John Rae's Arctic Correspondence 1844-1855

"From the mutilated state of many of the bodies and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched Countrymen had been driven to the last dead alternative, as a means of sustaining life."

Peerless arctic explorer and Hudson's Bay Company surveyor John Rae (1813-1893) discovered the final uncharted channel of the first navigable Northwest Passage. A trained doctor and a champion of the Inuit people, he ran afoul of Victorian society when he revealed the fate of the lost Franklin expedition of 1845. Rae reported that the final survivors resorted to cannibalism in their last, desperate days. As a result, he became the target of a smear campaign led by Lady Franklin and Charles Dickens. Rae was the only major explorer of his time not to receive a knighthood.

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 revealing foreword by Ken McGoogan, the award-winning author of eleven books, which include Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin (2001 and Lady Franklin's Revenge (2005).