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Arctic Labyrinth : The Quest for the Northwest Passage
Shelf wear to the dust jacket, some dust marking to the top edge. Shipped from the UK in recyclable card packaging.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published March 18, 2002
11 people are currently reading
430 people want to read
About the author
Glyn Williams
56 books10 followersProfessor Glyn Williams is a distinguished naval historian and professor emeritus at Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London. He has been president of the Hakluyt Society and general editor of the records of the Hudson's Bay Company, and has published several volumes on the relationship between the HBC and the exploration of the Canadian Arctic and the Subarctic.
He lives in West Malling, Kent.
Also publishes under the name Glyndwyr Williams .
He lives in West Malling, Kent.
Also publishes under the name Glyndwyr Williams .
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 17, 2016
Call me crazy for being fascinated with the search for the Northwest Passage, but at least I’m not as crazy as the guys who actually went on the search for the Northwest Passage. And what a crew they were. Fearless, daring, stalwart… these were men who sailed into unknown waters on masted sailing ships smaller than a modern-day semi with nothing more than a spyglass in hand.
They were also looney enough to undertake return voyages after they had already spent months frozen in ice, suffering from scurvy, frostbite, and other debilitating conditions, enduring frightful boredom from endless days and nights in a solid white landscape, and almost always half-starved and three-quarters dead by the time they made it home. But as any maritime historian will tell you, the centuries-long quest to find that treasured seagoing route to Asia via the ice-choked waters north of Canada is a testament to the endurance of the human spirit.
I still call it looney.
But fascinating it is, nonetheless. And Glyn Williams handles it deftly, covering every major explorer involved in this long-futile quest from Martin Frobisher (1500s) to James Cook (1770s) to Edward Parry (1810s – 1820s), and the doomed John Franklin (1830s – 1840s) and into the modern-day. Williams also chronicles every major milestone, including the first tentative reaches into the vast network of straits, sounds, inlets, and bays that comprise the island-ridden waters in the Arctic, the discoveries of new lands and new peoples, the loss of ships to the floating packs of ice, and every tragedy and disaster that befell those explorers who lost the fight with the elements in the unforgiving landscape.
For us maritime nerds, who read about the Northwest Passage with a little more frequency than really is sane, the most famous of the Arctic disasters was the last expedition led by Sir John Franklin, which departed England for the Arctic in 1845. He sailed on two ships – the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror – with a complement of 128 men, and they were never seen again. Several search and rescue expeditions were launched in succeeding years, most of them fiercely supported by Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane, but only relics were found. First, there were three graves discovered on Beechey Island, later identified as belonging to Franklin crew members. Early expeditions also found evidence of the crews camping on Beechey Island during the winter of 1845 – 1846. And in subsequent decades, the searches continued, and more relics were discovered, including skeletons, tools and artifacts from the two ships, and cairns – or canisters holding documents and notes that ideally detail an expedition’s progress and next steps – which have led historians to believe the crew had abandoned their ships after they became frozen in pack ice, and headed south on foot to find rescue. As they marched, scurvy, lead poisoning (possibly from tainted canned food), and starvation did the crew members in, one-by-one.
Williams devotes an entire section of this detailed work to Franklin’s expedition, and the subsequent search and rescue missions. But he doesn’t scrimp on the details anywhere else as a result. It is all here, and written with a simple straightforward prose, which I definitely appreciate. There is a lot going on, and I can see why those who are not familiar with Arctic exploration might become bogged down. I have read other books on this topic, and I can’t keep all the names, dates, routes, and ships straight. I was constantly flipping to the few maps included to keep track of the progress of each expedition, and I had to do the whole “pause-and-check-Wikipedia” thing to keep the names and dates straight (remember, most of these guys who made it out alive the first time around did go back), but I don’t think that comes from Williams – that is the nature of reading about Arctic exploration. There were a lot of men involved, a lot of ships, a lot of expeditions, a lot of dates, and a lot of routes.
And I think, considering the volume of data, Williams handled it well. I would have liked a few more maps, and maybe a few more contextual reminders (James Clark Ross, whom we had last seen doing this, that, and the other thing), but I know I will definitely call on Arctic Labyrinth for reference when I continue my readings on the search for the Northwest Passage in the future.
Yep, I’m looney too.
They were also looney enough to undertake return voyages after they had already spent months frozen in ice, suffering from scurvy, frostbite, and other debilitating conditions, enduring frightful boredom from endless days and nights in a solid white landscape, and almost always half-starved and three-quarters dead by the time they made it home. But as any maritime historian will tell you, the centuries-long quest to find that treasured seagoing route to Asia via the ice-choked waters north of Canada is a testament to the endurance of the human spirit.
I still call it looney.
But fascinating it is, nonetheless. And Glyn Williams handles it deftly, covering every major explorer involved in this long-futile quest from Martin Frobisher (1500s) to James Cook (1770s) to Edward Parry (1810s – 1820s), and the doomed John Franklin (1830s – 1840s) and into the modern-day. Williams also chronicles every major milestone, including the first tentative reaches into the vast network of straits, sounds, inlets, and bays that comprise the island-ridden waters in the Arctic, the discoveries of new lands and new peoples, the loss of ships to the floating packs of ice, and every tragedy and disaster that befell those explorers who lost the fight with the elements in the unforgiving landscape.
For us maritime nerds, who read about the Northwest Passage with a little more frequency than really is sane, the most famous of the Arctic disasters was the last expedition led by Sir John Franklin, which departed England for the Arctic in 1845. He sailed on two ships – the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror – with a complement of 128 men, and they were never seen again. Several search and rescue expeditions were launched in succeeding years, most of them fiercely supported by Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane, but only relics were found. First, there were three graves discovered on Beechey Island, later identified as belonging to Franklin crew members. Early expeditions also found evidence of the crews camping on Beechey Island during the winter of 1845 – 1846. And in subsequent decades, the searches continued, and more relics were discovered, including skeletons, tools and artifacts from the two ships, and cairns – or canisters holding documents and notes that ideally detail an expedition’s progress and next steps – which have led historians to believe the crew had abandoned their ships after they became frozen in pack ice, and headed south on foot to find rescue. As they marched, scurvy, lead poisoning (possibly from tainted canned food), and starvation did the crew members in, one-by-one.
Williams devotes an entire section of this detailed work to Franklin’s expedition, and the subsequent search and rescue missions. But he doesn’t scrimp on the details anywhere else as a result. It is all here, and written with a simple straightforward prose, which I definitely appreciate. There is a lot going on, and I can see why those who are not familiar with Arctic exploration might become bogged down. I have read other books on this topic, and I can’t keep all the names, dates, routes, and ships straight. I was constantly flipping to the few maps included to keep track of the progress of each expedition, and I had to do the whole “pause-and-check-Wikipedia” thing to keep the names and dates straight (remember, most of these guys who made it out alive the first time around did go back), but I don’t think that comes from Williams – that is the nature of reading about Arctic exploration. There were a lot of men involved, a lot of ships, a lot of expeditions, a lot of dates, and a lot of routes.
And I think, considering the volume of data, Williams handled it well. I would have liked a few more maps, and maybe a few more contextual reminders (James Clark Ross, whom we had last seen doing this, that, and the other thing), but I know I will definitely call on Arctic Labyrinth for reference when I continue my readings on the search for the Northwest Passage in the future.
Yep, I’m looney too.
September 20, 2017
The fabled Northwest Passage that supposedly provided a sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans around the top of North America intrigued Europeans for centuries. The search for a navigable route around North America was spurred by the dream of riches to be found in the unknown lands to the west and in the Orient as well as to avoid the tortuously long and hazardous route around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America or the even longer route via the Cape of Good Hope. The Spanish even had a name for it, Anian, but their repeated attempts to find it all failed. The French also had no success. This book provides an overview of the many failed attempts, mostly British, from James Knight of the Hudson Bay Company to Royal Navy Captains James Cook and George Vancouver, and their Spanish and French contemporaries.
The voyage of Christopher Middleton in 1741-2 demonstrated how harsh the conditions were in Hudson Bay during winter, especially as the men were ill-prepared, and the fresh food and clothing were insufficient. Many succumbed to frostbite or scurvy, for which there was no known cure at the time. When Middleton returned to England, he was accused of lying about his findings by his former sponsor, which made it difficult for him to gain further positions. But his findings were partly vindicated in a further voyage by William Moor and Francis Smith in 1746-7, which descended into enmity. And Middleton's discoveries were further verified 80 years later.
Before the 18th century, three Spanish captains claimed to have found the Strait of Anian or the Rio Los Reyes, and one of them claimed to have sailed through it to Hudson Bay. These accounts coloured the thinking and cartography throughout the 18th century. The French produced fantastic maps with a supposed sea within the western half of North America and the navigable channel suggested by the Spanish accounts. These drove the thinking of some of the English champions of the Northwest Passage. The Spanish accounts eventually proved to be false.
Cook's third voyage of discovery was brought about through a renewed interest in Britain to find the Northwest Passage from the Pacific as supposedly the Spanish had done. It appears that a large reward was put up to persuade Cook to take up this mission. Cook and his crew used Russian maps to guide them, but these proved to be utterly worthless to the exasperated master navigator. He was also led to believe that the polar sea would largely be ice free so that the crew was hugely disappointed to be confronted by an impenetrable ice barrier north of Bering Strait. Despite the disappointment and setbacks, Cook determined the shape of the Northwest coast of America that had eluded all previous attempts.
La Perouse followed Cook and attempted to find a way through, but the weather and time defeated him. This and other voyages to the Northwest coast helped to fill in some of the gaps that Cook had missed because he had assumed that some of the strings of coastal islands were the mainland. The tremendous number of islands along this coast provided a veritable maze that, combined with wishful thinking, led many people to believe that the fabled Spanish passage to Hudson Bay existed.
George Vancouver, who had twice sailed with Cook, finally put all the mythical passages beyond doubt by meticulously surveying the North West coast from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north of Kodiak Island, Alaska.
The illusory stories of the voyages of Juan de Fuca, Bartholomew de Fonte, and Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado spurred European geographers and explorers into the search for a navigable passage through North America. It took more than a hundred years to show that no such passage existed despite the encouragement from land-based sponsors. This account of the exploration during the 18th century shows that the promise of riches, no matter how illusory, will drive men to follow mere suggestions. It took great navigators to finally dash those dreams but at the same time, they filled in the blanks of the North West coast of North America. Their achievements have to be admired and celebrated, not for their failure to find the impossible, but for their determination to disprove fantastic theories.
In my opinion, this is a well-researched book that demonstrates the fallibility of human nature when faced with the immense opportunities suggested by others. It took the dedicated labours of meticulous men, such as Cook, Vancouver, La Perouse, and Malaspina, to reveal the truth. I give this book 4 stars out of 5.
The voyage of Christopher Middleton in 1741-2 demonstrated how harsh the conditions were in Hudson Bay during winter, especially as the men were ill-prepared, and the fresh food and clothing were insufficient. Many succumbed to frostbite or scurvy, for which there was no known cure at the time. When Middleton returned to England, he was accused of lying about his findings by his former sponsor, which made it difficult for him to gain further positions. But his findings were partly vindicated in a further voyage by William Moor and Francis Smith in 1746-7, which descended into enmity. And Middleton's discoveries were further verified 80 years later.
Before the 18th century, three Spanish captains claimed to have found the Strait of Anian or the Rio Los Reyes, and one of them claimed to have sailed through it to Hudson Bay. These accounts coloured the thinking and cartography throughout the 18th century. The French produced fantastic maps with a supposed sea within the western half of North America and the navigable channel suggested by the Spanish accounts. These drove the thinking of some of the English champions of the Northwest Passage. The Spanish accounts eventually proved to be false.
Cook's third voyage of discovery was brought about through a renewed interest in Britain to find the Northwest Passage from the Pacific as supposedly the Spanish had done. It appears that a large reward was put up to persuade Cook to take up this mission. Cook and his crew used Russian maps to guide them, but these proved to be utterly worthless to the exasperated master navigator. He was also led to believe that the polar sea would largely be ice free so that the crew was hugely disappointed to be confronted by an impenetrable ice barrier north of Bering Strait. Despite the disappointment and setbacks, Cook determined the shape of the Northwest coast of America that had eluded all previous attempts.
La Perouse followed Cook and attempted to find a way through, but the weather and time defeated him. This and other voyages to the Northwest coast helped to fill in some of the gaps that Cook had missed because he had assumed that some of the strings of coastal islands were the mainland. The tremendous number of islands along this coast provided a veritable maze that, combined with wishful thinking, led many people to believe that the fabled Spanish passage to Hudson Bay existed.
George Vancouver, who had twice sailed with Cook, finally put all the mythical passages beyond doubt by meticulously surveying the North West coast from the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north of Kodiak Island, Alaska.
The illusory stories of the voyages of Juan de Fuca, Bartholomew de Fonte, and Lorenzo Ferrer Maldonado spurred European geographers and explorers into the search for a navigable passage through North America. It took more than a hundred years to show that no such passage existed despite the encouragement from land-based sponsors. This account of the exploration during the 18th century shows that the promise of riches, no matter how illusory, will drive men to follow mere suggestions. It took great navigators to finally dash those dreams but at the same time, they filled in the blanks of the North West coast of North America. Their achievements have to be admired and celebrated, not for their failure to find the impossible, but for their determination to disprove fantastic theories.
In my opinion, this is a well-researched book that demonstrates the fallibility of human nature when faced with the immense opportunities suggested by others. It took the dedicated labours of meticulous men, such as Cook, Vancouver, La Perouse, and Malaspina, to reveal the truth. I give this book 4 stars out of 5.
August 1, 2012
Non-Fiction. A history of the search for the Northwest Passage from the 1500s through to the 1940s, mostly through the eyes of the British. The Russians, Spanish, and French get a few mentions, but always framed as competition. After the passage lost favor with the British in the late 1800s (it took them nearly four hundred years to realize that sailing through the dangerous ice-choked waters of the arctic wasn't ever going to be practical), the field opens up to include Swedish, Norwegian, and Canadian attempts.
Comprehensive in its British scope, but written in dry, unengaging prose, this was a slog for me to get through. Williams has moments of brilliantly cutting British humor, but the majority of the book is taken up by unembellished dates and facts, especially the earlier chapters where little is known about the voyages or the captains' motivations. I once found myself wailing, "But why would Thomas James try to scuttle his ship two separate times?!" Only to get no answer. That's just the way it goes. Williams doesn't spend much time speculating, and when he does it's all clearly identified as supposition.
Williams does a fair job introducing the many, many people involved with the search for the Northwest Passage, as well as reintroducing them when they pop up again later, as many of them do. It seems once you became an "Arctic," it was for life, and those that survived their expeditions became advisers to the Admiralty and the next generation of explorers.
The book has several maps, but needed more, with more detail. Often a place would be mentioned that didn't appear on any of the maps in the book. The twenty-eight color plates are referenced in the text (though once incorrectly and once not at all), and I was amazed at some of the sketches and paintings made by the officers and crew aboard these expeditions. And I don't know if this is a British thing or an academic style thing or what, but Williams doesn't put HMS in front of naval ships, which is confusing because sometimes that's the only way to tell if an expedition was sent by the Royal Navy or privately funded.
Three stars. A history mostly free of authorial opinion and theorizing, ploddingly laid out in chronological order. It doesn't have much personality, but it has all the names, dates, and numbers you could need. It also has an index and thorough end notes, though no separate bibliography.
Comprehensive in its British scope, but written in dry, unengaging prose, this was a slog for me to get through. Williams has moments of brilliantly cutting British humor, but the majority of the book is taken up by unembellished dates and facts, especially the earlier chapters where little is known about the voyages or the captains' motivations. I once found myself wailing, "But why would Thomas James try to scuttle his ship two separate times?!" Only to get no answer. That's just the way it goes. Williams doesn't spend much time speculating, and when he does it's all clearly identified as supposition.
Williams does a fair job introducing the many, many people involved with the search for the Northwest Passage, as well as reintroducing them when they pop up again later, as many of them do. It seems once you became an "Arctic," it was for life, and those that survived their expeditions became advisers to the Admiralty and the next generation of explorers.
The book has several maps, but needed more, with more detail. Often a place would be mentioned that didn't appear on any of the maps in the book. The twenty-eight color plates are referenced in the text (though once incorrectly and once not at all), and I was amazed at some of the sketches and paintings made by the officers and crew aboard these expeditions. And I don't know if this is a British thing or an academic style thing or what, but Williams doesn't put HMS in front of naval ships, which is confusing because sometimes that's the only way to tell if an expedition was sent by the Royal Navy or privately funded.
Three stars. A history mostly free of authorial opinion and theorizing, ploddingly laid out in chronological order. It doesn't have much personality, but it has all the names, dates, and numbers you could need. It also has an index and thorough end notes, though no separate bibliography.
November 20, 2014
Williams does wonderful historical work on the pursuit of the Northwest Passage. Though I used this text as a supplement to research for an interpretation of James Sterling's "An Epistle to the Hon. Arthur Dobbs," Williams was such a wonderful writer that I read the entire book anyway. Voyages of Delusion is a wonderful book for the history enthusiast or anyone looking to explore the mysterious frontier of the American colonies.
November 17, 2019
I was quite keen to read Voyages of Delusion, as I'm originally from Michigan and the search for the Northwest Passage was a big deal in my childhood history classes. This book outlines the many attempts by speculators and sailors to find a navigable passage through the ice as a possible route to the established trading nations of Asia.
This book is mainly written from the British perspective, although it does include a general overview of the other major colonial powers exploring the region. It includes fascinating tales of survival under brutal winter conditions and incredible scientific achievements. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of trade and interactions with the First Nations peoples. It seems that those who forced themselves to go outside into the snow experienced better health than those who stayed indoors to drink in smoky, overcrowded housing. This book is meticulously detailed down to how and when the endeavours were approved and funded. I'm afraid I did find those sections to be a bit dry, although I did enjoy reading the wishful thinking and mania of those who were funding these maritime expeditions. As Punk mentioned in their review, it was occasionally unclear whether the expeditions were sent by the Royal Navy or privately funded, especially if you put the book down and picked it up later.
Voyages of Delusion is packed with adventure and heroic characters divided up by long sections of academic facts, dates and methodology. It's a book without speculation, so I often wondered why, say, the crew just didn't start making their own snow shoes if they couldn't buy enough for everyone from local women. The reading experience would have been greatly improved if there had been more maps in this book which discusses maps and locations in depth. I had to pull out my phone a few times to really understand what the crew was going through and to see what it was they were attempting to do. Overall an enjoyable read, but some sections did seem entirely lifted from an academic dissertation rather than a book for the general reader. Many sections on the perspectives of the explorers were sublime.
This book is mainly written from the British perspective, although it does include a general overview of the other major colonial powers exploring the region. It includes fascinating tales of survival under brutal winter conditions and incredible scientific achievements. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of trade and interactions with the First Nations peoples. It seems that those who forced themselves to go outside into the snow experienced better health than those who stayed indoors to drink in smoky, overcrowded housing. This book is meticulously detailed down to how and when the endeavours were approved and funded. I'm afraid I did find those sections to be a bit dry, although I did enjoy reading the wishful thinking and mania of those who were funding these maritime expeditions. As Punk mentioned in their review, it was occasionally unclear whether the expeditions were sent by the Royal Navy or privately funded, especially if you put the book down and picked it up later.
Voyages of Delusion is packed with adventure and heroic characters divided up by long sections of academic facts, dates and methodology. It's a book without speculation, so I often wondered why, say, the crew just didn't start making their own snow shoes if they couldn't buy enough for everyone from local women. The reading experience would have been greatly improved if there had been more maps in this book which discusses maps and locations in depth. I had to pull out my phone a few times to really understand what the crew was going through and to see what it was they were attempting to do. Overall an enjoyable read, but some sections did seem entirely lifted from an academic dissertation rather than a book for the general reader. Many sections on the perspectives of the explorers were sublime.
July 21, 2010
I love books about cold places, and try to read one in the summer. This summer's is Arctic Labyrinth.
I was already somewhat familiar with many of the attempts at finding the Northwest Passage described in this book. Williams doesn't skimp on detailing the trials and deprivations of early attempts, but his focus is on how the methodology of attempts changed over time, and using documentary evidence to do so. He especially excels at pointing out the discrepancies amongst official accounts, published narratives, and private journals and correspondence concerning various journeys.
I have to be really interested in a topic to consult the research notes at the back of books (I'm lazy and prefer footnotes), but Williams section on Sources and Further Reading is a wonderful document. Written in paragraph form, he suggests reference books, points the reader to the best biographies of various explorers, and lists manuscripts and archives he consulted. I'ts much more, well, dynamic than a dry list of sources and it shows the level of scholarship and work that went into producing this book.
My only complaint about this book is that, while there were a few maps, most of the time I found myself consulting the map on page 175, a general map of the Canadian Arctic. A few place names are listed, but by no means all of the ones named in the various attempts described in the book. And there are no tracks outlining all the various routes taken. A map accompanying each chapter with marked routes would have made for easier reading.
On the upside, the book reminded me of John Collier's painting The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson , which I saw many years ago. The story is quite haunting.
There's nothing like a book featuring frostbite, scurvy and temperatures of 101 below zero to stop one from complaining about summers in Texas.
I was already somewhat familiar with many of the attempts at finding the Northwest Passage described in this book. Williams doesn't skimp on detailing the trials and deprivations of early attempts, but his focus is on how the methodology of attempts changed over time, and using documentary evidence to do so. He especially excels at pointing out the discrepancies amongst official accounts, published narratives, and private journals and correspondence concerning various journeys.
I have to be really interested in a topic to consult the research notes at the back of books (I'm lazy and prefer footnotes), but Williams section on Sources and Further Reading is a wonderful document. Written in paragraph form, he suggests reference books, points the reader to the best biographies of various explorers, and lists manuscripts and archives he consulted. I'ts much more, well, dynamic than a dry list of sources and it shows the level of scholarship and work that went into producing this book.
My only complaint about this book is that, while there were a few maps, most of the time I found myself consulting the map on page 175, a general map of the Canadian Arctic. A few place names are listed, but by no means all of the ones named in the various attempts described in the book. And there are no tracks outlining all the various routes taken. A map accompanying each chapter with marked routes would have made for easier reading.
On the upside, the book reminded me of John Collier's painting The Last Voyage of Henry Hudson , which I saw many years ago. The story is quite haunting.
There's nothing like a book featuring frostbite, scurvy and temperatures of 101 below zero to stop one from complaining about summers in Texas.
May 23, 2022
One would likely need to be more of a history buff than merely interested in the Northwest Passage to greatly enjoy this book. Being that person allowed me to enjoy reading this and to simultaneously find great fun in following the tangents and secondary stories, events, and persons mentioned throughout the text. There is a lot of information here and anyone familiar with history will recognize quite a lot of what is put forth. I found it fascinating to read what men believed to be true, needed to be so, to support their treks and expenditures. Nationalisms and capitalism-mercantilism were huge driving forces in the attempt to find the Passage, though ultimately the harsh realities and vagaries of the Arctic would win out over hubris, ego, ignorance, and falsely assumed European (mostly British) cultural superiority. Granted much of what we know now was entirely unknown then, and I found it fascinating how much guesswork and self-aggrandizing stupidity went into so many of the attempts to find the Passage. Definitely not a thriller, excepting maybe the sections on the Franklin debacle and subsequent wastage searching for him, his men, and the reputation of a nation in decline. Still, I love learning and this book offers many opportunities to research a variety of subjects and persons related, if even peripherally, to the Passage. The addition of photos and maps was appreciated and provided a glimpse into the past when things were less complicated and there was more to discover and wonder about.
May 29, 2021
The hunt for the Northwest Passage is something I had only a passing knowledge of going in to Williams' Arctic Labyrinth (most of which was based on a PBS documentary about the Franklin Expedition that scarred me as a child), so I think what impressed me the most about this history is the sheer, bull-headed tenacity of the search. Hundreds of men lost, expeditions turned back, and ships abandoned across centuries, all in the hunt for a passage that they honestly didn't know existed. It was the hunt for El Dorado but cold.
So, so cold. Do yourself a favor and read this one in the summer. Much like an ill-timed arctic expedition, I'm not sure I would've gotten through if I'd decided to tackle this in the autumn, much less the winter.
Rich in storytelling and always contentious of the humanity, and mortality, of the men who dared the unthinkable, Williams' Artic Labyrinth starts with the earliest quests to skirt the top of the world in the 1600s and builds all the way up to today with an epilogue that has an eye towards what climate change will mean for the Northwest Passage and arctic travel in general as we get deeper into the 21st century.
Fascinating for casual readers and history buffs, and a solid entry point for scholars looking to get the lay of the land before tackling a specific project, this is definitely one I'll come back to when my research bends northwards.
So, so cold. Do yourself a favor and read this one in the summer. Much like an ill-timed arctic expedition, I'm not sure I would've gotten through if I'd decided to tackle this in the autumn, much less the winter.
Rich in storytelling and always contentious of the humanity, and mortality, of the men who dared the unthinkable, Williams' Artic Labyrinth starts with the earliest quests to skirt the top of the world in the 1600s and builds all the way up to today with an epilogue that has an eye towards what climate change will mean for the Northwest Passage and arctic travel in general as we get deeper into the 21st century.
Fascinating for casual readers and history buffs, and a solid entry point for scholars looking to get the lay of the land before tackling a specific project, this is definitely one I'll come back to when my research bends northwards.
June 21, 2023
Uneven read. I enjoyed the actual bits about exploring more than the fairly boring and somewhat confusing (due to the amount of roleplayers involved) sideshows in the halls of power in between. Still good overall, especially since this was a largely unknown part of history for me.
December 28, 2018
written by a scientist or so it seemed. A little too dry for my adventurous mind.
October 29, 2025
Columbus bumped into the Americas while looking to get to the indies. There was then a question of how long north and south that new continent stretched. It was quickly determined where it stretched to southwards but the way around Cape Horn was particularly perilous, and from the point of view of the British annoyingly in Spanish hands. So there was hope in finding an alternate route round to the Pacific to the North. Even a couple of centuries after the first ships looking for this route had failed there was still speculation that the route existed. Voyages of Delusion by Glyn Williams tells the story of the 18th century search for the North West Passage, a tale with courageous navigators and skilled sailors, but also charlatans and eccentric cartographers.
Pros
A well written account of an interesting piece of history
Good use of maps and other materials
Cons
Too little focus on the voyages
Often the information that would make for an exciting read does not exist
Too anglo-centric
Delusion there certainly is. It is hard to countenance that there was a belief that the North West Passage must exist for so long. After the first voyage in the 18th century Williams looks at in detail was lost and once it was determined why it should have been obvious that even if there was such a passage it couldn’t be much use as a trade route. This becomes even more deluded towards the end of the 18th century when searching for the passage switches to searching not from the Atlantic side at Hudson Bay but for the Pacific entrance up the coast of the Pacific North West up to Alaska. If there isn't a navigable Atlantic end why should it be navigable from the other direction?
In the icy wastes of the North ships often disappear without trace, regularly with no survivors. This is the case with the first of the expeditions here. This presents a problem for an author. With no survivors there is no account of what happened. Unless the author is content to make stuff up to tell the story, which I would surely castigate them for, then the tale of that voyage stops after it has barely begun. This can leave a bit of a detective tale as pieces of information come to light through history. This can be interesting, fascinating even, but it will almost always be much dryer and less exciting than an account of the voyage itself. Williams writes well but even good readable writing cannot completely overcome this hurdle.
When it comes to the voyages I found them a little disappointing. Perhaps as a result of the number of voyages that are covered here, there is a focus on five but at least half a dozen more have relevance, they seem much more cursory than I would have liked. For the most part we don't get detailed accounts of the voyages with descriptions, hopes dashed, tales of survival etc. They feature, but are not the main meat of the book.
So what is the main meat? Rather oddly cartographic disputes and speculative geography. I was not expecting this at all. I picked the book up for maritime adventure. It is fortunate I am also interested in geography and maps or I might have been very disappointed.
On reflection there would have been less maritime adventure than I was hoping for even if that had been the mainstay of the writing; often the boats head out, encounter some ice, poke around a bit for a few weeks and turn back. The shortness of the summer sailing season precludes long voyages in the arctic and so the book was never going to be mostly about it. More of the tale is about survival on land for those over-wintering to start early the next season. More could have been made of this to make it a more gripping book.
Once the book switches over to the Pacific half way through there are two actors beyond the British; the Russians exploring from Kamchatka and the Spanish up from California. Unfortunately while both are mentioned as sending out voyages of discovery these are hard done by as there is very little time spent on them compared to the British voyages.
One of the best bits is the superb use of maps and figures. There are a lot of maps, but also illustrations from the time. These are used to good effect in not only in showing the progress, or likely progress of voyages but also in illustrating the arguments the author is making.
Ultimately then I found Voyages of Delusion a bit disappointing. It is a decent book but has issues affecting the narrative that would be almost impossible to fully surmount no matter the author. More likely to be of interest to those who want tales of survival than those looking for maritime adventure.
Pros
A well written account of an interesting piece of history
Good use of maps and other materials
Cons
Too little focus on the voyages
Often the information that would make for an exciting read does not exist
Too anglo-centric
Delusion there certainly is. It is hard to countenance that there was a belief that the North West Passage must exist for so long. After the first voyage in the 18th century Williams looks at in detail was lost and once it was determined why it should have been obvious that even if there was such a passage it couldn’t be much use as a trade route. This becomes even more deluded towards the end of the 18th century when searching for the passage switches to searching not from the Atlantic side at Hudson Bay but for the Pacific entrance up the coast of the Pacific North West up to Alaska. If there isn't a navigable Atlantic end why should it be navigable from the other direction?
In the icy wastes of the North ships often disappear without trace, regularly with no survivors. This is the case with the first of the expeditions here. This presents a problem for an author. With no survivors there is no account of what happened. Unless the author is content to make stuff up to tell the story, which I would surely castigate them for, then the tale of that voyage stops after it has barely begun. This can leave a bit of a detective tale as pieces of information come to light through history. This can be interesting, fascinating even, but it will almost always be much dryer and less exciting than an account of the voyage itself. Williams writes well but even good readable writing cannot completely overcome this hurdle.
When it comes to the voyages I found them a little disappointing. Perhaps as a result of the number of voyages that are covered here, there is a focus on five but at least half a dozen more have relevance, they seem much more cursory than I would have liked. For the most part we don't get detailed accounts of the voyages with descriptions, hopes dashed, tales of survival etc. They feature, but are not the main meat of the book.
So what is the main meat? Rather oddly cartographic disputes and speculative geography. I was not expecting this at all. I picked the book up for maritime adventure. It is fortunate I am also interested in geography and maps or I might have been very disappointed.
On reflection there would have been less maritime adventure than I was hoping for even if that had been the mainstay of the writing; often the boats head out, encounter some ice, poke around a bit for a few weeks and turn back. The shortness of the summer sailing season precludes long voyages in the arctic and so the book was never going to be mostly about it. More of the tale is about survival on land for those over-wintering to start early the next season. More could have been made of this to make it a more gripping book.
Once the book switches over to the Pacific half way through there are two actors beyond the British; the Russians exploring from Kamchatka and the Spanish up from California. Unfortunately while both are mentioned as sending out voyages of discovery these are hard done by as there is very little time spent on them compared to the British voyages.
One of the best bits is the superb use of maps and figures. There are a lot of maps, but also illustrations from the time. These are used to good effect in not only in showing the progress, or likely progress of voyages but also in illustrating the arguments the author is making.
Ultimately then I found Voyages of Delusion a bit disappointing. It is a decent book but has issues affecting the narrative that would be almost impossible to fully surmount no matter the author. More likely to be of interest to those who want tales of survival than those looking for maritime adventure.
April 2, 2018
The history of European penetration into the Pacific Ocean has long been Professor Glyn Williams' special interest. He has written extensively, based on his historical research, about European exploration, trade and sometimes conflict in that ocean. A fabled Strait of Anian across North America had been rumoured since the sixteenth century. In Voyages of Delusion he has written a detailed and fascinating account of two centuries of exploration attempting to rediscover and verify a navigable passage from the North Atlantic into the Pacific - a route that held out the promise of easier access to the profitable European trade with China and the Orient. Early attempts to find a short route to the Pacific were largely British, with hopes that some navigable waterway would be found out of or near Hudson Bay, where the somewhat secretive Hudson's Bay Company had trading posts. When these attempts failed, the search shifted to the Pacific coast of North America, where expeditions under Captain James Cook, La Pérouse and several Spanish explorers tried to locate the trans-continental waterways supposed to have been discovered earlier by Juan de Fuca, Bartholomew de Fonte and Maldonado. Armchair geographers and cartographers in Europe had meanwhile constructed vast maps of North America, in which imaginary inland seas and waterways apparently linked the Atlantic and Pacific coasts - in total ignorance of the barrier of the Rocky Mountains and huge distances.
These abortive and often misreported voyages of exploration are described and put into context in this well written account by Glyn Williams. By the late eighteenth century Vancouver, Malaspina and other Spanish explorers had carried out very careful surveys of the Pacific coast, under difficult conditions. The commercial traders who came in search of the valuable sea otter pelts also contributed their findings. These finally showed that all the earlier claims of navigable passages were delusions, based on failure to appreciate the extent of the Inside Passage, between the mainland and the extensive archipelago of islands off the fractured Pacific coast.
This book covers the explorations up to the end of the eighteenth century, and does not deal with the later attempts by others, including the tragic voyages of Sir John Franklin in the nineteenth century. The book is a compelling read, but not one to read quickly: it is very detailed and at times one struggles a bit with the innumerable characters. For example, Puget, after whom Seattle's waterway is named, is casually referred to as "Lieutenant Peter Puget" without mentioning which of Captain George Vancouver's two ships he served in. The book has many invaluable maps and charts (though the reproduction of some eighteenth century maps in the paperback edition is a bit disappointing). The index is excellent and there are over 20 pages of scholarly endnotes as well as summaries of the somewhat incredible accounts of late sixteenth century 'discoveries'.
It was not until 1914 that the Panama Canal provided a navigable "Strait of Anian" connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through America. Now rising ocean temperatures and retreat of polar ice caused by progressive climate change offers the possibility of a navigable North West Passage across the north of America.
These abortive and often misreported voyages of exploration are described and put into context in this well written account by Glyn Williams. By the late eighteenth century Vancouver, Malaspina and other Spanish explorers had carried out very careful surveys of the Pacific coast, under difficult conditions. The commercial traders who came in search of the valuable sea otter pelts also contributed their findings. These finally showed that all the earlier claims of navigable passages were delusions, based on failure to appreciate the extent of the Inside Passage, between the mainland and the extensive archipelago of islands off the fractured Pacific coast.
This book covers the explorations up to the end of the eighteenth century, and does not deal with the later attempts by others, including the tragic voyages of Sir John Franklin in the nineteenth century. The book is a compelling read, but not one to read quickly: it is very detailed and at times one struggles a bit with the innumerable characters. For example, Puget, after whom Seattle's waterway is named, is casually referred to as "Lieutenant Peter Puget" without mentioning which of Captain George Vancouver's two ships he served in. The book has many invaluable maps and charts (though the reproduction of some eighteenth century maps in the paperback edition is a bit disappointing). The index is excellent and there are over 20 pages of scholarly endnotes as well as summaries of the somewhat incredible accounts of late sixteenth century 'discoveries'.
It was not until 1914 that the Panama Canal provided a navigable "Strait of Anian" connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through America. Now rising ocean temperatures and retreat of polar ice caused by progressive climate change offers the possibility of a navigable North West Passage across the north of America.
March 27, 2021
The Quest for the Northwest Passage edited by Glyn Williams is a curated selection of ships logs and memoirs of those who attempted to find the mythical channel between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans between the 16th to 20th Centuries.
Beginning in the 16th Century initially by the Danes, the voyages of discovery were by and large driven by the British in the attempt to find a short cut to Cathay (China). In their way of course was the unrelenting cold and ice being driven from the Arctic Sea through the multiple channels.
The stories are told from first hand accounts of those that were there. The trials and hardships were immense with many voyages lasting 2 - 4 years, with crews having to survive multiple winters trapped in the thick ice. Many voyages turned from those of discovery to those of survival, with men having to cope with sickness, starvation, exhaustion and fetid living conditions. These were truly immensely difficult expeditions.
The accounts were well balanced between sea and land expeditions and offered many insights to the European view of the Eskimo and Northern Native Americans.
Highly recommended for lovers of exploration, naval history and Artic exploration.
Beginning in the 16th Century initially by the Danes, the voyages of discovery were by and large driven by the British in the attempt to find a short cut to Cathay (China). In their way of course was the unrelenting cold and ice being driven from the Arctic Sea through the multiple channels.
The stories are told from first hand accounts of those that were there. The trials and hardships were immense with many voyages lasting 2 - 4 years, with crews having to survive multiple winters trapped in the thick ice. Many voyages turned from those of discovery to those of survival, with men having to cope with sickness, starvation, exhaustion and fetid living conditions. These were truly immensely difficult expeditions.
The accounts were well balanced between sea and land expeditions and offered many insights to the European view of the Eskimo and Northern Native Americans.
Highly recommended for lovers of exploration, naval history and Artic exploration.
March 16, 2019
An excellent and thorough overview of the major (mostly British) Arctic explorations, beginning in the late 16th century with Martin Frobisher and ending with the single-year navigation of one of the passages by the Norwegian-born Canadian, Henry Larsen. Standout chapters cover Sir John Franklin's harrowing 1819-22 overland expedition, Sir W.E. Parry's successful 1821 overwintering at Melville Island, John and James Clark Ross's 1829-1833 ordeal in Prince Regent Inlet, and the dysfunctional Franklin searches of Belcher and Collinson. Most of the second half of the book deals, in one way or another, with the Franklin Expedition: its preparation and departure, the Admiralty response to its disappearance, the major search efforts, and the eventual discoveries of McClintock and, to a lesser extent, Hall and Schwatka. Highly recommended, especially for readers new to the history of Arctic exploration and the mystery of the Franklin Expedition.
November 6, 2022
I’d rather be lucky than good.
When searching for the Northwest Passage, I definitely want to be lucky. Some of the most accomplished Arctic explorers met their ends trying to find the elusive Northwest Passage. Very often, the difference between life and death depended on the ice that year, the time of the year they arrived, and how well they planned to be iced in.
Williams chronicles all of the major attempts and how they ended. Inevitably, he also has to chronicle the rescue attempts which ended in heartbreak.
It should not be forgotten that the existence of the Northwest Passage and the Open Polar Sea are two amazing examples of human delusion. Neither held up to scientific knowledge of the day, and the Northwest Passage claimed numerous lives in futile effort after futile effort. Come read about them!
When searching for the Northwest Passage, I definitely want to be lucky. Some of the most accomplished Arctic explorers met their ends trying to find the elusive Northwest Passage. Very often, the difference between life and death depended on the ice that year, the time of the year they arrived, and how well they planned to be iced in.
Williams chronicles all of the major attempts and how they ended. Inevitably, he also has to chronicle the rescue attempts which ended in heartbreak.
It should not be forgotten that the existence of the Northwest Passage and the Open Polar Sea are two amazing examples of human delusion. Neither held up to scientific knowledge of the day, and the Northwest Passage claimed numerous lives in futile effort after futile effort. Come read about them!
June 22, 2025
A great history all round. The maps and plates were decent overall but the text could have done with some references to the relevant map, which were dotted throughout the book. I spent wayyyy to much time flipping back and forth to find the right page.
The last chapter about climate change gave me the best laugh of the book when it plaintively lamented about polar bears 'marooned on ice-floes'. What next, birds 'marooned' in trees? Spare me the proselytizing.
The last chapter about climate change gave me the best laugh of the book when it plaintively lamented about polar bears 'marooned on ice-floes'. What next, birds 'marooned' in trees? Spare me the proselytizing.
September 5, 2022
Very readable account of the voyages in the 18th century. Williams accounts the fantastic imaginary geography that drove so many of these voyages as well as the courage and tenacity of the voyagers themselves.
December 31, 2023
Pretty good book, quite cold at parts but that’s expected due to the topic.
August 17, 2023
I would have given it five stars if the author had fully acknowledged John Rae's contributions, had used commas, and had more maps and diagrams.
March 2, 2017
Good! A nice history of Arctic exploration. Didn't bring up De Long at all, which actually I suppose was okay because I wasn't in the mood to cry, anyway. (Actually I thought it was weird, since it did mention Allen Young, and the HMS Pandora, and James Gordon Bennett...but it glossed right over the USS Jeannette..)
November 20, 2013
Firstly, I'd recommend anyone with a general interest in this subject to skip this book and go straight to the same author's later "Arctic Labyrinth" which covers much the same ground but in the broader context of the whole search for the North west passage. This book covers the search in the 18th century, and while it has its fair share of good stories, it feels like the beginning and end is missing.
What WIlliams is very good at is the often unexamined relationship between speculative cartography and exploration. WHich as he shows is not simply a conflict between imagination and experience. He's also good on the problem the stay at homes had sifting the stories: Christopher Middleton, for example suffered a horrendous winter in Hudson's Bay only to return and be told by his patron Arthur Dobbs he had exaggerated. How to tell the difference between the unimaginable reality of twelve feet of snow and ships frozen hard in the ice: the blatantly fictive journey's (like Swift's) and the fictive, but believable, whose claims that had ships searching for non existent straights.
There were those who simply didn't believe sea water could freeze and were prepared to tell Sailors like Cook who had seen it that they were mistaken.
As WIlliams outlines, the flip side of rationalism: an inability to believe the apparently irrational.
The book reproduces the maps and details their genesis with as much care as it details the voyages. It feels half way between a narrative history and a reference book. Not light reading by any means.
What WIlliams is very good at is the often unexamined relationship between speculative cartography and exploration. WHich as he shows is not simply a conflict between imagination and experience. He's also good on the problem the stay at homes had sifting the stories: Christopher Middleton, for example suffered a horrendous winter in Hudson's Bay only to return and be told by his patron Arthur Dobbs he had exaggerated. How to tell the difference between the unimaginable reality of twelve feet of snow and ships frozen hard in the ice: the blatantly fictive journey's (like Swift's) and the fictive, but believable, whose claims that had ships searching for non existent straights.
There were those who simply didn't believe sea water could freeze and were prepared to tell Sailors like Cook who had seen it that they were mistaken.
As WIlliams outlines, the flip side of rationalism: an inability to believe the apparently irrational.
The book reproduces the maps and details their genesis with as much care as it details the voyages. It feels half way between a narrative history and a reference book. Not light reading by any means.
August 12, 2016
I started reading this on my way to Norway to join the crew of a replica Viking ship for the summer. It details the history of Arctic exploration from the Norse arrival in Greenland and Newfoundland, through the search for the fabled Strait of Anián on the west coast of North America, to the many expeditions supported by the British Admiralty through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the successful navigation of the route by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in Gjøa.
The detail provided is comprehensive, filling in the spaces around more well-known events, such as the Franklin expeditions, and gives a good account of disparities that exist between official accounts and personal correspondence for various journeys. Williams also catalogues the development of expedition field techniques and improvement of welfare standards over time, leading at times to increased successes but also overstretched confidence and greater tragedy.
However, despite my enjoyment of the subject matter, I found it hard to engage with the writing. Presenting a straightforward factual account of events, whilst freeing the text from speculation and theorising by the author, left the book rather dry and unable to hold my attention for long, disappointing with hours to fill on a long watch. The text is supported by an extensive reference and further reading section, which makes this book an excellent starting point and useful reference for further reading.
The detail provided is comprehensive, filling in the spaces around more well-known events, such as the Franklin expeditions, and gives a good account of disparities that exist between official accounts and personal correspondence for various journeys. Williams also catalogues the development of expedition field techniques and improvement of welfare standards over time, leading at times to increased successes but also overstretched confidence and greater tragedy.
However, despite my enjoyment of the subject matter, I found it hard to engage with the writing. Presenting a straightforward factual account of events, whilst freeing the text from speculation and theorising by the author, left the book rather dry and unable to hold my attention for long, disappointing with hours to fill on a long watch. The text is supported by an extensive reference and further reading section, which makes this book an excellent starting point and useful reference for further reading.
March 15, 2014
I've never read a book about European Arctic exploration, but I plan to read more in the future and those books will help me evaluate this one with more clarity. I say that because I feel that this book was written for people already familiar with the NW Passage or at least with the geography of the Arctic Sea and Northern Canada. The whole time I read this, I had to have two things: a map of the region and a notepad and pen. The map I needed because while I have an elementary understanding of what Latitude is, when someone says, 78 degrees 14 minutes Latitude, I can't envision in my head where that is. So I need a map at all times for reference. I needed the pad and paper because there were numerous people, ships, and voyages and them and their stories are not presented on a linear timeline, the book jumps around. So I needed the pad and paper to keep track of all these 'characters'.
I'm not going to be too harsh about this, because the author did use the actual names of places like straights, bays, islands, etc along with latitude and most of those I still needed a map because I'm so unfamiliar with the region. And there was logic to the jumping around. Reading this book just felt like I was taking some kind of college course on the NW passage, and this was the textbook. I'll have to read a few more comprehensive histories to see if it is possible to produce a book about this subject without giving the reader a homework assignment.
I'm not going to be too harsh about this, because the author did use the actual names of places like straights, bays, islands, etc along with latitude and most of those I still needed a map because I'm so unfamiliar with the region. And there was logic to the jumping around. Reading this book just felt like I was taking some kind of college course on the NW passage, and this was the textbook. I'll have to read a few more comprehensive histories to see if it is possible to produce a book about this subject without giving the reader a homework assignment.
August 28, 2012
This book shows the dangerous voyages to find the highly sought for Northwest Passage. It illustrates the importance of the Northwest Passage in the daily lives of British commoners, captains, trading companies, and royalty itself. This book mainly focuses on the Atlantic side of the search and voyagers entanglements with the Hudson's Bay Company (the company that had a 70 year monopoly in the Hudson Bay region over the trading with Native Americans). Although another portion of the book is devoted to the Pacific search for the passage, this second half was more obscure and jumped from voyage to voyage instead of centralizing on one voyage per chapter (as in the first half with the Atlantic search). I give this book 3 stars because, for the most part, it illustrated the terrors of attempted survival through winter in the Northern Canadian region that expeditions hunted in vain for this waterway. Many people were inflicted with scurvy and other dangers, including rageful Inuit and other natives. However, it lacked in focus at the end of the book and made it hard to swallow all of the information in the last few obscure chapters.
July 27, 2011
A very enjoyable and readable history of the search for the Northwest Passage. All readers of military or naval history as well as geographical history will enjoy this book. Many maps and illustrations are provided and they come in handy as the Hudson Bay-Baffin Bay area is an extremely geographically complex one.
July 17, 2016
Good overview of the search for the Northwest passage that focuses on British efforts. I liked how the author contrasted published accounts with the often less positive journals kept by expedition leaders.
Was startled to see number of Alaska place names, like Kotzebue, that came directly from European explorers.
Was startled to see number of Alaska place names, like Kotzebue, that came directly from European explorers.
September 13, 2011
It is hard to imagine the lengths people went to discover the Northwest Passage and the lives lost.
October 3, 2012
Flled with loads of historical information about the northwest passage, although overall a dry read.
September 4, 2014
Every now and then a historian chooses a great story to tell
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