Certainly not the most balanced look at the popular founder, but a great read, nonetheless. Srodes is definitely a fan of Franklin and is most hesitant to cast Franklin in any bad light. You'll find no references to Franklin's dark side. Srodes attributes strategery and document creation as Franklin's finest attributes.


I believe the author overlooked the obvious on this point. For it was Franklin's ability to adapt to his environment that made his successes so broad based. (That's not a pun, by the way).
The author is able to accurately dispel many of the myths written about Franklin over the years, and does so quite admirably. Srodes takes you on the journey of Franklin from his youth as a struggling printer's apprentice to his success as a diplomat.

Over the years, there have been enormous masses of material written about Franklin. The author here does a fine job of compacting that material and makes this a fine resource addition on Franklin. Terrific compilations of factual writings, mixed with the literary prose of one of today's finest writers make this a welcome addition to any library.

An enjoyable, informative book that doesn't spend time trying to find a cause to disagree with. Srodes is a masterful story teller who reports information without judgement, a refreshing concept these days.
Very pleasant book to re-read. Makes one wonder if this quality of leader will ever emerge again.

This is an excellently researched and written book. Recently discovered documents, unseen for centuries, allow the author to more fully describe Franklin's critical role as a diplomat. This is a thorough biography that shows us the many sides of Franklin: as politician, as Scientist, as inventor, and as a most important figure in the creation of our nation.
Franklin was an early proponent of unifying the colonies, even advocating such before others considered uniting for purposes of independence from England. Franklin advocated creating a Governor General for all British colonies who could lead a unified colonial defense and attack against the French colonial army. Yet, the idea was rejected.
The book explores the many aspects of Franklin's life: such as his notable experiments with electricity that won him much respect and gratitude for publishing only facts he had proven and for describing how his results could be duplicated. We see Franklin as one who purposely did not care if high society saw him with his illegitimate son as a fellow diplomat. We further see his private torment as his son is imprisoned as a British loyalist, yet Franklin chose not to intercede on his son's behalf.
Ben Franklin is one of the great Americans of all time. This is a great biography of a great man. It is highly recommended.

I did read with great interest John Wilson's novel. It beautifully summarises the findings of John Franklin historians among which the most recent and complete is probably David Woodman's "unravelling the Franklin Mystery".

Why only three stars? maybe because I had already read Woodman's books and Wilson adds little to that. Fiction it is, but sticks very closely to the conclusions to which previous authors arrive. The story puts together all the known clues but, at the end adds not much else.

My greed to learn more was frustrated for instance at how little is described of Peel-Lady Jane strait; this, after all, was the main discovery of the Franklin expedition. It seems difficult to believe that they would not be more excited about it!

Wilson desserves great credit for assembling into a consistent fiction the conclusions of others. I would have wished more colorful and dramatic extrapolations, as one can find for instance in Jules Vernes "les anglais au pole nord" from last century. I would have liked to live the north with Fitzjames.

The Franklin Expedition has fascinated me for years, especially since some of my students created an interactive computer game, "The Mystery of Franklin's Fate," for Science World in Vancouver. I've even thought about writing a novel about it, but now John Wilson has saved me the work--and done a far better job than I could have!

North With Franklin is the journal of James Fitzjames, one of Franklin's captains (some of the early passages are from his real letters). Wilson has the style and attitude just right, and blends his research very effectively into the story. We can see the ships, the men, the terrain. We see the first optimism fade as the ships are trapped in the ice and make no progress in the short summers. The first deaths, from TB, are painfully vivid to Fitzjames; by the end, each death gets only a cursory note, while the captain battles his own mysterious ailments and tries to keep the survivors alive. His journal is a series of letters to his sister-in-law, for whom he clearly feels more than he can admit.

As the years pass and the expedition dwindles to a handful of desperately sick men, Captain Fitzjames comes at least to a clearer understanding of what has gone wrong--not just lead poisoning and scurvy, but a complacently arrogant belief in superior technology.

John Wilson brings the expedition members to life again, each a distinct character (though of course the "people"--ordinary seamen--are seen through the eyes of an officer in a class-ridden society).

The narrative seems so plausible that I half-expected to find the expedition's place-names on the endpaper maps--but whatever names they gave the bays and points vanished with them and their records.

Still, North With Franklin is as close an account of the expedition's fate as we are likely to have, at least until Captain Fitzjames's real journals are found under some Arctic cairn.

This book does a fine job of introducing popular audiences to the long-neglected and much maligned Army of the James. Like most of the Civil War works of Edward Longacre, it is fairly well written, entertaining at times, and heavily focused on prominent personalities (as opposed to the common soldier). Throughout most of the book, readers are treated to a fascinating running narrative on the life of Benjamin Butler, the controversial political general who was the guiding spirit of the Army of the James for much of its existence. Indeed, there is almost as much attention devoted to Butler and his political ambitions as to the tens of thousands of soldiers who fought with the Army of the James.

Overall, this book does a fine job of exploring the origins of the Army of the James, following its often discouraging path through the bold campaign leading up to the battle of Drewry's Bluff, the establishment of a foothold on Bermuda Hundred, and the long seige of Richmond and Petersburg that followed. In this respect, a number of battles and skirmishes that have usually been passed over by other historians are given much-deserved attention. Throughout, the author admirably maintains his sole focus on the Army of the James, even after it was largely absorbed into Grant's forces after mid-June 1864. He also follows the fortunes of those units that were on detached service, such as Kautz's cavalry division and two divisions of the X Corps that were sent to capture Fort Fisher in early 1865.

Longacre devotes a modest amount of attention to the somewhat unique make up of this army. It always had a strong component of African-American soldiers in its ranks, and also is notable for being led by a majority of civilian volunteer officers. This led to tensions and dissentions at the highest levels, particularly with career officers like William "Baldy" Smith vying for leadership.

Missing from the book are the finely detailed accounts of the battles fought by the Army of the James. At most, Longacre provides the reader with an overview of these battles, tracing the movement of divisions and brigades, but only providing quick summaries of combat and casualties. In this author's opinion, the book suffers at many points from a lack of decent maps to better illustrate unit movements and battles. Those seeking a more detailed understanding of battles will have to turn elsewhere. For example, Robertson's excellent study of Drewry's Bluff titled BACKDOOR TO RICHMOND.

While it is true that the Army of the James was created in the Spring of 1864, this reader would have appreciated more information about the experiences of the various units and generals that joined the Army of the James prior to this year.

In the end, the reader may have mixed feelings about Longacre's sympathetic treatment of Butler. History has not been kind to this personality, and maybe for good reason. There is little doubt, however, that one will come to better appreciate the vital contributions and many sacrifices offered by the men who served in the Army of the James in the last year and a half of the Civil War.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The way that it intermingled history of the time period, geography, strong moral values, and the tale of the quest for gold held my interest throughout the book. It even threw in a few unexpected twists and turns in the high seas adventure.
This book is appropriate for adult readers and young readers alike. It has spurred me to want to read more about history and ocean adventure of the time period.

3 subtopics, 3 chareacteristics

Need a good overview of key Business and Financial statements? Look no further. This book is clear, concise, and precise. Great for people just getting their feet wet in the finance world or for those who need a refresher.

An excellent review of flap (local and regional) surgery.

Good for the senior resident and junior attending level.

This book was really well done. It really helped me with a report I was doing on James Weldon Johnson. I learned a lot that I didn't know before, I'm really glad I read it, I'm just sorry it is unavailable. Lanky

This book was a very interesting true story of several British naval officers and their guides who travelled from Hudson Bay into the interior of Canada and up the Coppermine River to the northern coast of the North America. This expedition took several years. As their journey progressed so did the sufferings they endured. Several members of the group died of starvation and other causes. One was murdered and his killer was shot. It was incredible that anyone survived.

Anyone interested in the Arctic exploration and early Native Americans will enjoy this book. The author, Sir John Franklin, was a fearless explorer who died on a subsequent Arctic mission. He descibes his meetings with the traders and local inhabitants in great detail. He relied in large part on local Native Americans as guides and hunters. It was his intention to meet with the Eskimo people, who avoided all contact with his group. The Native Americans refused to accompany the group all the way north due to their fear of the Eskimos. I highly recommend this book.