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Cold Burial: A True Story of Endurance and Disaster
For schoolboys in the 1920s, too young to have experienced first-hand the horrors of World War One, theirs was yet the age of adventure. Their imaginations fired by the exploits of Robert Scott, T. E. Lawrence, Ernest Shackleton, and George Mallory, and by the novels of John Buchan and Jack London, they dreamed of exploring and conquering new frontiers. Lawrence had retreated from public life, and Scott, Shackleton, and Mallory were by then all dead, but their heroic feats remained the measure of British manhood, the standard to be carried forward.
In the Spring of 1926, Edgar Christian, a young man of eighteen fresh out of public school, joined his dashing cousin, the legendary (if somewhat self-styled) adventurer Jack Hornby, and a friend named Harold Adlard on an expedition into the Barren Lands of the Canadian Northwest Territories. The plan was to hunt caribou and trap for fur. For young Edgar, the Barrens expedition offered a chance to prove himself and to find his direction in life; for Hornby, a veteran of the Great War as well previous forays into the Northwest (he was known in some quarters as "Hornby of the North"), it represented his latest date with disaster. Together they would demonstrate that civilized men could survive, even thrive, in one of the world's most inhospitable regions. They were proved wrong.
Based in large part upon a diary left behind by Edgar, discovered when his body and those of his companions were found two years after their deaths, Clive Powell-Williams' account of the expedition is a gripping narrative of innocence and experience, youthful idealism and unyielding nature. It matters little that we know in advance the tragic outcome, for in its unfolding Cold Burial recounts a tale of courage, folly, and ultimately redemptive love that will haunt readers long after they've read the last page.
In the Spring of 1926, Edgar Christian, a young man of eighteen fresh out of public school, joined his dashing cousin, the legendary (if somewhat self-styled) adventurer Jack Hornby, and a friend named Harold Adlard on an expedition into the Barren Lands of the Canadian Northwest Territories. The plan was to hunt caribou and trap for fur. For young Edgar, the Barrens expedition offered a chance to prove himself and to find his direction in life; for Hornby, a veteran of the Great War as well previous forays into the Northwest (he was known in some quarters as "Hornby of the North"), it represented his latest date with disaster. Together they would demonstrate that civilized men could survive, even thrive, in one of the world's most inhospitable regions. They were proved wrong.
Based in large part upon a diary left behind by Edgar, discovered when his body and those of his companions were found two years after their deaths, Clive Powell-Williams' account of the expedition is a gripping narrative of innocence and experience, youthful idealism and unyielding nature. It matters little that we know in advance the tragic outcome, for in its unfolding Cold Burial recounts a tale of courage, folly, and ultimately redemptive love that will haunt readers long after they've read the last page.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
288 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 14, 2007
The subject was fascinating, but the writing was dull.
I have been trying to read this book for two weeks and only got to page 89 before realizing it would be months before I finished. In fact, I finished two other (good) books in the space of time I've been mulling over trying to wrap up this one. That's a bad sign.
Still, when I could find a few quiet moments this book did have a compelling story behind it. Jack Hornby was a dashing, romantic figure of sorts - aristocratic, wealthy, eccentric. On this trip, which he undertakes with his nephew (an inexperienced outdoorsman fresh out of school) and an old friend (whose time in the armed forces made him a bit slightly more experienced candidate), it becomes clear early on that the expedition was ill-planned and foolhardy.
After many mistakes in judgment, a three men die. (This is no plot spoiler - much the same is said on the front flap and the back cover). Their frozen bodies were discovered two years later when a Mountie came across their cabin. Inside the cabin was a diary kept by Edgar, the nephew, that chronicled their decline. Passages from it represent the most interesting parts of this slow-paced book. In fact, I'd have much preferred they just publish the diary in toto.
I have been trying to read this book for two weeks and only got to page 89 before realizing it would be months before I finished. In fact, I finished two other (good) books in the space of time I've been mulling over trying to wrap up this one. That's a bad sign.
Still, when I could find a few quiet moments this book did have a compelling story behind it. Jack Hornby was a dashing, romantic figure of sorts - aristocratic, wealthy, eccentric. On this trip, which he undertakes with his nephew (an inexperienced outdoorsman fresh out of school) and an old friend (whose time in the armed forces made him a bit slightly more experienced candidate), it becomes clear early on that the expedition was ill-planned and foolhardy.
After many mistakes in judgment, a three men die. (This is no plot spoiler - much the same is said on the front flap and the back cover). Their frozen bodies were discovered two years later when a Mountie came across their cabin. Inside the cabin was a diary kept by Edgar, the nephew, that chronicled their decline. Passages from it represent the most interesting parts of this slow-paced book. In fact, I'd have much preferred they just publish the diary in toto.
August 24, 2020
“Why am I reading this book? Why was this book written?” are questions I asked myself every time I turned a page of this book. The names were unfamiliar to me; the situation without context – two factors that clearly did not occur to the author whose narrative plods from chapter to chapter, often with an abundance of seemingly unnecessary detail. With a meaningful introduction, expectations could have been clarified, setting the reader on a much more satisfying course.
October 12, 2022
Super interesting history about early explorers in Alberta, and Nunavut.
November 28, 2022
I HATE THIS BOOK
i didnt know what was happening half the time and i really hate non fiction
i didnt know what was happening half the time and i really hate non fiction
February 21, 2012
In 1927, 18-year-old Edgar Christian went with his mother's cousin, Jack Hornby, and another young man, to explore the Barrens region of Canada. Edgar had kind of a hero worship for Hornby - he was famous for his explorations and adored in England. Hornby was an experienced Arctic Explorer, but seemed to be kind of a seat-of-the-pants kind of person. They had a lot of equipment, but not a lot of food. Apparently Hornby was planning to catch a caribou migration and live off of the caribou meat for the duration of the expedition. However, they somehow missed the migration; and his back-up plan of surviving on musk-ox didn't pan out either.
It's not a spoiler to say that all 3 men died... this information is given on the cover of the book. They lived for a while on wolverine hide, offal from previous kills they were able to find, and ground up bone, but ultimately, Hornby died. Harold followed a couple of days later. Edgar lived almost a month, all alone in the cold. He was able to find the strength to keep a diary, and also wrote letters to his family. These and other info he stuffed into the stove, leaving a note on top for "whoever finds this". Two years later, their bodies were found. In the letter to his parents, Edgar asked them not to blame Jack, seeming to still revere him as a hero.
Even though I knew from the beginning, it was hard not to hope for a different ending for this young man. There were just too many mistakes made, and it's difficult not to blame Hornby - he had been warned on the way up there by different people, and had actually almost starved to death himself in a prior year. As the senior member of the group, he didn't seem to show a lot of responsibility toward his younger and inexperienced companions.
And I will think twice before throwing out "I'm starving!" four hours after lunch.
It's not a spoiler to say that all 3 men died... this information is given on the cover of the book. They lived for a while on wolverine hide, offal from previous kills they were able to find, and ground up bone, but ultimately, Hornby died. Harold followed a couple of days later. Edgar lived almost a month, all alone in the cold. He was able to find the strength to keep a diary, and also wrote letters to his family. These and other info he stuffed into the stove, leaving a note on top for "whoever finds this". Two years later, their bodies were found. In the letter to his parents, Edgar asked them not to blame Jack, seeming to still revere him as a hero.
Even though I knew from the beginning, it was hard not to hope for a different ending for this young man. There were just too many mistakes made, and it's difficult not to blame Hornby - he had been warned on the way up there by different people, and had actually almost starved to death himself in a prior year. As the senior member of the group, he didn't seem to show a lot of responsibility toward his younger and inexperienced companions.
And I will think twice before throwing out "I'm starving!" four hours after lunch.
September 20, 2008
"Whoever finds this, look in stove."
Based on the diary bequeathed to his old school in Folkestone by his grieving parents, this tells the story of naive Edgar Christian, his cousin Jack Hornby and their fellow companion Howard Adlar, on their two year voyage, led by Hornby, to the Barren Ground, the lands west of Hudson Bay and east and north of the Great Slave Lake. An ill-conceived journey which was to end in tragedy.
Deceptively simple in its style, this is one which, if you enjoy reading about (mis-)adventure in the frozen tundra, will keep you gripped. Hornby reckoned that he knew, or could sufficiently predict, the movement of the caribou across the Barrens. This was the critical mistake. Heedless to the warnings of many other seasoned travellers in the area, he pressed on without adequate supplies: and of course, the caribou did not materialise as Hornby had been so confident they would.
Based on the diary bequeathed to his old school in Folkestone by his grieving parents, this tells the story of naive Edgar Christian, his cousin Jack Hornby and their fellow companion Howard Adlar, on their two year voyage, led by Hornby, to the Barren Ground, the lands west of Hudson Bay and east and north of the Great Slave Lake. An ill-conceived journey which was to end in tragedy.
Deceptively simple in its style, this is one which, if you enjoy reading about (mis-)adventure in the frozen tundra, will keep you gripped. Hornby reckoned that he knew, or could sufficiently predict, the movement of the caribou across the Barrens. This was the critical mistake. Heedless to the warnings of many other seasoned travellers in the area, he pressed on without adequate supplies: and of course, the caribou did not materialise as Hornby had been so confident they would.
May 12, 2013
A penetrating look into the lives and minds of rugged frontiersmen and survivalists, the last of their breed, in the 1920's. Jack Hornby, the world-renowned man-of-the-wild, teams up with Harold Adlard, a World War I veteran and sharpshooter and Edgar Christian, his nephew, newly graduated from high school. The three travel to one of the most remote and hostile regions of the world; the Canadian Northwest area known as the Barrens. For a year, they plan to explore the region's rivers and lakes and abundance of wildlife; the forest to provide plenty of supplies for their caches and cabin and the Caribou and Musk Ox, foxes and fishes to provide food. However, in the manner of "Into the Wild", things do not always go as planned. Edgar's touching diary provides a first-hand account of the trouble that develops and the consequences. A must-read for anyone interested in this genre.
July 17, 2013
Oh. Good. God. This first hand account of the slow painful lonely death of three arctic adventurers is dark as dark gets. Worst of all it is completely true! As a distance backpacker and wilderness lover myself, I found this book completely entharalling, and haunting. Anyone with the love of adventure, the out of doors and human frailty would be well served by reading this book. I dont need to read this again,as it is etched in my memory forever.
April 30, 2012
This was an effort to read, and not written in the most engaging way. However, I managed to finish it, and the author had obviously researched well, and there was a lot of detail about how to survive/or not against all the odds - so I'm glad I finished it.
January 29, 2013
A fascinating account of a man's misjudgement of his ability to survive in wild places and the terrible ending he, and, more importantly those he charmed into joining him suffered, as he lived out his dreams.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews