Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer

Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall, ExplorerIn 1860, fifteen years after Sir John Franklin's ill fated expedition disappeared in the Arctic, a Cincinnati businessman named Charles Francis Hall set out to locate and rescue the expedition's survivors. He was an amateur explorer, without any scientific training or experience, but he was driven by a sense of personal destiny and of religious and patriotic mission. Despite the odds against him, he made three forays into the far North, the final and

In 1860, fifteen years after Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition disappeared in the Arctic, a Cincinnati businessman named Charles Francis Hall set out to locate and rescue the expedition's survivors. He was an amateur explorer, without any scientific training or experience, but he was driven by a sense of personal destiny and of religious and patriotic mission. Despite the odds against him, he made three forays into the far North, the final--and fatal--one taking him farther north than any westerner had ever gone before. But Hall was suddenly taken ill on that voyage and died under mysterious circumstances.

Ninety-seven years later, Chauncey Loomis headed an expedition to Hall's grave in northwestern Greenland. He exhumed Hall's frozen body and performed an autopsy. His findings suggest that the investigators of Hall's death nervously sidestepped the damning evidence. Loomis has written a masterful biography-cum-mystery that brilliantly evokes the lure of the Arctic and the brutal contest between man and nature.

With a new Introduction by Andrea Barrett, author of The Voyage of the Narwhal

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Modern Library
Published: 04/04/2000
ISBN: 9780375755255
Pages: 392
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.52h x 5.44w x 0.97d

Review Citations: New York Times 05/07/2000 pg. 36

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 65659 / Weird and Tragic Shores: The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer
Reading Level: 9.3 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 23