{"title":"Books by Ken McGoogan","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780553814934","title":"Fatal Passage","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe true story of the remarkable John Rae - Arctic traveller and Hudson's Bay Company doctor - FATAL PASSAGE is a tale of imperial ambition and high adventure. In 1854 Rae solved the two great Arctic mysteries: the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the last navigable link in the Northwest Passage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Rae was to be denied the recognition he so richly deserved. On returning to London, he faced a campaign of denial and vilification led by two of the most powerful people in Victorian England: Lady Jane Franklin, the widow of the lost Sir John, and Charles Dickens, the most influential writer of the age. A remarkable story of courage and determination, FATAL PASSAGE is Ken McGoogan's passionate redemption of Rae's rightful place in history. In this richly documented and illustrated work, McGoogan captures the essence of one man's indomitable spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43399335444658,"sku":"9780553814934","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780553814934_66a05fa3-1f4f-462b-a9b8-f2c30d3007af.jpg?v=1786013716"},{"product_id":"9781771623681","title":"Searching for Franklin","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eArctic historian Ken McGoogan approaches the legacy of nineteenth-century explorer Sir John Franklin from a contemporary perspective and offers a surprising new explanation of an enduring Northern mystery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTwo of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin’s expeditions were monumental failures—the last one leading to more than a hundred deaths, including his own. Yet many still see the Royal Navy man as a heroic figure who sacrificed himself to discover the Northwest Passage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis book, McGoogan’s sixth about Arctic exploration, challenges that vision. It rejects old orthodoxies, incorporates the latest discoveries, and interweaves two main narratives. The first treats the Royal Navy’s Arctic Overland Expedition of 1819, a harbinger-misadventure during which Franklin rejected the advice of Dene and Métis leaders and lost eleven of his twenty-one men to exhaustion, starvation and murder. The second discovers a startling new answer to that greatest of Arctic mysteries: what was the root cause of the catastrophe that engulfed Franklin’s last expedition?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe well-preserved wrecks of \u003cem\u003eErebus\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTerror\u003c\/em\u003e—located in 2014 and 2016—promise to yield more clues about what cost the lives of the expedition members, some of whom were reduced to cannibalism. Contemporary researchers, rejecting theories of lead poisoning and botulism, continue to seek conclusive evidence both underwater and on land.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing on his own research and Inuit oral accounts, McGoogan teases out many intriguing aspects of Franklin’s expeditions, including the explorer’s lethal hubris in ignoring the expert advice of the Dene leader Akaitcho. Franklin disappeared into the Arctic in 1845, yet people remain fascinated with his final doomed voyage: what happened? McGoogan will captivate readers with his first-hand account of travelling to relevant locations, visiting the graves of dead sailors and experiencing the Arctic—one of the most dramatic and challenging landscapes on the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56303439577461,"sku":"9781771623681","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781771623681_e966c992-0cc3-4d3a-9bb6-66437f00bbd1.jpg?v=1786024462"},{"product_id":"ancient-mariner","title":"Ancient Mariner","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1757, when twelve-year-old Samuel Hearne joined the Royal Navy as an apprentice to the famous fighting captain Samuel Hood, he was embarking on a life of high adventure. This young sailor would become the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America, the author of a classic work of exploration literature, and the man who inspired one of the greatest poems in the English language. Yet, for over two centuries, Hearne's place in history has been a subject of dispute. In ANCIENT MARINER, Ken McGoogan paints a vivid portrait of life in the eighteenth century, from London through to the farthest reaches of North America. After serving as a midshipman during the Seven Years War, Hearne joined the Hudson's Bay Company and was posted to the Arctic coast. From there he embarked on an overland quest for a fabled copper mine - also hoping to discover the Northwest Passage. In his epic account, A JOURNEY TO THE NORTHERN OCEAN, Hearne described this trek, marked by hardship, near-starvation and culture shock. Joining forces with the legendary Dene leader Matonabbee, and closely observing the people, wildlife and terrain as he went, Hearne travelled more than 3,500 miles, mostly on foot. His journey culminated in the infamous massacre at 'Bloody Falls' at the mouth of the Coppermine River - an event, McGoogan suggests, that changed him for ever. \u003cbr\u003eIn a fascinating piece of literary detective work, McGoogan also determines that, having returned to London to live out his final days, Hearne met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and inspired the poet to write his classic poem, THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481611772277,"sku":"9780857502384","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780857502384.jpg?v=1786089892"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-ken-mcgoogan.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}