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Although Arctic explorer and Hudson Bay Company surveyor John Rae (1813-1893) travelled and recorded the final uncharted sections of the Northwest Passage, he is best known for his controversial discovery of the fate of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845. Based on evidence given to him by local Inuit, Rae determined that Franklin's crew had resorted to cannibalism in their final, desperate days. Seen as maligning a national hero, Rae was shunned by British society.This collection of personal correspondence--reissued here for the first time since its original publication in 1953--illuminates the details of Rae's expeditions through his own words. The letters offer a glimpse into Rae's daily life, his ideas, musings, and troubles. Prefaced by the original, thorough introduction detailing his early life, John Rae's Arctic Correspondence is a crucial resource for any Arctic enthusiast.This new edition features a foreword by researcher and Arctic enthusiast Ken McGoogan, the award-winning author of eleven books, including Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae (HarperCollins, 2002).

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9781771510844

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"John Rae was a Scottish doctor and explorer born on September 30, 1813, in Orkney. As a child, he enjoyed sailing, climbing, hunting, and fishing--skills that would serve him well in his future exploits. In 1833, shortly after graduating from medical school, Rae was appointed surgeon of the Prince of Wales, a Hudson's Bay Company ship bound for Moose Factory, Ontario, where he would remain for the next ten years. He had great respect for the peoples native to northern Canada and adopted many of their survival skills. He learned to hunt caribou, store meat, construct shelter, and walk using snowshoes. He was particularly known for this last skill, once walking 1,200 miles in snowshoes through winter forest in order to learn how to survey.Rae embarked on his first expedition in 1846. Over the next decade, he explored much of northern Canada's coastline and, in fact, discovered the final link in the Northwest Passage. However, hi The award-winning author of ten books, Ken McGoogan is best known for Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Explorer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin. That work won the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, the CAA History Award, and an American Christopher Award for ""a work of artistic excellence that affirms the highest values of the human spirit."" With his related book, Lady Franklin's Revenge, Ken added the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography and the Pierre Berton Award for History. He writes a column for Canada's History magazine, recently published How the Scots Invented Canada, and teaches a creative non-fiction course through the University of Toronto and the New York Times Knowledge Network. Ken also makes a cameo appearance in the acclaimed docudrama Passage, which is based on Fatal Passage. Please visit www.kenmcgoogan.blogspot.com<"

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