Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition
by Owen Beattie, John Geiger
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In 1845, Sir John Franklin and his men set out to "penetrate the icy fastness of the north, and to circumnavigate America." And then they disappeared. The truth about what happened to Franklin's ill-fated Arctic expedition was shrouded in mystery for more than a century. Then, in 1984, Owen Beattie and his team exhumed two crew members from a burial site in the North for forensic evidence, to shocking results. But the most startling discovery didn't come until 2014, when a team commissioned show more by the Canadian government uncovered one of the lost ships: Erebus. show lessTags
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myshelves Search for Franklin finds traces of a much earlier expedition.
Member Reviews
Over the years I’ve read a number of accounts about the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845 and 1846. Some concentrate on the expedition itself, some on one or more of the subsequent searches for Franklin, some even on Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane. This is the first I have read that details a modern search, based on scientific evidence, for the cause of the failure. As a scientist I personally found this book fascinating.
I especially loved the role that serendipity played in the outcome because that so often is how scientific advances are made. In this case, Owen Beattie (who is a forensic anthropologist) expected to find evidence that would confirm that the crew suffered from scurvy. The skeletal remains that his team found in show more their first Arctic trip were sent for atomic absorption analysis as a matter of thoroughness, not because anything in particular was being looked for. When the results of the analysis showed the bones from the Franklin crew member had extremely high levels of lead the investigation took a new turn.
I thought the explanation of the scientific testing was very well done, something that any intelligent lay person could understand. It’s not every scientist that can write in a way that is intelligible to someone outside of the field. I presume John Geiger may have had something to do with that but I suspect that Dr. Beattie is the rare scientist who can capture an audience regardless of who composes it.
Great read. show less
I especially loved the role that serendipity played in the outcome because that so often is how scientific advances are made. In this case, Owen Beattie (who is a forensic anthropologist) expected to find evidence that would confirm that the crew suffered from scurvy. The skeletal remains that his team found in show more their first Arctic trip were sent for atomic absorption analysis as a matter of thoroughness, not because anything in particular was being looked for. When the results of the analysis showed the bones from the Franklin crew member had extremely high levels of lead the investigation took a new turn.
I thought the explanation of the scientific testing was very well done, something that any intelligent lay person could understand. It’s not every scientist that can write in a way that is intelligible to someone outside of the field. I presume John Geiger may have had something to do with that but I suspect that Dr. Beattie is the rare scientist who can capture an audience regardless of who composes it.
Great read. show less
In Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, Owen Beattie and John Geiger trace the history of Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition to discover the Northwest Passage aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in 1845. Beattie and Geiger place Franklin’s Expedition in the context of Arctic exploration following the Napoleonic Wars, with the search expeditions of the mid-nineteenth century deifying Franklin and cementing the expedition in the national, and international, consciousness. They further explore the leading theories of the day for Franklin’s loss, including scurvy and the nineteenth century ailment of “debility.” After examining the historical record, Beattie and Geiger summarize Beattie’s 1980s show more expeditions to to King William Island and Beechey Island, in which Beattie examined bones and the graves of three Franklin Expedition crew, discovering the presence of elevated lead levels. This evidence, coupled with historical records of lead exposure from nineteenth century canning processes, helped to explain the underlying cause for the expedition’s mortality.
Beattie and Geiger conclude, “The story of how the Royal Navy failed to achieve the Northwest Passage is really that of how the world’s greatest navy battled, and was ultimately humbled by, a simple yet gruesome disease – scurvy, allied to a menace of which they could not begin to conceive: lead poisoning. The source of their defeat was not the ice-choked seas, the deep cold, the winters of absolute night, the labyrinthine geography or the soul-destroying isolation. It was found in their food supply, most notably in their heavy reliance on tinned foods” (pg. 254). In this, Beattie and Geiger compare the Franklin Expedition’s fate to other instances in which people took technological advancements for granted, leading to systematic breakdowns.
Frozen in Time will captivate readers interested in the history of exploration or the science of archaeology. The Franklin Expedition itself continues to play a role in international politics, as Canada works to declare the locations of the Franklin Expedition graves, the final resting places of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and the surrounding waterways as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in order to cement Canada’s claim to the Northwest Passage, now increasingly open as a result of climate change (pg. xviii). show less
Beattie and Geiger conclude, “The story of how the Royal Navy failed to achieve the Northwest Passage is really that of how the world’s greatest navy battled, and was ultimately humbled by, a simple yet gruesome disease – scurvy, allied to a menace of which they could not begin to conceive: lead poisoning. The source of their defeat was not the ice-choked seas, the deep cold, the winters of absolute night, the labyrinthine geography or the soul-destroying isolation. It was found in their food supply, most notably in their heavy reliance on tinned foods” (pg. 254). In this, Beattie and Geiger compare the Franklin Expedition’s fate to other instances in which people took technological advancements for granted, leading to systematic breakdowns.
Frozen in Time will captivate readers interested in the history of exploration or the science of archaeology. The Franklin Expedition itself continues to play a role in international politics, as Canada works to declare the locations of the Franklin Expedition graves, the final resting places of the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, and the surrounding waterways as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in order to cement Canada’s claim to the Northwest Passage, now increasingly open as a result of climate change (pg. xviii). show less
This is the account of the fate of the Franklin expedition in the frozen Arctic in 1845, almost 176 years ago. The story is told by forensic anthropologist and the coauthor, Owen Beattie. Beattie discovered that the role of lead poisoning played a large part in the disaster that struck the 1845-48 Franklin Arctic expedition. Franklin's expedition was made up of over 100 men and 2 ships. The ships vanished, bringing out dozens of search parties to take on the formidable task of searching the Arctic looking for an answer to what had happened. Eventually, wrecked boats, scribbled notes, human remains, and Eskimo tales all combined into a horrid tale of cold, starvation, cannibalism, and leading to the death of the entire crew. But what the show more exact cause of the disaster was never actually discovered or agreed upon. Along with recounting this historical account, the authors describe Beattie's two recent expeditions to Northern Canada to closely examine the recovered relics of the Franklin party. On King William Island in 1981, Beattie and his team found portions of a skeleton with knife marks that gave truth to the tales of cannibalism; also, the bone fragments contained high levels of lead and evidence of scurvy. On Beechy Island in 1984, the team exhumed the bodies of three seamen buried in makeshift graves in 1850. Exposed in a set of astonishing color plates that will nauseate some readers, these bodies--essentially well-preserved 130-year-old mummies...provided the strong supporting evidence, through autopsy and lab reports, for Owen Beattie's theory that poisoning from lead dinnerware and lead-soldered food tins contributed to the Franklin expedition's deaths. It's a strange scientific detective story, Is this all the facts and is the mystery of the Franklin Expedition's disappearance truly resolved by modern scientific methods? Some say "yes" but others say the scientific knowledge of the day may not have been enough to support the given cause at that time. I found that some threatening polar bears added a bit of suspense, and if that wasn't enough, be warned...the very graphic pictures have undeniable impact. However, this detailed account of anthropological legwork will more than likely only appeal those interested in polar regional accounts.... or folks like me that needed an Arctic book to complete a challenge:) show less
The Franklin expedition was not alone in suffering early and unexplained deaths. Indeed, both Back (1837) and Ross (1849) suffered early onset of unaccountable "debility" aboard ship and Ross suffered greater fatalities during his single winter in the Arctic than did Franklin during his first. Both expeditions were forced to retreat because of the rapacious illness that stalked their ships.
Frozen in Time makes the case that this illness (starting with the Back expedition) was due to the crews' overwhelming reliance on a new technology, namely tinned foods. This not only exposed the seamen to lead, an insidious poison - as has been demonstrated in Franklin's case by Dr. Beattie's research - but it also left them vulnerable to scurvy, show more the ancient scourge of seafarers which had been thought to have been largely cured in the early years of the nineteenth century.
Fully revised, Frozen in Time will update the research outlined in the original edition, and will introduce independent confirmation of Dr. Beattie's lead hypothesis, along with corroboration of his discovery of physical evidence for both scurvy and cannibalism. In addition, the book includes a new introduction written by Margaret Atwood, who has long been fascinated by the role of the Franklin Expedition in Canada's literary conscience, and has made a pilgrimage to the site of the Franklin Expedition graves on Beechey Island.
Came to this book via Dan Simmons The Terror and not only was it excellent in its own right but it confirmed the depths of Simmons research – he virtually used every single fact that is known about the Franklin Expedition.
As Punk's review notes - right down to the polar bear …!
The Franklin Expedition was even more tragic than historians first realised; the food that was keeping them alive was slowly killing them. Eventually their ships frozen in place they took to the ice in desperation, hopeless and helpless,eventually giving up hope of ever being rescued and in the end reduced to cannibalising their dead comrades.
I found this a profoundly moving book; unbearably poignant as the scientist and the reader come face to face, literally, with John Torrington, John Hartnell and William Braine who died terrible lingering deaths 138 years ago. show less
Frozen in Time makes the case that this illness (starting with the Back expedition) was due to the crews' overwhelming reliance on a new technology, namely tinned foods. This not only exposed the seamen to lead, an insidious poison - as has been demonstrated in Franklin's case by Dr. Beattie's research - but it also left them vulnerable to scurvy, show more the ancient scourge of seafarers which had been thought to have been largely cured in the early years of the nineteenth century.
Fully revised, Frozen in Time will update the research outlined in the original edition, and will introduce independent confirmation of Dr. Beattie's lead hypothesis, along with corroboration of his discovery of physical evidence for both scurvy and cannibalism. In addition, the book includes a new introduction written by Margaret Atwood, who has long been fascinated by the role of the Franklin Expedition in Canada's literary conscience, and has made a pilgrimage to the site of the Franklin Expedition graves on Beechey Island.
Came to this book via Dan Simmons The Terror and not only was it excellent in its own right but it confirmed the depths of Simmons research – he virtually used every single fact that is known about the Franklin Expedition.
As Punk's review notes - right down to the polar bear …!
"The last resting place of three of Franklin's people was closely examined; but nothing that had not hitherto been observed could we detect. My companion told me that a huge bear was seen continually sitting on one of the graves, keeping a silent vigil over the dead."Frozen in Time is a book of two halves: first part follows the history of the search for the North West Passage and the second is a masterpiece of forensic anthropology whose conclusion is shocking.
The Franklin Expedition was even more tragic than historians first realised; the food that was keeping them alive was slowly killing them. Eventually their ships frozen in place they took to the ice in desperation, hopeless and helpless,eventually giving up hope of ever being rescued and in the end reduced to cannibalising their dead comrades.
I found this a profoundly moving book; unbearably poignant as the scientist and the reader come face to face, literally, with John Torrington, John Hartnell and William Braine who died terrible lingering deaths 138 years ago. show less
This book first looks at the Franklin Expedition in the mid-1800s to find the Northwest Passage. Franklin and his entire crew of 129 people and two ships disappeared. In the years following, others set out to find them or some clue as to what had happened. In the early 1980s, Owen Beattie, a forensic anthropologist, and a team of others set out to the graves of three of the expedition members on Beatty Island to dig them up to do autopsies to see if that would tell them what had happened.
Surprisingly, I found the second half more interesting than the first. I guess all of it was potentially interesting to me, but I was surprised to be more engrossed in the parts as the modern-day scientists dug up the graves to find extremely show more well-preserved bodies and to read the details of their testing and what they found. Be warned that there are photos of the bodies that were dug up; of course, there are other interesting photos, as well. show less
Surprisingly, I found the second half more interesting than the first. I guess all of it was potentially interesting to me, but I was surprised to be more engrossed in the parts as the modern-day scientists dug up the graves to find extremely show more well-preserved bodies and to read the details of their testing and what they found. Be warned that there are photos of the bodies that were dug up; of course, there are other interesting photos, as well. show less
I am really disappointed to give this book such a bad review because I really wanted to like it. I am an avid reader of nonfiction, I don't bore easily, and I love books about polar exploration. I got about halfway through this book and had to give up because I could not get into it. A friend recommended this to me because he said it was fascinating and terrifying, so I hope I didn't close it right before the good sections, but even if that is the case, the first part is almost intolerably boring.
One of my biggest issues with the book is that it is not presented in chronological order. Certainly this is not a deal breaker for me, and I've read and enjoyed countless other nonfiction books that are presented in a non-linear fashion. The show more problem is that (until the point where I shut the book) the Franklin expedition is by no means the main story. It is a recurring theme, but I felt as if I were reading more about subsequent search and rescue expeditions and not the actual Franklin expedition. The point at which I gave up was the impossibly dull section on a modern quest to find the remains of the expedition. The fact that the author managed to make a modern story about trekking through the Arctic so boring is almost an impressive feat, given the environmental risks and physical dexterity required to do it.
I hope I didn't give up right before the action got good, but even if that is the case, the first 50% of the book is so unengaging that I don't think I'd be able to give the book a much higher rating. show less
One of my biggest issues with the book is that it is not presented in chronological order. Certainly this is not a deal breaker for me, and I've read and enjoyed countless other nonfiction books that are presented in a non-linear fashion. The show more problem is that (until the point where I shut the book) the Franklin expedition is by no means the main story. It is a recurring theme, but I felt as if I were reading more about subsequent search and rescue expeditions and not the actual Franklin expedition. The point at which I gave up was the impossibly dull section on a modern quest to find the remains of the expedition. The fact that the author managed to make a modern story about trekking through the Arctic so boring is almost an impressive feat, given the environmental risks and physical dexterity required to do it.
I hope I didn't give up right before the action got good, but even if that is the case, the first 50% of the book is so unengaging that I don't think I'd be able to give the book a much higher rating. show less
The groundbreaking archeological work of Owen Beattie almost single-handedly re-opened research and interest into the Franklin expedition. Beattie's first expedition explored King William Island, where nearly 150 years earlier Franklin's men abandoned their ships and supposedly started their long "death march" along the western coast. Strewn along the coast were the bones of dozens of European men from the mid-nineteenth century. Using modern day forensic analysis on the bones back at the University of Alberta, Beattie made two startling discoveries. The first confirmed what was already generally known: that the expedition survivors had indeed "been driven to the last dread alternative", cannibalism. But it was the second discovery that show more surprised: bone samples revealed extremely high and dangerous levels of lead. Frozen In Time then documents two subsequent trips to Beechey Island in which the bodies of the 3 found sailors were exhumed. The cadavers, frozen in the permafrost for a century and a half, confirmed the earlier results: the Franklin sailors were suffering from lead poisoning to such a degree that it was a contributing factor to their demise. The 2004 paperback edition updates their research to subsequent theories. show less
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John Geiger was born in Ithaca, New York and is the award-winning author of five non-fiction books, including Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition. He is a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, a fellow of the Explorers Club, New York, and governor of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
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Common Knowledge
- Original title
- Frozen in Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition
- Original publication date
- 1987
- People/Characters
- Sir John Franklin; Lady Jane Franklin; Owen Beattie; John Hartnell; James Clark Ross; John Torrington (show all 17); William Braine; Frederick Schwatka; William Edward Parry; John Rae; Francis Leopold McClintock; Charles Francis Hall; James Fitzjames (British Royal Navy officer); James Clark Ross; John Ross; Sir John Barrow; George Back
- Important places
- Canadian Arctic; HMS Erebus; HMS Terror; Northwest Passage; Arctic; Beechey Island, Nunavut, Canada (show all 11); King William Island, Nunavut, Canada; Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada; Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut, Canada; Peel Sound, Nunavut, Canada; Baffin Bay
- Important events
- Search for the Northwest Passage; Franklin's Lost Expedition
- Epigraph
- O then Pause on the footprints of heroic men Making a garden of the desert wide Where Parry conquer'd death and Franklin died - Charles Dickens
- Dedication
- For Shirley F Keen. -- J. G. * For my first grandchild, Akasha (a.k.a. Pumpy) -- O.B.
- First words
- (Introduction by Margaret Atwood:) Frozen in Time is one of those books that, having entered our imaginations, refuse to go away.
(Chapter 1): King William Island is one of the most desolate places in the world, a virtually featureless polar semidesert of limestone and mud interspersed with ice-water lakes.
(Chapter 1): Since the summer of 1848. When the long trek of an unknown British sailor from Sir John Franklin's third arctic expedition ended on the southern shores of King William Island, his bones has waited to tell their s... (show all)tory. - 1989 edition - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)For despite the hostile forces of climate and geography the region represents, it was something else that had a catastrophic effect on the Franklin expedition—something human.
- Blurbers
- Richler, Mordecai
- Original language*
- English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, General Nonfiction, Travel, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 919.804 — History & geography Geography & travel Geography of and travel in Australasia, Pacific Ocean islands, Atlantic Ocean islands, Arctic islands, Antarctica and on extraterrestrial worlds Polar regions
- LCC
- G670 — Geography, Anthropology and Recreation Geography (General) Arctic and Antarctic regions
- BISAC
Statistics
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- Reviews
- 24
- Rating
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- Languages
- Dutch, English, Estonian, German
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- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 27
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