Leonard F. Guttridge (1918–2009)

Usually I dislike the phrases "ill-fated" or "destined to fail" in my nonfiction, because hindsight is always 20/20. But in the case of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, the description could not be more apt. The expedition's failure is a lesson in leadership on and off the ice. Adolphus Greely had neither the inspiring optimism of Franklin or unwavering camaraderie of De Long. The expedition was begrudgingly funded by the U.S. Army, NOT the Navy, with all the characteristic beaucracy of a show more post-Civil War America. The Jeannette (from "Kingdom of Ice") had gone missing, and the mission was to not only look for De Long and his crew, but to establish a permanent scientific base in Cape Sabine, and to outdo Britain by reaching farthest North. From the outset, the crew chafes at Greely's uncompromising attitude, and morale quickly spirals after the resupply ship, the Proteus, fails to emerge on the horizon. While the Proteus has its own desperate tale of survival, the expedition is forced to abandon the site and trek to Littleton Island in the hopes that someone will come for them.

I think this one might be one of the most well-researched, certainly the densest! It's "harrowing" for sure, but Guttridge could've easily trimmed some fat off the D.C. chapters to make room for lesser crew members. It's guilty of unnecessary name-dropping. Also, Guttridge consistently uses the term "Eskimo" to describe two of the crew members, instead of Kalaallit Inuit or simply Inuit. "Eskimo" is an inexcusable term for a book published in 2000. Still it's unlike any other expedition that I've read about this year! show less

Whom the Arctic destroys, it first drives mad.

That is the sad truth of nineteenth and early twentieth century Arctic exploration. From John Ross's sighting of the non-existent "Croker Mountains" to the crew of the Karluk a century later, the tales of officers making absurd decisions, of sailors out of control, of choices made for no known reason are endless. There are a lot of reasons. Scurvy leads the list. Seasonal affective disorder certainly doesn't help. Other dietary problems may show more contribute.

Sometimes, the problems began before the expedition even sailed. The Greeley expedition to Ellesmere Island in 1881, one of the more ambitious attempts to reach the high arctic, is a case in point. The planning was simply fuddled. This left the members of the expedition with no means of survival and little hope of timely rescue. As a result, the majority died, miserably, and charges of cannibalism flew.

The tale is certainly dramatic, needing only a good telling.

This telling is, well, fair. It was simply too easy to get lost. Two or three times it seemed as if everybody was about to die and we must be at the end of the actual expedition. Then -- surprise! -- everybody goes on doing whatever they were doing. People died, periodically, but it seems as if the narrative bounces back and forth from the end to somewhere in the middle. It may be strictly chronological, but if so, it loses the thread of the chronology.

This probably still qualifies as the best popular account of one of the disastrous miscalculations that have so marred Arctic explorations. But you might want to take notes as you read it. It's too easy to get lost otherwise. show less

Leonard F. Guttridge is drawn to exciting events. Too bad they aren't drawn to him.

Guttridge has written books about two sad events of nineteenth century Arctic exploration, the Greeley expedition (The Ghosts of Cape Sabine) and the Jeannette expedition. Both were attempts to reach the North Pole, or at least explore northern latitudes; both involved problems with ships; both resulted in losses of many of the men on the expedition.

Of his two books, this strikes me as the better one, perhaps show more because the story of the Jeannette is more coherent: The expedition was organized, it set out, the ship got trapped, the crew abandoned ship and split up, and some survived and others perished. There is more action, and the action has a direction. But I still found myself slightly lost as the narrative proceeded. The characters seemed ever so slightly unreal.

This isn't really a complaint. This is a useful book showing the difficulties which nineteenth century explorers faced -- and the consequences of biting off more than they could chew. But I feel as if there is a truly great book about the Jeannette waiting to be written, and this isn't it. show less

Last year I read North by Roger Hubank, a fictional account of the Greely expedition. Afterwards, I wanted to read an historical account of the Greeley expedition. In this book, I learned more about problems with the first two relief attempts. I liked Guttridge's detailed end notes describing the sources from institutions such as the National Archives and the Library of Congress.