, called Eskimaux in those days. He learnt to build igloos, to drive huskies the native way, to make native clothes, to improve sledges and boats, and much more besides. He took interpreters on all his journeys and made a point of talking to the Inuit whenever he met them, exploiting their local knowledge and trading with them for better equipment or information.
The end result was that he could move through the hostile environment of the polar regions, even in winter, and not merely survive but actually thrive. The journey that most impressed me was a fifteen-month expedition, covering two short Arctic summers and the winter in between, when Rae took with him only enough supplies for three months. He had trouble convincing people to join him, for they thought it was a suicidal mission, but he knew he could provide enough food and shelter to survive, and so it proved.
The contrast with the navy-supported expeditions from Britain could not have been greater. Franklin’s expedition consisted of two large ships equipped with every technological advantage that Victorian Britain could provide, and enough food and other supplies for three years. Yet Franklin and all his men perished in the most dire circumstances, of starvation and illness. 129 men died on that one expedition, yet John Rae, in his whole life, lost only one man, and that from a stupid accident. Those statistics alone prove Rae’s calibre more than any other.
This culture clash is really the theme of the whole book. Rae and Franklin both started out as sons of firmly middle-class families who made their way on merit, Rae in the Hudson Bay Company and Franklin in the Royal Navy, both were successful explorers but only one of them became an iconic British legend. Rae was the laconic get-on-with-it Scot, always an outsider in British society, while Franklin was absorbed effortlessly into the establishment, was knighted and became a hero, even though his final expedition was a failure by any measure. Rae was successful in using native methods and respected the Inuit people and culture, while Franklin, like most of Victorian society, looked down on the Inuit as primitive, untrustworthy people. Rae had to fight for any recognition at all of his achievements. Franklin had his wife and Charles Dickens to glorify him.
I’m not sure what to make of the author’s characterisation of Lady Franklin. He imputes all the worst motives to her, such as that she only married Franklin because she knew he was about to be knighted, which sounds incredibly cold-blooded. I don’t think the author is entirely unbiased, so maybe Lady Franklin wasn’t quite the witch he makes her out to be.
I was amused at the end where the modern-day Rae fans are on their way to place a plaque commemorating his achievements. They feel they ought to do it Rae-style, but one of them comments that, “It’s too much work, this Rae stuff.” I couldn’t agree more. Reading about some of his expeditions and the terrible conditions he encountered, like the ice-balls they had to dodge, makes it sound like some kind of real-world videogame, with one torment after another. That Rae and his companions not merely survived, but thrived and accomplished so much is astonishing. I’m very glad I read this book, and gained some appreciation of the life of a remarkable man.
The bulk of the book is, to me, the most interesting, telling the story of Orkneyman John Rae’s life and explorations up to the point of collision with the Franklin story. Rae seems to have been an extraordinary man, almost super-humanly fit, capable of incredible feats of endurance under extreme conditions, a man of attention to detail but also open to different ideas. He joined the Hudson Bay Company at the age of 19 as a fully qualified doctor, having begun training at Edinburgh University at the age of 15. Right from the start he was drawn to the Arctic, and soon abandoned his original plan to be a ship’s doctor and settled into life as a Company man.
Within a very few years, he had become a consummate man of the Arctic. His success was founded on three skills. Firstly, his physical fitness, strength and endurance, even under the most harsh conditions. Secondly, his ability to hunt and provide food for himself and his travelling companions wherever he went. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, his willingness to befriend and learn from the Inuit, called Eskimaux in those days. He learnt to build igloos, to drive huskies the native way, to make native clothes, to improve sledges and boats, and much more besides. He took interpreters on all his journeys and made a point of talking to the Inuit whenever he met them, exploiting their local knowledge and trading with them for better equipment or information.
The end result was that he could move through the hostile environment of the polar regions, even in winter, and not merely survive but actually thrive. The journey that most impressed me was a fifteen-month expedition, covering two short Arctic summers and the winter in between, when Rae took with him only enough supplies for three months. He had trouble convincing people to join him, for they thought it was a suicidal mission, but he knew he could provide enough food and shelter to survive, and so it proved.
The contrast with the navy-supported expeditions from Britain could not have been greater. Franklin’s expedition consisted of two large ships equipped with every technological advantage that Victorian Britain could provide, and enough food and other supplies for three years. Yet Franklin and all his men perished in the most dire circumstances, of starvation and illness. 129 men died on that one expedition, yet John Rae, in his whole life, lost only one man, and that from a stupid accident. Those statistics alone prove Rae’s calibre more than any other.
This culture clash is really the theme of the whole book. Rae and Franklin both started out as sons of firmly middle-class families who made their way on merit, Rae in the Hudson Bay Company and Franklin in the Royal Navy, both were successful explorers but only one of them became an iconic British legend. Rae was the laconic get-on-with-it Scot, always an outsider in British society, while Franklin was absorbed effortlessly into the establishment, was knighted and became a hero, even though his final expedition was a failure by any measure. Rae was successful in using native methods and respected the Inuit people and culture, while Franklin, like most of Victorian society, looked down on the Inuit as primitive, untrustworthy people. Rae had to fight for any recognition at all of his achievements. Franklin had his wife and Charles Dickens to glorify him.
I’m not sure what to make of the author’s characterisation of Lady Franklin. He imputes all the worst motives to her, such as that she only married Franklin because she knew he was about to be knighted, which sounds incredibly cold-blooded. I don’t think the author is entirely unbiased, so maybe Lady Franklin wasn’t quite the witch he makes her out to be.
I was amused at the end where the modern-day Rae fans are on their way to place a plaque commemorating his achievements. They feel they ought to do it Rae-style, but one of them comments that, “It’s too much work, this Rae stuff.” I couldn’t agree more. Reading about some of his expeditions and the terrible conditions he encountered, like the ice-balls they had to dodge, makes it sound like some kind of real-world videogame, with one torment after another. That Rae and his companions not merely survived, but thrived and accomplished so much is astonishing. I’m very glad I read this book, and gained some appreciation of the life of a remarkable man.
September 20, 2017
This was a wonderful and very necessary book about Scottish Arctic explorer John Rae. He discovered what happened to the disappeared 1845 John Franklin expedition but was reviled by the British Admiralty and Victorian England for returning home with the news that Royal Navy men had been reduced to the most desperate act ... that is, cannibalism. I think I fell a little in love with him. Not only was he graced with some sort of superpower that saw him travel over seventy miles across the ice in one day, he also had the wisdom and common sense to appreciate that the Inuit ('savages' according to Charles Dickins, amongst many others) were equal to any other man in terms of intelligence and honesty. He dressed like them to stay warm and hunted fresh meat to keep fed and healthy. And he also discovered the last link in the Northwest Passage, which is what the Franklin expedition had been about in the first place. Largely because of his cannibalism report, he never received a knighthood for his achievements which was shameful considering how lesser men than him were revered ... ie. poor bumbling John Franklin himself.
McGoogan includes his own personal tribute to Rae, making a pilgrimage to the spot where, in 1854, Rae discovered the final link of the Northwest Passage. Easy to read, the book is meticulously researched and by the time you turn the last page, you will heartily with the description of John Rae as being a 'genius of Arctic travel'.
McGoogan includes his own personal tribute to Rae, making a pilgrimage to the spot where, in 1854, Rae discovered the final link of the Northwest Passage. Easy to read, the book is meticulously researched and by the time you turn the last page, you will heartily with the description of John Rae as being a 'genius of Arctic travel'.
January 26, 2018
. John Rae was from the Orkney Islands where they make people strong and durable and he was even there, the strongest and most durable. The accounts of his walking through the Arctic and across parts of Canada are the stuff of legends. His success lay in the fact that unlike many other British naval people who continued to believe their technology to be superior, he adopted the ways of the Indian and the Inuit and celebrated their lifestyle.
His story is of a man who was a thorn in the side of many.
Much of the book is McGoogan’s support of attempts to have him knighted posthumously for being the discoverer of the North-West Passage, a feat which apparently is attributed to Franklin.
Which all leads to the interesting question—If I discover something but die in the attempt and my discovery is never known until long after others have done so, am I the discoverer? If I send out men who make the discovery but do not go myself, am I the discoverer? It seems to me that the first person to sail through the passage – Roald Amundsen- is the actual “discoverer.” Anyway, that argument is a bunch of rich British people arguing over who discovered a part of Canada and to me it is irrelevant.
His story is of a man who was a thorn in the side of many.
Much of the book is McGoogan’s support of attempts to have him knighted posthumously for being the discoverer of the North-West Passage, a feat which apparently is attributed to Franklin.
Which all leads to the interesting question—If I discover something but die in the attempt and my discovery is never known until long after others have done so, am I the discoverer? If I send out men who make the discovery but do not go myself, am I the discoverer? It seems to me that the first person to sail through the passage – Roald Amundsen- is the actual “discoverer.” Anyway, that argument is a bunch of rich British people arguing over who discovered a part of Canada and to me it is irrelevant.
April 18, 2020
The author is a clear fan of the subject of this book, Sir John Rae. The word 'Legend' is overused these days, but not in the case of John Rae, who spent a lot of his life in the most inhospitable of environments, yet was equally expert while travelling by land sea and river in those regions. His success in the Arctic principally due to his preferred strategy of going native, much to the disgust of some of his peers.
I enjoyed the book but found it sometimes to have a lot more detail and then I needed which was a little confusing. Also because I read it on Kindle I was unable to make full use of the maps which were sometimes illegible when zoomed (not the authors fault)
Enjoyed the book very much and glad to know that since time of writing both Erebus and Terror have been located.
Poignant to read that the author got to place an homage marker to John Rae near the Rae Strait
I enjoyed the book but found it sometimes to have a lot more detail and then I needed which was a little confusing. Also because I read it on Kindle I was unable to make full use of the maps which were sometimes illegible when zoomed (not the authors fault)
Enjoyed the book very much and glad to know that since time of writing both Erebus and Terror have been located.
Poignant to read that the author got to place an homage marker to John Rae near the Rae Strait
February 14, 2020
Took a little while to get into, but when it got going it was a great read and thoroughly vindicates Rae's achievements, although the most interesting section of the book is the second part wherein his reputation gets destroyed by Lady Franklin/Charles Dickens being racist/the British navy/the British public. I am especially looking forward to seeing, on the flipside, what McGoogan makes of Lady Franklin in his biography of her soon, after this defence of Rae that genuinely could not have been any more passionate. McGoogan literally went and put up a plaque for Rae in the arctic himself, like, respect, dude. (Also loved how angry Ken was about the "forging the last link with their lives" nonsense phrase omg).
March 16, 2018
Gripping non-fiction, this is the tragic story of John Rae, a truly remarkable human being. Wonderful to read and hard to put down. Yes: this is gripping Canadian history!!
From the Orkneys, Rae worked in Canada in the mid-1800s. He learned to live in the North from the people of the land, then completed the search for a Northwest Passage, and learned the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
Sadly, his honest reporting of survival cannibalism caused him to be ostracized by Lady Franklin and her allies.
From the Orkneys, Rae worked in Canada in the mid-1800s. He learned to live in the North from the people of the land, then completed the search for a Northwest Passage, and learned the fate of the Franklin Expedition.
Sadly, his honest reporting of survival cannibalism caused him to be ostracized by Lady Franklin and her allies.
September 12, 2018
An enthusiastic hagiography of a true pioneer of Arctic travel, John Rae, who was badly maligned by decent society for telling the unpalatable truth about the end of Franklin’s last expedition. Written in “Boys Own” rollicking adventure style, it’s an absorbing read. The book suffers a little from repetition and hero- worship, but is an easy-to-read flowing account. I worked out elsewhere that John Franklin was a blundering buffoon. Now I discover there existed a contemporary who showed everyone who cared to notice how many other blunderers there were, by his counter examples. A great man
March 17, 2022
An interesting book, with a mesmerizing description of Rae's troubles with Lady Jane Franklin. Excellent prose. What disappointed me was McGoogan's decision to exclude pictures and maps, which would have made this manuscript so much more engaging. I also found it regrettable that the author did not fully explore Rae's motivations, leaving me with the impression of an extraordinarily talented and highly principled explorer who didn't know where his life was going and did whatever the Hudson's Bay company told him. I would have appreciated being disabused of that impression.
September 23, 2017
Excellent! Tells the story of explorer John Rae who discovered the last link in the Northwest Passage and the fate of John Franklin's expedition, but was denied public acknowledgement for both because he upset Lady Franklin, who had immense social influence. McGoogan is a clear writer, and a good story-teller - this non-fiction often reads like a novel. I hope this book helps redeem Rae's proper place in history.
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