ebooks Fatal Passage: The True Story of John Rae; the Arctic Hero Time Forgot by Ken McGoogan in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. "Rae was as new as Darwin"--Vilhjalmur StefanssonBy mwreview"Fatal Passage" is a celebratory examination of the life; accomplishments; and struggles for recognition of arctic explorer John Rae. Ken McGoogan admits in the introduction that he is a bit of a sycophant when it comes to the subject of Rae and is guilty of "cheer-leading." His book; proclaiming Rae as a hero; was first published in the author's native Canada; a nation that appreciates understatement. After the events of 9/11; McGoogan was determined to have his book published in the United States and declare Rae an American hero on the level of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. This reviewer is not certain as to why Rae would be a hero in the United States when he was born off the north coast of Scotland in Orkney and made his mark in the Arctic and what would become Canada. What 9/11 had to do with the Hudson's Bay Company explorer is also unclear; but such is how the author introduced his book.John Rae was definitely an impressive figure and perhaps the greatest explorer of his time. He began his career as a doctor treating scurvy and deduced the importance of Vitamin C before its discovery (pg. 16). He led the first expedition to winter above the tree line of the Arctic Circle. He was highly innovative in his exploration techniques (Vilhjalmur Stefansson wrote that "Rae was as new as Darwin") and; like Amundsen after him; adopted Inuit methods like building igloos and coating sledge runners with moss and snow. An excellent boatman; Rae was also indefatigable on snowshoes. He mapped out much of the northern coast; determining Boothia Felix was a peninsula and not an island as originally thought (key in finding the Northwest Passage). Most notably; he proved the fate of the Franklin Expedition through relics and native encounters and found the gateway to the elusive Northwest Passage between Boothia Peninsula and King William Island.Rae's accomplishments speak for themselves; but McGoogan defends him to a level of superhero status and polishes any chink in the armor. Rae exhibited a great respect for the Inuit; some things he wrote were ahead of their time in terms of cultural sensitivity (pg. 31). Still; McGoogan goes out of his way to explain why Rae renamed geographical landmarks which already sported native designations (pg. 74). When mentioning Rae's sexual encounters with native women; McGoogan points out that Rae would have to be "freakish" to have resisted. Rae was a man. Such activities are expected. In the rare instances when Rae made an error in judgment or was not successful in achieving a goal; McGoogan almost comes off as an apologist or overly builds up the experience: "Rae would face so many challenges that; in retrospect; it looks as if fate wished to test both his abilities and his resolve" (pg. 44).McGoogan's pro-Rae analysis is highly effective; though; when examining the reaction to Rae's report regarding the fate of the Franklin Expedition. The shocking details of his discoveries caused his reputation to be unfairly attacked by Lady Jane Franklin. Charles Dickens also went on the attack; not so much against Rae; but against the natives whose stories Dickens believed lacked credibility. Lady Franklin's persistent criticism damaged Rae's standing. He was never knighted as so many other explorers were and the praise which should have gone to him was lavished on Lady Franklin's last funded explorer Francis Leopold McClintock; who only confirmed Rae's findings. The book ends with the author making a trek to visit the remains of a cairn left by Rae when he discovered the link to the Northwest Passage."Fatal Passage" is a convincing examination that extols John Rae as one of the greatest; if under-appreciated; Arctic explorers in history. McGoogan; at times; does put Rae on a rather high pedestal and; therefore; opens the door to critics to charge him with being overly bias in his analysis. He; at least; admits it; though. Otherwise; "Fatal Passage" is an excellent account of Rae's achievements and the political intrigue that caused him to not gain the legendary status he may have deserved.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Amazing person/story.By MookieGreat book - should be taught in grade schools13 of 14 people found the following review helpful. Canada's Greatest Adopted HeroBy Rodney MeekAshamed of my ignorance of the history of our great neighbor to the north; Canadaland; I resolved to get this book to learn more of one of its greatest unsung heroes. Who; of course; had actually been born in Scotland. But he got over to Canuckia as soon as he could; and stayed a long time. Before going back to Britain. Well...he was still heroic; if not fully Canadian.They certainly built people different back in olden pre-Internet times. These days; of course; most of us regard a trek to our mailboxes as an epic ordeal; but back in the day; it was nothing to go hiking about for miles and miles. Of course; there was no TV; so entertainment options were few; and if you were living in the remote northern Canadian woods for months on end; you really had nothing better to do than hike about and push aside the native peoples to "discover" things. But even amongst the hardy traders and trappers; John Rae was an anomaly.Pretty much; anything you could do; he could do better. I mean; he was a proficient sailor and hunter virutally out of the womb; then became a doctor at a very young age; then rose through the ranks of the Hudson's Bay Company. And the dude could walk! Thirty miles in a day would be a disappointing outing for him. Plus he could totally snowshoe; and he learned all sorts of cool stuff from various Native American tribes and the Inuit. He was like a one-man Winter Olympics; except with somewhat less luging.We would find him notable for all of his exploring; but what was more remarkable about him was his enlightened attitudes toward the assorted indigenous peoples he encountered. Whereas your average Victorian regarded the original inhabitants of North America with; at best; amused contempt; Rae realized that they were perfectly adapted to their environment and that they could teach him a great deal about how to survive in the far north. Consequently; whilst various British expeditions to find the Northwest Passage; and then to find the vanished Sir John Franklin and company; were blundering about the Arctic; crashing and sinking and starving and freezing; Rae was moving about with comparative ease and was seldom in any jeopardy.His major accomplishments were to discover the final link of an ice-free navigable Northwest Passage and to uncover word at long last about the Franklin Expedition; which he basically did by the simple expedient of asking some passing Inuit; "Hey; what happened to Franklin?" Unfortunately for Rae; the truth was not palatable to his waiting British audience. As it turns out; the crews of Franklin's ships had been forced to abandon their icebound ships to set off on a doomed trek to reach a far-distant trading outpost; mysteriously declining to head toward a much closer and more easily accessible known cache of supplies left by a previous group of explorers. But it was the news of the extremities to which they had been forced that most upset the public. At least some of the Franklin Expedition had resorted to cannibalism (which assertion has subsequently been proved in modern times by forensic analysis of some of the remains later discovered scattered here and there across the Canadian coast).It was easier for the outraged British to claim that Rae was a liar or a fool and that the Inuit had either murdered the Franklin crews or selfishly hogged all the caribou to themselves and declined to help the starving explorers. It never really sunk in for most of Rae's critics that the Inuit weren't exactly carting around surplus tons of food or that the land wasn't at all capable of supporting dozens and dozens of people at a time. And so the vilification of Rae began in earnest; orchestrated by the Widow Franklin and ably abetted (to his eternal shame) by one Charles Dickens.This is a handsomely illustrated volume with an assortment of helpful maps. Since it was originally published in Canada; to some very minor degree it presupposes that the reader has some small knowledge of certain Canadian-type things; but that's only the most insignificant of impediments to American readers. My real quibble is that the author sometimes takes an overly novelistic approach in describing certain scenes (down to details of facial expressions) and recreating dialogue. The bibliography is slim and I would've felt on more solid ground had he better documented his materials for some of these "you are there" passages.Also; his forward for the American edition is so unabashed in its effusive praise for Rae that it spirals at the end into a quasi-hysterical screed for public worship of this great man. He would have been better advised to follow the basic rule of "show; don't tell"; and let us draw our own conclusion without demanding our obeisance to all things Rae. Still; this is a most entertaining and well-told tale of a figure who indeed deserves much greater acclaim and a more prominent place in the annals of Arctic exploration.