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Resolute: The Epic Search for the Northwest Passage and John Franklin, and the Discovery of the Queen's Ghost Ship | 
| Author: Martin W. Sandler
Publisher: Sterling
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 601123
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 1
ISBN: 1402758618
Dewey Decimal Number: 998
EAN: 9781402758614
ASIN: 1402758618
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
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Product Description
Almost everyone knows the photo of John F. Kennedy, Jr., as a young boy, peering out from under his father’s desk in the Oval Office. But few realize that the desk itself plays a part in one of the world’s most extraordinary mysteries—a dramatic tale that has never before been told in its full scope. Acclaimed historian Martin Sandler, a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, winner of seven Emmy Awards, and author of more than 50 books, finally brings the entire story to light. This amazing high-seas adventure encompasses the search for the Northwest Passage in the early 1800s; a renowned explorer and his crew of 128 men who vanish during an 1845 expedition; 39 incredible, heroic attempted rescue missions; a ghost ship that drifts for more than 1,200 miles; a queen’s gratitude; and that famous desk. Fascinating rare photographs, paintings, engravings, and maps illustrate the book throughout.
It all began when, in one of the biggest news stories of the 19th century, Sir John Franklin and his ships the Erebus and the Terror disappeared while attempting to locate the fabled Northwest Passage. At the request of Franklin’s wife, Lady Jane, the first mission set out from England in hopes of finding him; many others followed in its wake, none successful. Among these was the Resolute, the finest vessel in Queen Victoria’s Navy. But in 1854 it became locked in Arctic ice and was abandoned by its captain. 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 United States government then reoutfitted the ship and returned it to the thankful Queen. In 1879, when the Resolute was finally retired, she had the best timbers made into a desk for then-President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is still used by U.S. presidents today...one of the most celebrated pieces of furniture in the White House.
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| Customer Reviews:
Wrong Title August 20, 2008
Story is interesting, but it is about the quest to find the Northwest Passage. The Resolute had a relatively minor role in this effort. It was lost, was found, was reconditioned, was returned to England, and, finally, decommissioned. The best part of the Resolute's story is the famous Oval Office Desk. The book was difficult to read because Sandler had so many names and characters in the book. This made it very hard to follow. Good read, but slow and tedious to get through. Not one of my favorites.
 moderate writing, bad research October 17, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Another Arctic historian wrote a review siting numerous mistakes in the over all Arctic history Mr. Sandler includes in this book. However, he did not know the RESOLUTE story well enough to know if there were similar errors in the 1/3 of the book dedicated to the title ship. After years of researching this story, I am known in the maritime history circles as the world's leading expert on HMS RESOLUTE, and I found 13 mistakes, some very significant, in Mr. Sandler's RESOLUTE story. The cover itself is misleading, as the picture is of another ship! However, to name two: Mr. Sandler made serious mistakes in the service histories of two of the most important players: Belcher and Kellett. The accurate service records are available to anyone who is interested in doing a little research in the Admiralty records in London. He refers to the tensions between America and Britain as being at a low ebb when the 2 countries were on the brink of going to war. To leave an analysis of this relationship out of the book is to miss the significance and importance of the story: RESOLUTE stopped this war from happening. The gift of the desk is the symbol of Anglo-American friendship, much like the Statue of Liberty is for Franco-American friendship. Without this, it is just a story, granted an interesting story, about a salvaged ship, not one that chronicles a history changing moment in the relationship between America and Britain. Lastly, there is no depth to his characters, even though the story provides him with a sadistic commander and an extremely kind captain. I could not recommend this book to anyone.
 It makes for a fascinating, involving journey that reads with the drama of fiction but is entirely factual history. March 12, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
RESOLUTE: THE EPIC SEARCH FOR THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE AND JOHN FRANKLIN, AND THE DISCOVERY OF THE QUEEN'S GHOST SHIP is true adventure history at its best, and a top pick for any general-interest lending collection. Historian Martin Sandler offers up a high-seas adventure journey set in the early 1800s, following a vanished famous explorer, some 39 attempted rescues, a ghost ship, and many discoveries. It makes for a fascinating, involving journey that reads with the drama of fiction but is entirely factual history.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
 Resolute January 1, 2007
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
Mr. Sandler can write well. The research quality is high. However, the completion of the book and its final editing are of very poor quality.
Several times in the book, very important small segments of the narrative are missing. For example, the book describes how McClure's ship gets frozen hard in the ice in Mercy Bay on Banks Island. It also describes how a sledging expedition from the Resolute gets to Winter Harbor on Mellville Island about 170 miles away and finds a message in a container from McClure. However, the event where McClure sledged from Mercy Harbor to Winter Harbor and back is entirely missing from the narrative. Thus, the narrative makes no sense. This omission is typical in the sloppy finish work of this book. Important earlier events that provide a logical understanding of subsequent events are randomly omitted from time to time.
Additionally, while Sandler puts forth a dozen good maps of the nineteenth century Artic, at least one quarter of the place names used in the narrative are not on any map. As it is unlikely that any reader has a nineteenth century Artic map, this makes the narrative completely unfathomable at times. There was an era when the creation of maps in history books was extremely expensive and horribly time consuming. This era is gone; any quality editor could check and rectify this significant problem with a full hard day's work.
Despite Sandler's good research and clear writing skills, I would not recommend this book. The book "Barrow's Boy's" is clearer and much better organized even though it is missing some excellent research on the personal qualities of the leaders that is found in Sandler's treatment here. However, it appears that this book was finally thrown together to meet a deadline and the final review, finish, and editing are very sloppily executed. This significantly diminishes what should have been a great history and frustrates and distracts readers so that they are quite dissatisfied.
I have not ever written a book review but, after having spent at least eight hours reading this book, I feel it important to report back to the author and editor the effects of their very poor finishing work.
Excellent overview of Artic discovery and a mystery ship too November 28, 2006
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
What an historic HOOK this book has. In 1854 the HMS RESOLUTE is in the Artic searching for the lost John Franklin expedition. The RESOLUTE's captain gets stuck in the ice and abandon's the ship. A year later an American whaler discovers the RESLOTE drifting and deserted. The United States government reconditions the RESOLUTE and presents it as a gift to the Queen as an act of national friendship. Years later the Queen had the remains of the RESOLUTE carved into an ornate desk as a gift for President Hayes. And today that same desk still sits in the Oval Office. (Remember the famous picture with John John sticking his head out of JFK's desk.) This story alone would make for a great book but in what is a short 248 page narrative Mr. Sandler covers the totality of the British and American expeditions to the Artic as they all are in a rush to discover the Northwest Passage. Each chapter in the book is an example of excellent story telling covering a separate event or adventure. All amazing pieces of the story to building the big picture of what it took to explore and survive in the Artic. This is a fun, all be it light, overview of a topic you may not have given any consideration. I found the book very educational, entertaining, and very well presented. It even has an 18 page Epilogue reviewing what happened to the 36 explorer that make up the various expeditions. I might add here that I would recommend more highly the excellent book, The Ice Master about the doomed 1913 voyage of the karluk. This book really gets into the personal business of survival, luck and a super story. But not doubt about it, Martin Sandler has written a very entertaining page turner although with a more global overview.
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