I was very interested in the topic of this book, but ultimately found it to be a rather difficult read. While the author is very knowledgeable about the subject, it reads more like a doctoral dissertation and at times felt like quite the slog. The author clearly included every bit of research they had on the subject, but didn't always convey it in an easy or enjoyable way. Lots of time is spent reading rather large passages from primary sources that get overwhelming eventually especially with the small font. The author is also prone to making very dramatic statements about upcoming events that aren't backed up by much excitement, which is more a personal annoyance than major flaw. I would say this is a good book for someone who has a very serious interest in this specific subject, or is researching it, but this is not a good summer beach read or hobby read. It was more difficult to read than a history textbook, and that coming from someone who majored in history. That being said, it was well researched and very thorough.

DISCOVERING THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE tells the fascinating truth story of Commander Robert McClure of the HMS Investigator.

In the mid-19th century, McClure and his crew went on a voyage to find a missing expedition. When their ship becomes trapped in the ice, they spend three years trying to survive before abandoning ship and walking back to civilization.

In addition to the captivating text, the book includes paintings of Samuel Cresswell.

This well-researched book will not only be popular with history buffs, but also those interested in arctic exploration. ( )

Certainly encyclopedic, but not very approachable or readable. The author has not managed to truly convey the excitement of this quest. The nineteenth century type style and tiny fonts made reading a chore. I did loan to a friend more interested in the expedition who gave it high marks. ( )

Discovering the North-West Passage by Stein is very detailed with large pages and a small font size and is not the easiest read. I think Stein was trying to put in every fact that he had discovered in his research! It is, however, a good resource for those interested in polar explorations and does have some excellent maps and a number of photos and drawings.

Over the years, I’ve read several books that involved the 19th century Franklin Expedition and the succeeding efforts to discover its fate. Some have been non-fiction accounts and others fictionalized accounts (The Terror, by Dan Simmons and The Surfacing, by Cormac James to name two). Having done so, I was familiar with the background story and the travails faced by the arctic explorers of the era.

The Franklin expedition consisted of two British ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, tasked with discovering and charting the long sought Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The ships disappeared and were never heard from again. Numerous efforts were made to first find and save the crews and then to discover their fate.

This non-fiction work details the voyage of the HMS Investigator, which sailed with HMS Enterprise around the tip of South America, through the Bering Strait and into Arctic waters to comb the western reaches of the Arctic Ocean for signs of the expedition. While failing in its primary goal, the ship was the first to conclusively establish a Northwest Passage, though in doing so, they were forced to abandon their ice bound ship after spending three winters in the region.

This is not an entertaining book. It is filled with tedious facts and long excerpts from diaries and logs that are difficult to read. It is more in the nature of a scholarly work than a novel for mass consumption. It has several well marked maps which is crucial in such a work. Overall, however, I cannot recommend it for anyone other than a serious student of Arctic exploration or the Franklin Expedition in particular.

Finally, the format is cumbersome to both hold and read. ( )