Race to the Polar Sea: The Heroic Adventures of Elisha Kent Kane

by Ken McGoogan

In the mid-1800s, geographers revived the ancient idea that at the top of the world, encircling the North Pole, lay a temperate “Open Polar Sea.” Without doubt, the voyager who discovered this balmy basin would etch his name forever in the annals of exploration. Among those drawn to the challenge was Dr. Elisha Kent Kane, a handsome, charismatic figure from a leading Philadelphia family who was already a well-known adventurer and explorer. In 1853, Kane sailed to the Arctic to seek both the Open Polar Sea and the lost British explorer John Franklin. After sailing farther north than anyone yet, Kane and his men became trapped in the ice. Besides treacherous icebergs and violent currents, Kane battled starvation, disease, and a near mutiny before abandoning ship to lead a desperate escape in sleds and small boats. Race to the Polar Sea tells this story in heart-pounding detail. Drawing on documents never before seen, author Ken McGoogan brings to life a heroic figure famous in his day as America’s greatest explorer and celebrates a shining example of American courage and survival.

Genres: Biography, Adventure, Nonfiction, 19th Century, History, Travel

380 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elisha Kent Kane travelled from the US to the Arctic in search of Franklin’s lost expedition in the mid-1800s. This covers not only this “trip” (where he and his crew were trapped for a couple of winters), but the bulk of Kane’s life, as well. He studied to become a doctor, but found he wanted to sail to the Arctic (despite being prone to seasickness). He loved a woman whom his family did not think was “good enough” for him, and things did not go well for the two of them, though she loved him, as well.

It took a long time for me to get interested in this (I have no explanation as to why this was). I was more interested in the second half of the book. The author looks at multiple sources detailing the expedition, as some of the crew did not think highly of Kane and others had no problem with him. The author did look at some of these specific sources at the end of the book to discuss.

[Dale Bentz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Hillary, Shackleton, Peary, Amundsen, Scott, and others, Kane should perhaps be a household name, but honestly, I had never heard of him before reading this informative account. This is probably true for most people, who will likely enjoy this tale of adventure, romance, peril and narrow escapes, encountering unknown cultures, family squabbles, courage, and leadership.

[Dave Sandiford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kane was perhaps the last hero of Antebellum America. He had the good form to die shortly after his greatest adventure. He had the bad luck to be completely forgotten shortly after by his adoring country.
The book starts slowly. With a pedantic review of Kane’s sickly youth and early career. Once the Arctic takes its place as the antagonist the book becomes compelling.

[L.J. Sentivanac · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must admit, I didn't make it very far into this historical snoozer. If it gets to be a "heart-pounding" thrill ride, it gets there much too late.

[Luke Froelich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life of elisa kent Kane , very interesting, about the man no one ever heard of. Read

[Melanie Hepburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 10 pages were dry. I nearly stopped; glad I didn’t.

His second journey to the Arctic was a riveting account.

[Jordan Mullins · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was like reading Elisha Kent Kane’s travel log and ship manifest. Detailed and dry in parts; heavy on factual encounters.

[Audra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 2nd book I've read by Ken McGoogan, and it's just as good as the first (Fatal Passage). It details the life and particularly the exploration work of Elisha Kent Kane, an American who participated in a rescue expedition for Sir John Franklin and then led another. He was iced in off the west coast of Greenland for two winters and survived due to his recognition that the Inuit knew how to survive and their only hope lay in emulating them. His tale is the arctic equivalent of Shackleton's.

As I had found previously, Ken McGoogan's research work is first-rate and his writing is both clear and interesting. In this particular instance he was fortunate/persistent enough to run down some primary source material that had not been seen in decades.

This left me with the urge to read Kane's own book (2 volumes) and I hope I can find it somewhere.

[Fowie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of Elisha Kent Kane before, but am now convinced he was a real-life Indiana Jones type adventurer. The stories (factual!) about his life are amazing, and this book does a good job of telling the important ones as build-up to his greatest: the race to the polar sea. Kane did an amazing amount of exploring and should be a well known hero. Due to circumstances at the end of his life and mostly after his life though, he is hardly known. That's sad, true, but the entire book takes on the tone of wanting to singlehandedly exonerate Kane and make him an American hero. Sure, he should be, but he's not. I'd rather that the book just tell me his stories and let me decide for myself instead of trying to convince me that he really was a hero. I could see from his deeds that he was, I didn't need three or four chapters at the end explaining why people who don't think he was are wrong...

[Jane Griscti · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is about Elisha Kane, an American from Philadelphia, who embarked on an Arctic expedition purportedly to search for the lost British Franklin expedition and find the 'Open Polar Sea'. McGoogan sees Kane as an unsung hero; a point which he pushed to the point of annoyance, interjecting frequent references to Joseph Campbell's 'Hero of a Thousand Faces' and counter arguments to Kane's detractors.

The man was an adventurer who used his family connections to advance himself; he did spend some harrowing months in the Arctic and published a well received book on his observations including a great deal of information on the weather conditions, state of the ice and the lives of the native peoples he encountered; however, he found neither Franklin (after a cursory search) nor the alleged Open Polar Sea (as it doesn't exist). Found him to be a very unsympathetic character typical of his time.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book. After reading many chapters, I just kept wondering if this "larger than life" description of Elisha Kane is really correct. Although I marked this book as read, I was not able to completely read the book.

[Skai Leja]

Kane was an amazing character, and the rigours of early arctic exploration and the kinds of people drawn to it are fascinating

[Paul Colver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Largely a character study of Elisha Kent Kane though also a great description of the journey and the Arctic. In depth and well written. I never cease to be amazed at the things we men do.