Erebus: The Story of a Ship

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Vividly recounting the experiences of the men who first set foot on Antarctica’s Victoria Land, and those who, just a few years later, froze to death one by one in the Arctic ice, beyond the reach of desperate rescue missions, Erebus is a wonderfully evocative account of a truly extraordinary adventure, brought to life by an avid explorer and storyteller. Instead, there is an anthology of references utilised at the end of the book to address the sources of gleaned information but it is not always easy to ascertain where he has sourced particular facts. What we're left with are questions about why it went so badly wrong - was it scurvy or lead poisoning that doomed them; was Franklin the very worst choice of expedition leader; did they abandon the ships too soon or too late; how, why and when did Franklin die and what impact did that have on the crews?

The book covers not only its loss in the Arctic, but its Antarctic exploration, and its construction in Milford Haven. It is an epic story, full of appalling human suffering (everyone died) and one constantly revised as fresh discoveries float to the surface. One thing that struck me was how many of the names given to physical features mirrored the mental states of those who named them. Nel 1839, al comando di James Clark Ross, le due navi salpano poi per la gloriosa spedizione in Antartide, dove le due navi, a vela! What you will get is a solid narrative from a passionate (and, yes, witty) amateur historian about two amazing adventures.Con linguaggio semplice ma accurato, e con tono umanamente partecipe, spiritoso e divertente quando serve e quanto basta, rispettoso e commosso dove è più opportuno, Palin dà una marea di informazioni sulle navi, sulla corsa alle esplorazioni che dominò la Marina britannica dopo la fine delle guerre napoleoniche, sulla sete di scoperte scientifiche unita all'orgoglio imperialista, sulle personalità dei protagonisti, sulla vita a bordo, narrando contemporaneamente anche il suo personale viaggio sulle tracce della nave, sugli stessi luoghi a distanza di due secoli, con tutt'altri mezzi e con tutt'altri occhi, da Capo Horn all'isola di Beechey, dove dà un ultimo saluto alle tombe di tre componenti della spedizione Franklin lì sepolti.

This is a very fine book about the travels of a ship and the people who were on it, and if that's what you're looking for, you've found it. I always think of Ross (Ice shelf), Weddell (Sea) but now add the unfortunate Crozier to the geography of the frozen areas of the world.

He had been well-focussed up to this point although the journalist was clearly in ascendance rather than the novelist and his skills appeared to lessen in this absence of knowledge where the latter's skills would have prevailed. Nicholas Crane, current president of the Royal Geographical Society, has described Palin, one of his predecessors, as “the world’s most appealing practitioner of geographical curiosity”, and it’s that curiosity which drives his stirring new book . La cruda e cupa tragedia che colpì questa spedizione avrebbe potuto essere infatti raccontata quasi con stile documentaristico, senza gli inserti horror del libro di Dan Simmons. Vor allem auf die letzte, tragische Reise der Erebus mit dem Ziel der Entdeckung der Nordwestpassage war ich gespannt. When then Prime Minister Stephen Harper made his announcement of the finding of the first ship, it made the headlines in both print and electronic media.

Of course, it's not possible to know the whole truth, as no one survived (I'm pretty sure that's not a spoiler! Palin is a superb stylist , low-key and conversational, who skillfully incorporates personal experience.Erebus was the last but one of the warships known as bomb vessels, able to fling shells over coastal defences. And there can surely be no better final bow than the languid, quietly powerful rise, flick and fall of the fluke. He also I feel lingers too long on the previous journeys of the Erebus and gives a small amount of time to the Franklin expedition. Good-humoured, unpretentious and a bit eccentric, it's more like having a well-read friend than a subscription to a literary review. I don’t recount this to brag, but to reflect on how history is much more meaningful when you can be surrounded by it, involved in it, immersed in it, in any way.