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Title: Dead Reckoning
Subtitle: The Untold Story of the Northwest Passage
Author: Ken McGoogan
Narrator: David Godfrey
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
Language: English
Release date: 09-26-17
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: History, American
Publisher's Summary:
With this book - his most ambitious yet - Ken McGoogan delivers a vivid, comprehensive recasting of Arctic-exploration history. Dead Reckoning challenges the conventional narrative, which emerged out of Victorian England and focused almost exclusively on Royal Navy officers. By integrating non-British and fur-trade explorers and, above all, Canada's indigenous peoples, this work brings the story of Arctic discovery into the 21st century.
Orthodox history celebrates such naval figures as John Franklin, Edward Parry and James Clark Ross. Dead Reckoning tells their stories, but the book also encompasses such forgotten heroes as Thanadelthur, Akaitcho, Tattanoeuck, Ouligbuck, Tookoolito and Ebierbing, to name just a few. Without the assistance of the Inuit, Franklin's recently discovered ships, Erebus and Terror, would still be lying undiscovered at the bottom of the polar sea.The book ranges from the 16th century to the present day, looks at climate change and the politics of the Northwest Passage, and recognizes the cultural diversity of a centuries-old quest. Informed by the author's own voyages and researches in the Arctic, Dead Reckoning is a colourful, multi-dimensional saga that demolishes myths, exposes pretenders and celebrates unsung heroes. For international listeners, it sets out a new story of Arctic discovery. For Canadians, it brings that story home.
Members Reviews:
At last, credit where credit is due
In this, his fifth and by far best book on Arctic history, Ken McGoogan examines an aspect that has been largely ignored: the contributions of the indigenous peoples to the many expeditions. At last, credit is being given where credit is due. I doubt that very many people, outside of the First Nations and scholarly communities, have any idea who these personalities are. Now the general public gets to meet Thanadelthur, Matonabbee, John Sakeouse, Akaitcho, William Ouligbuck Senior and Junior, Thomas Mistegan, Hans Henrik Suersaq, Tookoolito and Ebierbing, Tulugaq, Minik and Albert One-eye, as well as modern Inuit such as historian Louie Kamookak. In an even handed manner, McGoogan also acknowledges those western explorers who recognized the value of native experience and adopted their ways, including Samuel Hearne, John Rae, Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Francis Hall, Frederick Schwatka and Roald Amundsen. Those expecting a politically correct, revisionist treatment of the subject will be sorely disappointed; this is a clear eyed, level headed assessment of lessons learned and passed on by the indigenous peoples to the strangers passing through, and the outcomes of the use the latter made of them, good or ill.
Of additional interest is the proof of the validity of Inuit testimony in regard to the lost Franklin expedition of 1845. Thanks to interpretations of their oral traditions, notably by Louie Kamookak and David Woodman, the long lost wrecks of the Erebrus (in 2014) and the Terror (in 2016) were found where the Inuit had for generations maintained they would be.
Of necessity, there are numerous references to the author's previous works on Hearne, Rae, the Franklins (Sir John and Lady Jane) and Kane. For those wishing additional depth and detail, they can do no better than to consult them.
At the end there is one matter of controversy: adventure tourism. There are those who take the position that it is exploitative of the native people and harmful to the environment.
