ebooks Ice Blink: The Tragic Fate of Sir John Franklin's Lost Polar Expedition by Scott Cookman in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. If I could give SIX stars; I would ! A must read .By Jonathan P AlterThis book on the Franklin expedition is the first; of all that I have read about Franklin ; that answers my question: "What about the food preparation itself ; before the food was put into Goldner's cans ? "This book goes into great detail in answering what happened to the food; when; where; how and why. The answers ? I won't tell you here what the answers are- but be glad you did not eat in those days- whether on ship or ashore.Upton Sinclair could have written about The 1840s Jungle in England.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. THE TERRORRRRRRR!!!!By congenial bevOK; if you happen to read The Terror by Dan Simmons; you will likely download/buy this book and others. The missing Franklin expedition; 1845; may have been a test question in school (sounds familiar) but I didn't become aware of the magnitude of the event until inhaling these books. FASCINATING FACT; unfort. found in still another book (Frozen in Time; Owen Beattie); the HMS Terror; star of these books and OMG; what GREAT READING ALL (I've read The Terror multiple times) MAY HAVE BEEN one and the same as a ship named "Terror" that participated in the Battle of Baltimore; firing the bombs mentioned in the US National Anthem... um; wow?PS; person I would love to have dinner with; currently dead; FRANCIS RAWDON MOIRA CROZIER; captain HSM Terror.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. "At that point; he [Crozier] would have gladly traded the Passage for a cask of ship's biscuit."By mwreviewThis review was skeptical at the start of reading "Ice Blink" since the author; Scott Cookman; admits to being introduced to the story of the Franklin Expedition in 1988 after picking up Dr. Owen Beattie and John Geiger's classic account "Frozen In Time." How much could this author add to a story that has been examined in numerous studies already? Well; it turns out; quite a bit. Cookman's main contribution is his impressive research into the Stephan Goldner's Preserved Provisions company. The details on how Goldner cut corners on the manufacturing of cans; the processing of "food" (including things that were never considered food); the preparation (or lack thereof) of the victuals; and the delivery of the goods is eye-opening. The book includes a photo of a Goldner brochure listing all the impressive and exotic foods he claimed to sell. Unlike other studies; Cookman does not concentrate on the lead content of the food that seeped in from the sloppy soldering of the cans. Instead; he focuses on other contaminates in the food resulting from poor food preparation. For this reviewer; "Ice Blink" provides a new perspective on the loss of the Franklin Expedition. Cookman follows the Goldner story through the Admirality's inquiry into Goldner's practices and its ultimate findings.Cookman also provides excellent background information on Sir John Franklin and; to a lesser extent; second-in-command Capt. Francis Crozier and Commander of the Erebus; James Fitzjames. The daily life inside the ships (including diet) is also described very well and includes an illustration of the living arrangements. Cookman uses the experiences of other expeditions (i.e. Shackleton's Endurance and Robert Falcon Scott's journey to the South Pole) in describing some of the details as to what Franklin's crew endured. Considering no one from the expedition lived to tell his tale or left journals behind that survived; Cookman also uses a lot of assumptions in his account of the events on the Erebus and Terror. For example; he has Franklin gathering his men around to inform them they would be spending another winter in the ice and then; ten days later; dies (pg. 138). Of course; it is impossible to prove this meeting ever occurred. Cookman also uses a lot of poetic license when describing what was going through Capt. Crozier's mind during the arduous march to find safety on King William Island. The topic of cannibalism is examined using the stories of the Donner Party and the Essex for reference; but the assumption Cookman makes that Franklin Expedition members eventually killed fellow crewman for food as opposed to waiting for death to occur naturally is not proven in this book (pg. 181).Other Criticisms of this book are that; at the start; Cookman often exhibits an informal and sarcastic tone. On his 1819-22 overland Arctic expedition; "Franklin set out like an unprepared summer camper" (pg. 19). Franklin's courtship with his first wife "contained about as much heat as afternoon tea" (pg. 23; no explanation is given for this statement). The author maintains that "not many high school graduates today meet [the] qualifications" for joining the Royal Navy (pg. 15). Fortunately; this style does not continue throughout the book. As other reviewers have noted; Cookman uses a lot of repetition in a book which is relatively short (under 200 pages not including appendices). Finally; the often misused phrase "begs the question" is used incorrectly (pg. 115). Despite these criticisms; "Ice Blink" is an important addition to the examination of the Franklin Expedition due to the information provided on Stephan Goldner and his canned provisions.