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Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition by [Bruce Henderson]

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Bruce Henderson

Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition Kindle Edition

by Bruce Henderson (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The #1 New York Times bestselling author reveals “the chilling story” of disaster and suspected murder on the19th century Polaris expedition (Vincent Bugliosi, author of Helter Skelter)

Sponsored by the United States government, the Polaris expedition of 1871 was intended to be the first to reach the North Pole. By its end, the ship was sunk, Captain Charles Hall was dead under suspicious circumstances, and thirty-three men, women, and children were struggling to survive while stranded on the polar ice for six months.

News of the disastrous expedition and accusations of murder lead to a national scandal, an official investigation, and a government cover-up. The true cause of the captain’s death remained unknown for nearly 100 years, until Charles Hall’s grave was found by a search party and opened.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Bruce Henderson combines the transcripts of the U.S. Navy’s original inquest, the personal papers of Captain Hall, as well as his autopsy and forensic reports relating to his death, the ship’s log, and personal journals of the crew to tell the complete story of this mysterious tragedy.

“Rewardingly suspenseful…Rousing sea adventure.” —Seattle Weekly

“A factual historical mystery written by a gifted storyteller.” —Library Journal

“The story is nothing short of incredible.” —Baton Rouge Advocate

Print length

283 pages
Language

English
Publisher

RosettaBooks
Publication date

12 December 2018
File size

5678 KB
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Product description

Review

Fans of adventure writing will appreciate this fine book.-- "Publishers Weekly" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Bruce Henderson is the author and coauthor of many nonfiction books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller And the Sea Will Tell. A former newspaper reporter, magazine editor, private investigator, and field producer for television news, Bruce has taught reporting and writing courses at Stanford University and USC School of Journalism. He is a member of the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Press Club. He lives in northern California.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088YSBRJH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ RosettaBooks (12 December 2018)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5678 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 283 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 0989467546

Best Sellers Rank: 165,343 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 44 in History of the Arctic & Antarctica
- 103 in Expeditions & Discoveries World History
- 125 in Maritime History & Piracy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
258 ratings

About the author

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Bruce Henderson

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Bruce Henderson is the author of more than twenty nonfiction books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller AND THE SEA WILL TELL, which was made into a highly-rated TV series. His latest book, SONS AND SOLDIERS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE JEWS WHO ESCAPED THE NAZIS AND RETURNED WITH THE U.S. ARMY TO FIGHT HITLER, hit the New York Times Bestseller List in 2018. Henderson's previous books include RESCUE AT LOS BANOS: THE MOST DARING PRISON CAMP RAID OF WORLD WAR II, and HERO FOUND: THE GREATEST POW ESCAPE OF THE VIETNAM WAR, a national bestseller which told the true story of U.S. Navy pilot Dieter Dengler, with whom Henderson served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CVA-61) during Vietnam. Henderson is also the author of TRACE EVIDENCE: THE HUNT FOR THE I-5 SERIAL KILLER and FATAL NORTH: MURDER AND SURVIVAL ON THE FIRST NORTH POLE EXPEDITION. An award-winning journalist and author, he has taught reporting and writing at USC School of Journalism and Stanford University. Visit his website: www.BruceHendersonBooks.com.

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Top review from Australia

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Colin Daniels

Mystery and Survival

Reviewed in Australia on 28 October 2016

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A very interesting and engaging story based on polar expedition. The mystery surrounding the death of the captain keeps you interested throughout and it is frustrating to see how poor the post expedition inquiry was.
I recommend this book to all readers with an interest in polar exploration.

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NINA PORROVECCHIO

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on 16 January 2016

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Awesome. Well written

Laurie Kelley

Focused Look at a Polar Expedition and Horrific Survival Tale

Reviewed in the United States on 27 March 2021

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“Fatal North: Murder and Survival on First North Pole Expedition” is a page turner, a true story of an Arctic expedition of 1871 headed by Charles Francis Hall, a Chicago publisher turned adventurer who believed it was his mission to find survivors of the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845, and to discover the North Pole. This book focuses mainly on this one expedition, though Hall had three, and not on Hall in particular, as Chauncey Loomis did in “Weird and Tragic Shores,” which I highly recommend. And that’s to author Henderson’s advantage. By focusing on this one expedition, he packs it full of character, personalities, detail and journal entries, so much that I could not put this book down. I read it in one day, and found it extremely well written, thrilling, and I am very familiar already with the story.

Not only focusing on this one story, which becomes a horrific and incredible story of survival, but also by telling this tale through the eyes of navigator George Tyson, who becomes the de facto hero, along with the “eskimos” that accompanied them. Six months spent in the open on an ice floe in the Arctic, with hardly any food, and young children! With temperatures dipping to -45° and icy gales, the ice cracking and breaking. It is a horror story in many ways. Yet there are moments of faith, reflection, nobility and courage. And then a rescue... and Naval inquiry. It’s all history, amazing and fascinating.

I had doubts about the book starting in the Prologue as there was a big mistake: Henderson refers to Commander Adolphus Greely as Augustus Greely, a huge oversight by him and his editors. Greely is much more famous than Hall. And there are a few other minor errors that I won’t detail but are a bit perplexing. One odd thing is that Henderson mentions that the captain, Sidney Buddington, had an uncle who was also a whaler, but neglects to mention he was key in finding the HMS Resolute... the wood of which later became the desk where the US president now sits. An interesting historical fact that would have been good to mention. But... edits aside, a fantastic story, told in expert style. I can’t wait to read Henderson’s other books now!

7 people found this helpful

RedRedtheycallmeRed

Fascinating and anger inducing

Reviewed in the United States on 16 March 2022

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I'd never heard of this story and I got sucked in pretty quickly. The opening chapter takes place in 1968 when the body of Charles Hall is unearthed from its arctic grave and autopsied. The samples were sent to a lab in Canada, and the findings are revealed in the epilogue.

Though it's Charles Hall's enthusiasm for all things arctic that gets the voyage going, George Tyson is the eyes of the book, due to the fact that his journals survived. And he seemed like a decent guy (him being against child molestation and cannibalism certainly helped). There were some pretty dark folks on that voyage.

I felt for Tyson, the level of incompetence and recklessness that surrounded him was crazy! The chapters that describe Tyson and 18 others being stranded on an ice floe for five months was some horrific reading. If not for the natives they wouldn't have lasted but a few days. The "investigation" into what happened on the POLARIS afterward was a study in ineptitude.

2 people found this helpful

pamarella

WOW!!

Reviewed in the United States on 25 May 2022

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What a book! I found this an incredible book and well told history of the crew who sought to reach the North Pole. At times I had a hard time getting my brain wrapped around so much ice and cold and devastating circumstances!! Mr Hall and Mr Tyson were amazing men. Both had integrity, compassion, intelligence, discernment, discipline, wisdom and strength of character. A few others on the ship also had strong characters, especially Joe. Sadly two in particular were evil, self serving men. They sabotaged the entire expedition. The pain and suffering in this book is really beyond our comprehension. I was crushed for Mr Hall. Very, very sad. The hand of God surely did protect those who were on the ice suffering and starving for all those months of horrible storms, and deprivation. It is a miracle they made it. It’s very upsetting that the Board who inquired about the death of Mr Hall did not pursue the truth more diligently and bring forth criminal charges. A very sad outcome in our history. I am glad I read this book. Men were sure made of “stronger stuff” in this time. Thank you Bruce Henderson for this book. Well done.
pamarella
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Tripower53

Awesome and thrilling read

Reviewed in the United States on 13 February 2021

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274 pages

5 stars

This story is about the death of “Captain” Charles Francis Hall and the investigation nearly one hundred years later into that death. Along the way, we learn of the travails of the men trapped in the ice aboard the Polaris.

However, the new captain Sidney Buddington left nineteen men, women and children on an ice floe and just sailed away and refused to come back to rescue them. Fortunately among the stranded were two Inuit hunters and George Tyson. Tyson was a close friend of Hall's. He had little to no control over the behavior of the little troupe of men on the floe who threatened him and the Inuits and did as they pleased.

They managed to survive through hardship and infighting until picked up by a passing ship six months later. They managed to kill seals and small birds on some days. Some other days, they went hungry. The Inuit hunters feared for their families lives as the disruptive faction of men had thoughts of cannibalism, staring with the children.

Sidney Buddington was a whaling captain who had a major drinking problem who took over the Polaris voyage following “Captain” Hall's death. He stole the liquor and even went so far as to drink the preservative solution for the scientific finds by the scientists. He did not want to go north. He constantly complained about Hall and was said to be happy when he died.

Dr. Emil Bessels was the doctor aboard the ship. This is the man that Hall accused of poisoning him. Bessels gave Hall some mysterious white powder by injection. (?) Hall actually got better when he refused treatment by Bessels.

Buddington, Bessels and the other aboard the ship were rescued later. Buddington had plans apparently to scuttle the ship and enjoy the living in a small trading town on Greenland. Buddington gave the vessel to a local Inuit.

The Board of Inquiry held following the rescue did not ask very pressing questions and basically dismissed Hall's death as “natural causes.” Incidentally, Hall's journals were “lost.” Buddington is said to have thrown them overboard and burned them. Although some pages did turn up at the inquiry in the possession of Bessels.

In 1968, some doctors and others journeyed to Hall's grave and took samples of the corpse. These were examined at laboratories in Canada. Hall was found to have very high levels of arsenic. The indication is that he was poisoned. But, by whom?

This is a well written account of the hair raising expedition of the Polaris. It is not overly scientific or dry. It is filled with excerpts from George Tyson's daily journal from the floe. He was a very brave man.

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Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition Kindle Edition

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