Both men had experience exploring the Arctic, but Franklin had accepted a position as governor of the new British penal colony in Hobart, Tasmania, so was not available to lead this expedition. Though Ross played no further role in future expeditions, he beat Franklin to this assignment. Before venturing North, Erebus and Terror first embarked on a four-year expedition led by the same James Clark Ross, approaching Antarctica three times and retreating to Tasmania and the Falkland Islands in between. It was to be one of the two ships on Franklin’s fateful expedition (the other went by the equally cheerful name of HMS Terror).”įocusing his book on the ships allows Palin to tell two connected stories. “The book starts with the completion of the HMS Erebus in a Welsh boatyard in 1826. Attention subsequently shifted to locating the magnetic South Pole and the decision was taken to convert Erebus from a warship into a reinforced ice-ship. While Erebus lay idle in a dockyard, James Clark Ross led an expedition that successfully located the magnetic North Pole in 1831. Used as a warship patrolling the Mediterranean during years of relative peace, Erebus was quickly mothballed and lay anchored for almost a decade.Īs mentioned in my review of The Spinning Magnet: The Force That Created the Modern World – and Could Destroy It, this era of exploration was also when precise navigation became vital, spurring a race to study the Earth’s magnetic field (see also Earth’s Magnetism in the Age of Sail and The Illustrated Longitude: The True Story of the Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time). It was to be one of the two ships on Franklin’s fateful expedition (the other went by the equally cheerful name of HMS Terror). The book starts with the completion of the HMS Erebus in a Welsh boatyard in 1826. It stands out both for the sheer loss of life (129 men) and the mysterious fate of the expedition. One remarkable episode in this period was the Arctic expedition led by English Royal Navy officer Sir John Franklin. The 1800s and early 1900s were a golden age of polar exploration, and small libraries of history books have been written analysing or celebrating expeditions by famous explorers such as Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton or Robert Falcon Scott – their brave, perhaps foolhardy journeys often ending in tragedy. He lives in London.“ Erebus: The Story of a Ship“, written by Michael Palin, published by Hutchinson in September 2018 (hardback, 350 pages) From 2009 to 2012 he was president of the Royal Geographical Society, and in 2013 he was made a BAFTA fellow. His books include accounts of his journeys, novels (Hemingway’s Chair and The Truth) and several volumes of diaries. He has also made several much-acclaimed travel documentaries, his journeys taking him to the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas, Eastern Europe and Brazil.
#Erebus novel tv#
Told in a very relaxed and sometimes – as you might expect – very funny Palin style.’ David Baddiel, Daily MailĪbout the Author: Michael Palin has written and starred in numerous TV programmes and films, from Monty Python and Ripping Yarns to The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.’ The Times Told in a very relaxed and sometimes – as you might expect – very funny Palin style.’ David Baddiel, Daily Mail Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.’ Sunday Times The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we’ve all been waiting for.’ Nicholas Crane It’s a fascinating story that Palin brings full-bloodedly to life.’ Guardian Now available- Michael Palin’s North Korea Journals
Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.
On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror. On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. In the early years of Queen Victoria’s reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER- the remarkable true story of the exploration ship featured in The Terror Michael Palin brings to life one of the greatest adventures of all time
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