The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Anthony Brandt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2, 2010

The enthralling and often harrowing history of the adventurers who searched for the Northwest Passage, the holy grail of nineteenth-century British exploration.

After the triumphant end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British took it upon themselves to complete something they had been trying to do since the sixteenth century: find the fabled Northwest Passage, a shortcut to the Orient via a sea route over northern Canada. For the next thirty-five years the British Admiralty sent out expedition after expedition to probe the ice-bound waters of the Canadian Arctic in search of a route, and then, after 1845, to find Sir John Franklin, the Royal Navy hero who led the last of these Admiralty expeditions and vanished into the maze of channels, sounds, and icy seas with two ships and 128 officers and men.

In The Man Who Ate His Boots, Anthony Brandt tells the whole story of the search for the Northwest Passage, from its beginnings early in the age of exploration through its development into a British national obsession to the final sordid, terrible descent into scurvy, starvation, and cannibalism. Sir John Franklin is the focus of the book but it covers all the major expeditions and a number of fascinating characters, including Franklin’s extraordinary wife, Lady Jane, in vivid detail. The Man Who Ate His Boots is a rich and engaging work of narrative history that captures the glory and the folly of this ultimately tragic enterprise.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A Q&A with Anthony Brandt

Question: In The Man Who Ate His Boots you tell the rousing and often horrifying story of the search for the Northwest Passage, the holy grail of nineteenth century British exploration. Why did so many people invest such time, energy, and effort in to this search?

Anthony Brandt: There’s no simple answer. In part it had seemed since the 16th century--when the Spanish and the Portuguese were claiming all the easier routes to the Far East--like a peculiarly British mission to find this great unknown route to the East via the north; and after 1815, when the Napoleonic Wars ended with such a decisive British victory and the seas were theirs, the chance to use idle ships and idle seamen to find it became too attractive to resist. The British now thought they could do anything, no matter how difficult, especially at sea. But it was also to some degree the product of one man’s enthusiasm, and that was John Barrow, the powerful second secretary of the Admiralty, who believed in an open, unfrozen, polar sea; and he had an ally in the first lord of the Admiralty, the second Lord Melville, who supported the idea and was able to gather Parliamentary support. The British people were excited by the idea, too, and got behind it.

Question: Was the mission a fool’s errand?

Anthony Brandt: It proved to be so, and there were skeptics from the beginning. But at the time the Arctic was completely unknown. The map was blank above 80 degrees north in all areas, and above 70 degrees north in most. Nobody knew what the Arctic Ocean was like, or whether there even was an Arctic Ocean for that matter. For all they knew Greenland might extend to Asia, and some mapmakers thought it did. Others firmly believed that salt water could not freeze. The Greenland whalers knew better, but they weren’t scientists, they were commercial fishermen, and men like Barrow paid no attention to them. They weren’t gentlemen. In retrospect, then, it certainly seems like a fool’s errand, but life does not happen in retrospect, and what seems foolish now seemed like a noble effort at the time.

Question: Your title refers to John Franklin’s 1819 failed expedition where 11 of the 20 men in the exploration party died of starvation and the survivors were forced to eat their boots! Franklin’s expedition is perhaps the most famous, but there were dozens of missions sent to the Arctic in the first half of the nineteenth century, one failure after another. Each of the commanding officers felt as if he was prepared for the journey ahead, so what was it that doomed these expeditions to failure and death?

Anthony Brandt: The Arctic is intractable. No amount of preparation can ensure a person’s safety in an environment full of so much risk. The margin of survival is extremely narrow in the Arctic, and even small mistakes--the loss of a glove; forgetting to bring sun glasses; the sudden collapse of an ice floe--can kill you, and in a very short time. More of Franklin’s men might have survived in 1821 if he had turned back a week earlier, or even a few days. To survive in the Arctic, one must be very bold; one must also be very cautious.

Question: What has been the legacy of these explorers? Should we remember them as heroes?

Anthony Brandt: Hero is a word that makes me uneasy. One man’s hero is another’s devil. There are multiple sides to every story. I prefer the word courageous. Parry, Franklin, the two Rosses: whatever one thinks of the project they were engaged on, there can be no question of their courage. One holds one’s breath as Lt. Parry picks his way between the ice and the shoreline, half blinded by fog sometimes, hoping the wind doesn’t shift and trap him between an ice floe perfectly capable of turning his ship into splinters and a shoreline composed of solid rock. These men were often religious, and one can’t help but think that they would almost have to be, to do what they did.

Question: The Man Who Ate His Boots is full of eccentric characters, many of whom bicker with each other in highly entertaining public battles. If you had to pick one, which historical character was most fun for you to bring to life?

Anthony Brandt: I suppose egotistical, cranky, battleworn, and almost always wrong John Ross was my favorite sailor on this trip. For me he gave the stereotype of the British eccentric new levels of meaning, and it was always fun to watch him mess things up. The fact that he had once been run through with a bayonet added a bit of spice to his character, and his pamphlet wars with various enemies were always entertaining. But for sheer love I'll opt for Lady Jane, John Franklin's wife and one of the most extraordinary women of her time, surely the most intrepid woman traveler of the first half of the 19th century. I keep hoping someone will write a new biography of her. I got carried away a few times and devoted too much space to her and had to cut back. I think the memorial to her husband in Westminster Abbey should really be a memorial to her.

Question: Thanks to global warming, in the summer of 2007, the Northwest Passage opened to ship traffic. What can you tell us about the future of the Northwest Passage?

Anthony Brandt: I wish I knew, so that I could invest in it. But, joking aside, the Passage was open in 2007 and 2008, but not in 2009. I doubt that it will be open reliably every summer for a while, perhaps a decade. But inevitably, if warming continues at the present rate, I don’t see how it won’t open every summer by 2020, and that will cut thousands of miles off the present sea routes to the Pacific from the Atlantic, and vice versa, reducing costs for shippers all over the world. Is this a good thing? Obviously, only in the short term, and only for shippers--and possibly oil and natural gas producers, if they find as much oil and natural gas as they think exists in the Arctic Basin. Already the Northwest Passage is a tourist attraction of sorts, and a Russian icebreaker makes the trip every summer with paying passengers. Maybe they’ll take me along on one of these trips. I’d like to see it, if I can sleep in a warm cabin and eat good food while I’m there.

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From Booklist

Whether it is Gordon of Khartoum or Scott of the Antarctic, British imperial history is replete with heroic failures, deemed “martyrs for the Empire.” Brandt, the editor of the National Geographic Adventure series, illustrates that the search for the fabled Northwest Passage provides a good share of such men. Once geographers realized that the Americas were “new“ continents rather than the edge of Asia, the discovery of an all-water route through the landmass to the Pacific became a goal for European imperial powers. For the nineteenth-century British explorers, it was the equivalent of the Holy Grail. In a practical sense, the passage was non-existent because the waters north of Canada were icebound all year. That didn’t prevent a parade of adventurous, often heroic, and sometimes foolhardy British mariners from challenging the ice in an incredibly hostile environment.This is a superior tale of nobility, hubris, and sadly, futility. --Jay Freeman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307263924
• ISBN-13: 978-0307263926
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in Westfield, New Jersey, went to Princeton and Columbia for undergraduate and advanced degrees, worked for aviation pioneer Sherman Fairchild as his personal historian. When he died in 1972 became a free-lance writer. First book, REALITY POLICE, was a muckraking look at the mental health system. Subsequently went into magazine journalism, wrote for ESQUIRE, AMERICAN HERITAGE, THE ATLANTIC, CONNOISSEUR, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY, GQ, MEN'S JOURNAL, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE, and many other magazines. Was the essays editor of the Pushcart Prize for eighteen years. In 2002 served as a non-fiction judge for the National Book Awards. Edited the Adventure Classics series for National Geographic Books, which included an edition of the JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK and 24 other books, including THOMAS JEFFERSON TRAVELS, a selection of Jefferson's writings while he was U. S. minister to France. THE MAN WHO ATE HIS BOOTS is his first book for Knopf.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A page-turning great read, March 8, 2010

By 

Victoria Droz "Victoria D" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage (Hardcover)

A riveting read of the 19th century search for the Northwest Passage from Europe to the East, written with grace and mordant wit. After their defeat of Napoleon, the Brits thought they were invincible, even in the face of one failed expedition after another. They were British, right? Failure was not an option, and so into the frozen unknown they pushed in their quest for mastery of the world, urged on by one man who wielded great power in the Admiralty, John Barrow. Trouble is, until recently the Northwest Passage did not exist. Next trouble? They could not be bothered to learn from the people who lived there, the Inuits. They were savages, right? And listen to the whaling captains who were not "gentlemen?" Nah.

In the pursuit of glory, the men lost fingers, toes, tongues, and ultimately their lives. This is a gripping story of the folly of the British Admiralty, full of interesting characters, particularly Sir John Franklin, the man who ate his boots, and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin, ice galore, starvation, cold, and probable cannibalism. Highly recommended for history/exploration/sea story buffs.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arctic Adventure, March 29, 2010

By 

Enjolras (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Most popular histories of polar exploration focus on Antarctica, particularly the doomed mission of Robert Scott and the heroics of Earnest Shackleton. I grew up learning these names, yet I was largely ignorant about the North Pole. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to read Anthony Brandt's The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage, which provided both an exciting and comprehensive history of British exploration in the Arctic during the 19th century.

For centuries, the fabled Northwest Passage was the holy grail of both empire and commerce. Explorers estimated that a water passage through northern Canada would allow sailors to head straight for the Pacific rather than rounding Cape Horn, South America, which would save 3,000 miles off the trip. Alas, the northern waterways are too filled with ice to be navigable (although global warming may change that).

Brandt chronicles the journeys of John Franklin, Edward Parry, George Back, and John Ross and his nephew James in the Arctic during the first half of the 1800s. The title of the book, [ASIN:0307263924 The Man Who Ate His Boots]], comes from one of Franklin's earlier expeditions when, yes, the crew literally ate the leather on their boots in order to survive. However, that certainly isn't the only harrowing tale of survival. The ice floes could potentially crush or topple a ship. Perhaps surprisingly, boredom was a signifiant problem. According to Brandt, some officers like Parry made sure to entertain the crew by staging plays or playing guitars.

One of my favorite parts of the book is that Brandt discusses the behind the scenes politicking in the Navy over Arctic exploration. My favorite character was Sir John Barrow, who occupied the post of Second Secretary to the Admiralty for over 40 years. Barrow was the consummate bureaucrat who pushed his agenda through the Navy. That agenda focused on finding the Northwest Passage. Despite all the scientific evidence against it, and his own explorers suggesting the passage would be unnavigable if it existed, Barrow remained a true believer. He arranged for frequent expeditions. He also worked the public relations side by anonymously writing over 150 articles for academic and popular magazines. If you crossed this man or fell from his esteem, your chances of going to the Arctic - and reaping the glory of exploration - were over.

I would warn readers that this is a fairly long book. It took me about 2.5 days to finish. Also, I would recommend maybe making a list of the dates of the various expeditions and keeping a good map nearby - it can be tough to keep track of them all. That said, Brandt does an excellent job making the personalities of the characters vivid and memorable. Indeed, Brandt has an eye for detail and often livens the story up by describing the personality quirks of each man. Parry comes across as somewhat more confident and capable of providing for his crews. Franklin had a constant desire to prove himself, even if it meant death. Ross comes across as frequently wrong about the Arctic and public relations. The book includes other interesting characters, including Franklin's wife Jane who traveled the world and seems to have foreshadowed the women's liberation movement by a century.

The ending is also very well done. Even though we know that Franklin's last expedition failed, Brandt only slowly unveils the scope and horror of the failure. I won't spoil it for readers who aren't well versed on their Arctic history, but the last quarter of the book turns into a massive international mystery/exploration. Do yourself a favor and resist the temptation to read about Franklin on wikipedia before you reach the end.

I highly recommend this book for anybody interested in the history of exploration, particularly the great British sailors of the 18th and 19th century. I imagine this would be great reading if you have a chance to take a cruise along the Northwest Passage because, for the first time in recorded history, it is now possible to sail through during the summer.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good, if flawed, book, May 14, 2010

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Alice in Wonderland - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Man Who Ate His Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest Passage (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

For centuries, the fabled Northwest Passage has been the Holy Grail of many arctic explorers and adventurers. This book tells the history of the search for the Passage, focusing primarily on the 19th century British attempts.

This book has garnered quite a few lauding reviews, and I suppose it does deserve them. As a book on the 19th century British attempts to find the Passage, the book has a good deal of information. The problem I have with the book is twofold. First of all, I do think that the author should have spent more time on other attempts at the Passage, particularly Roald Amundsen's actual traversing of the Passage.

Second of all, and most damning, is that the author puts too little power behind his presentation. The subject is quite fascinating, and the book should bring that out. Instead, I found the too close to being a dull repetition of the facts, and don't get me started on the repetitiveness of the narrative.

But, for all that, the subject is so fascinating that the book does make an interesting read. It could have been a great book, but it is nonetheless a good one.

(Review of The Man Who Ate His Boots by Anthony Brandt)