Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship

In 1845, Sir John Franklin and his crew of 128 men set out from England in search of the elusive Northwest Passage. They sailed to the Canadian Arctic in two massive ships ominously named the Erebus and Terror; the most heralded expedition of the era. Yet they vanished into the frozen north and were never heard from again. Now, acclaimed historian Sandler reveals the entire scope of this epic tale – from the race to find the passage to the search for Franklin and beyond – played out against the harshest backdrop on Earth.

At the urging of Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane, the first search-and-rescue mission left England in 1848. Over the next forty years 39 others followed – none successful – although disturbing clues were discovered that hinted at the fate of the Franklin crew, a fate that is still debated to this day. Among the ships that set sail in the search was Queen Victoria’s greatest naval vessel, the HMS Resolute. But when the ship became locked in the Arctic ice in 1854, the expedition leader abruptly ordered the crew to abandon her. A year later, a Connecticut whaler discovered it 1,200 miles away, drifting and deserted, a 600-ton ghost ship. He and his small crew boarded the Resolute, and steered it through a ferocious hurricane back to New London, Connecticut. The US government reoutfitted the ship and returned it to the Queen. In 1879 the Resolute was officially retired and the best timbers were made into a desk for then-President Rutherford Hayes. Acclaimed historian Sandler is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, winner of seven Emmy® Awards, and author of more than 50 books.

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