John Rae's accomplishments, surpassing all nineteenth-century Arctic explorers, were worthy of honors and international fame. No explorer even approached Rae's prolific record: 1,776 miles surveyed of uncharted territory; 6,555 miles hiked on snowshoes; and 6,700 miles navigated in small boats. Yet, he was denied fair recognition of his discoveries because he dared to utter the truth about the fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew, Rae's predecessors in the far north. Author Ken McGoogan vividly narrates the astonishing adventures of Rae, who found the last link to the Northwest Passage and uncovered the grisly truth about the cannibalism of Franklin and his crew. A bitter smear campaign by Franklin's supporters would deny Rae his knighthood and bury him in ignominy for over one hundred and fifty years. Ken McGoogan's passion to secure justice for a true North American hero in this revelatory book produces a completely original and compelling portrait that elevates Rae to his rightful place as one of history's greatest explorers. In the spring of 1854, John Rae, a Scottish immigrant to Canada, led a small party of explorers across the Boothia Peninsula to map the missing link in the fabled Northwest Passage. That signal accomplishment, along with Rae's other contributions to Canadian and world geography, should have earned him glory. Instead, Ken McGoogan tells us, Rae faded from the record. Rae's trouble, McGoogan writes, came from unpleasant reports that he filed about the fate of an earlier expedition, led by Sir John Franklin, whose remains he discovered along the way. Lost "in a hummocky wasteland of yawning crevasses and ten-foot pressure ridges assailed by blizzards and blowing snow," the unfortunate party--or so Inuit hunters reported to Rae--resorted to eating the dead. The news scandalized Victorian society, drawing vigorous objections from none other than Charles Dickens, who argued that proper British heroes were incapable of such acts and had to have been done in by the Inuit themselves. Rae, the messenger, was effectively killed by the tidings he brought, and written out of the history books. In this insightful and adventure-packed book, McGoogan restores Rae's name to the long roster of heroes of Arctic exploration. --Gregory McNamee In 1854, John Rae of the Hudson Bay Company brought back to Britain the first tidings of the loss of the Franklin expedition. Rae's news--both ships wrecked and all 128 men lost--may not have been totally unexpected, but his claims that some of the starving men had been driven to cannibalism shocked and outraged Victorian Britain. The influential Lady Jane Franklin, angered by this stain on her husband's name, undertook to discredit and ruin Rae. Enlisting the help of politicians, navy officials, other explorers (some of them Rae's former allies), and the famous Charles Dickens, she managed to downplay Rae's other achievements, allowing others to take credit for the coastlines Rae mapped and, more importantly, the discovery of the much-sought-after final stretch of the Northwest Passage. McGoogan vehemently defends Rae and his accomplishments in this enlightening biography, and his enthusiasm is not unwarranted; Rae may truly be the most impressive and least appreciated Arctic explorer among Britain's ranks. Gavin Quinn Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved A gripping and well-researched book....A great adventure story and McGoogan tells it well. -- The Globe and Mail If Rae were an American...he would have been the stuff of Davy Crockett and Hollywood would spend millions.... -- Hamilton Spectator (Ontario) McGoogan pens a vivid biography....An effective brief for adding Rae to the explorers' hall of fame. -- Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2002 McGoogan vehemently defends Rae and his accomplishments; Rae may truly be the most impressive and least appreciated Arctic explorer.... -- Booklist, March 1, 2002 [A]n overdue book that makes an important contribution to Canadian and Arctic exploration history....compulsively readable for the non-specialist. -- Quill & Quire FATAL PASSAGE won Canada’s prestigious Drainie Taylor Biography Prize. From the back cover: "In Ken McGoogan's artful telling, John Rae emerges from the shadows to take his place among the most intriguing of nineteenth-century Arctic explorers. This is delightful reading." --Andrea Barrett, National Book Award winner and author of SERVANTS OF THE MAP