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Author:

Williams, Glyndwr.

Title:

Arctic labyrinth : the quest for the Northwest Passage / Glyn Williams.

Edition:

1st University of California Press ed.

Publisher:

University of California Press,

Copyright Date:

2010

Description:

xix, 439 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) ; 24 cm.

Subject:

Northwest Passage--Discovery and exploration.
Northwest Passage--Description and travel.

Notes:

Originally published: London : Allen Lane, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-413) and index.

Contents:

Prologue : 'There is no land unhabitable nor sea innavigable' -- 'All is not golde that glistereth' : the expeditions of Martin Frobisher -- 'The passage ismost probable'; 'there is no passage nor hope of passage' : the views of John Davis and William Baffin -- 'A sea to the westward' : the discovery of Hudson Bay -- 'To seek a needle in a bottle of hay' : the rival voyages of Luke Foxe and Thomas James -- 'Northward to find out the Straits if Anian' : the tragic voyage of James Knight -- 'The maritime philosophers stone' : the vision of Arthur Dobbs -- 'I left the print of my feet in blood' : Samuel Hearne and the speculative geographers -- 'No information could be had from maps' : James Cook's final voage -- 'Insults in the name of science to modern navigation' : fantasy voyages through the Northwest Passage -- 'Our prospects were truly exhilarating' : the gateway of Lancaster Sound -- 'The man who ate his boots' : John Franklin goes overland -- 'This set us all castle-building' : the later voyages of Edward Parry -- 'The very borders of the grave' : the ordeal of the Rosses -- 'To fill up the small blank on the northern charts' : the explorations of Back, Dease and Simpson -- 'So little now remains to be done' : the last voyage of John Franklin -- 'Franklin's winter quarters!' : clues on the ice -- 'The Northwest Passage discovered!' : the Pacific approach of McClure and Collinson -- 'A thorough downright catastrophe' : the search expedition of Edward Belcher -- 'They fell down and died as they walked' : the fate of Franklin's crews -- 'My dream since childhood' : Roald Amundsen and the passage -- 'I felt that I was on hallowed ground' : the voyages of Henry Larsen -- Epilogue : the Northwest Passage and climate change.

Summary:

The elusive dream of locating the Northwest Passage--an ocean route over the top of North America that promised a shortcut to the fabulous wealth of Asia--obsessed explorers for centuries. Until recently these channels were hopelessly choked by impassible ice. Voyagers faced unimaginable horrors--entire ships crushed, mass starvation, disabling frostbite, even cannibalism--in pursuit of a futile goal. Glyn Williams charts the entire sweep of this extraordinary history, from the tiny, woefully equipped vessels of the first Tudor expeditions to the twentieth-century ventures that finally opened the Passage.

ISBN:

0520266277 (cloth : alk. paper)
9780520266278 (cloth : alk. paper)

OCLC:

(OCoLC)435628953

LCCN:

2009035546

Locations:

BOPG851 -- Ames Public Library (Ames)

KSPG296 -- Burlington Public Library (Burlington)

UQAX771 -- Des Moines Area Community College Library - Ankeny (Carroll)

RZPE145 -- Carroll Public Library (Carroll)

PLAX964 -- Luther College - Preus Library (Decorah)

FXPH314 -- Carnegie-Stout Public Library (Dubuque)

OIAX792 -- Grinnell College (Grinnell)

PQAX094 -- Wartburg College - Vogel Library (Waverly)