Erebus

The Story of a Ship

Hardcover

Published Dec. 28, 2018 by Hutchinson.

ISBN:
9781847948120

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5 stars (1 review)

"Michael Palin brings the fascinating story of the Erebus and its occupants to life, from its construction as a bomb vessel in 1826 through the flagship years of James Clark Ross's Antarctic expedition and finally to Sir John Franklin's quest for the holy grail of navigation--a route through the Northwest Passage, where the ship disappeared into the depths of the sea for more than 150 years. It was rediscovered under the arctic waters in 2014"--

5 editions

Beautiful book with some gentle humour

5 stars

First up, for the impatient (like me), this book doesn't actually cover the Franklin Expedition until the last third of the book. Unsurprisingly, we know a lot less about the voyage, as they didn't come back. So a large part of this book is about some of the ship's previous voyages, exploring Antarctica. This also includes Palin's trips there where he contrasts what he's seen. He has a lovely turn of phrase and some gentle warm humour, but the book isn't a comedy.

The book is able to cite sources until the Franklin Expedition departs Greenland, and then covers what the rest of the world saw (Western, and Inuit). He lists which theories he believes and covers the finding of the shipwrecks.