No comments about Treasures of the Deep.

1 comments about Woman in the Bush.

1. Written in 1966, the book recounts a grueling winter trapping in the Yukon wilderness in 1945 with her husband. For 8 months they had only the company of each other and their dogs. Its a real survival story by an intrepid woman but left me wondering what happened subsequently. I haven't been able to find further information about the author and the book jacket only has information about the co-author!

No comments about Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.

No comments about A Voyage Round The World: Being An Account Of A Remarkable Enterprise Begun In The Year 1719, Chiefly To Cruise On The Spaniards In The Great South Ocean.

2 comments about Ancient Mariner: The Arctic Adventures of Samuel Hearne, the Sailor Who Inspired Coleridge's Masterpiece.

1. This book by Ken McGoogan recalls Peter C. Newman's fascinating books about the Hudson's Bay Company: Caesars of the Wilderness and The Company Adventurers. I think that schoolchildren should be reading these books rather than dry old history tomes. And, if all you have read are these history textbooks, then I suggest you give yourself a chance to revisit these amazing explorers. The story of Samuel Hearne is magnificently told by Ken McGoogan and it will have you thirsting for more stories of the amazing men and women (yes, women!) who lived, fought, loved in a cruel land. It was a book I could not put down.



2. Exploration stories often focus on the tropics. David Livingstone, Albert Russel Wallace, Richard Burton and others are readily recalled. The polar quests of Amundsen, Cook, Peary and Byrd probably follow in popularity. The upper latitudes seem almost overlooked. With little land mass approaching Antarctica and its pole, Canada and Russia are left for investigation by the enquiring mind. Having offered the life of one such wanderer in John Rae, McGoogan now reaches further back in time and place to reveal the life of Samuel Hearne. It's a fine study of a dedicated man.

   McGoogan's lively narrative traces Hearne's Royal Navy career, then follows him to the Hudson's Bay Company [HBC] station of Prince of Wales Fort. With the Canadian Arctic still a terra incognita, various quests were under consideration - the Northwest Passage and/or an inland sea leading to Asia being prime contenders. A more specific ambition arose with indications of a vast copper resource near the Arctic Sea. Hearne pursued this rumour by trekking across the Canadian tundra to find it. Various interludes occurred along the way.

   Hearne's expeditions to the Arctic seem pre-ordained to failure. Having but a hazy notion of what confronted him wasn't a hindrance. Bureaucracy proved the more serious impediment. The British attitude toward indigenous peoples compounded faulty notions of requirements for such a trip. With no idea of how Native Peoples? societies were structured, British HBC agents blundered into one crisis after another. In today's world, for a man to suggest that women must accompany the expedition to perform specialised tasks would bring down the wrath of the Human Rights Commission. In the 18th Century rise of the HBC in Canada women performed essential roles. No Native Peoples? women meant no Native Peoples? men. No men, no expedition. McGoogan explains all these circumstances without apology or condemnation. It's a professional historian's approach, worthy of full praise.

   The other aspect of British imperialism's shortsighted view is the relationships among Canada's Native Peoples. Hearne and others would counsel peace to those who had been warring when the British still painted themselves blue. These animosities were not easily quelled and might break out without warning nor discernible reason. Hearne was confronted with this near the mouth of the Coppermine River. McGoogan, relying on Hearne's own account, describes the massacre of an Inuit settlement leading to the naming of "Bloody Falls". The event remained fixed in Hearne's memory for the remainder of his life.

   Hearne, seeking an ephemeral copper lode, traversed immense stretches of the Canadian North. With various teams, but particularly relying on a Dene negotiator, Matonabbee, Hearne viewed the Arctic Ocean, the first European to reach it overland. The copper wasn't there, nor, in Hearne's opinion, was there any possibility of a Northwest Passage. He saw the Great Slave Lake, but when he later reported on his journey, skeptics were confounded by how far west it lay. Canada's vastness overwhelmed chair-bounded geographers. Hearne wasn't simply seeking mineral wealth. He recorded copious observations on plant and animal life in the region, as well as collecting information on the native peoples. More than just an adventurer, Hearne is credited by McGoogan as being one of earliest naturalists.

   Hearne's return to England was less than satisfactory. An account of his travels netted him not a penny - he died before publication. One event, a likely meeting with Coleridge at a boy's school, may have led Hearne to become the source of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. While the notion is McGoogan's speculative idea, it's plausible enough to be valid. It certainly provided a good, if unexpected, title for the life of an Arctic explorer. McGoogan presents that life vividly, with only minor, forgiveable, embellishments. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

No comments about Summit Tales: Exciting Early Adventures In The Canadian Rockies.

No comments about Grit, grief and gold;: A true narrative of an Alaska pathfinder.

No comments about Stars Over Montana: A Centennial Celebration of the Men Who Shaped Glacier National Park.

No comments about Pioneer laymen of North America,.

1 comments about 5 Giants of Advertising.

1. If you love advertising and are looking for a basic and simple read... this is the one! The book breaks down into five sections covering the beginnings of the five greatest ad-man of all time - founders of Lord & Thomas (Lasker), Leo Burnett (Leo Burnett), O&M (Ogilvy), Publicis (Bleustein-Blanchet) and DDB (Bernbach). The book basically covers simple facts about their lives and how the business began, what clients they served and the famous campaigns they did. The book did not however, go into the full details on how the campaigns were conducted, why they did what they did, etc, etc... It's not a heavy read and took me just a few hours... interesting as I did not know much about Lasker, Bleistein-Blanchet and Bernbach. In terms of personal enhancement... the book will not make you a better ad-man nor copywriter... just an interesting read... recommended for the starters...