Sir John Franklin's Last Arctic Expedition A Chapter in the History of the Royal Navy

by Richard J. Cyriax

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[William Battersby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a tour-de-force of scholarship and should be required reading - in fact the first port of call - for anyone interested in the Franklin Expedition. Although a Doctor by profession, the author devoted his life to analysing and understanding all aspects of the Franklin Expedition.

Although first published in 1939 it is still the best single summary of the primary contemporary evidence relating to the Expedition. These are its strengths. On the debit side it is inevitable that some aspects of it are out of date as the book cannot take account of new scholarship. There is no discussion of lead-poisoning, for example. Equally, while Cyriax was aware of Inuit-sourced evidence, he did not seem fully to integrate it into his nrrative.

But these are quibbles - of course a book written so long ago cannot remain up-to-date. This is a well written, authoritative summary of the Franklin story and should be required reading for anyone who has any interest at all in this tragic story.