Fatal passage: The untold story of John Rae, the Arctic adventurer who discovered the fate of Franklin

The true story of the remarkable John Rae - Arctic traveller and Hudson's Bay Company doctor - a tale of imperial ambition and high adventure. In 1854 Rae solved the two great Arctic mysteries: the fate of the doomed Franklin expedition and the location of the last navigable link in the Northwest Passage. But Rae was to be denied the recognition he so richly deserved. On returning to London, he faced a campaign of denial and vilification led by two of the most powerful people in Victorian England: Lady Jane Franklin, the widow of the lost Sir John, and Charles Dickens, the most influential writer of the age. With this is story of courage and determination, McGoogan aims to capture the essence of one man's indomitable spirit. It is his redemption of Rae's rightful place in history.

KEN MCGOOGAN is the author of a dozen books, among them four bestsellers about Arctic exploration: Fatal Passage, Ancient Mariner, Lady Franklin’s Revenge and Race to the Polar Sea. Those works won the Pierre Berton Award, the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, the UBC Medal for Canadian Biography, the Canadian Authors Association Award for Canadian history, the Grant MacEwan Author’s Award, and a Christopher Award for “a work of artistic excellence.”

Ken worked as a journalist for two decades, moving from the Toronto Star to the Montreal Star and the Calgary Herald, as books editor and columnist. He has served as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission and is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. He teaches narrative non-fiction at the University of Toronto and in the MFA program at University of King’s College in Halifax. Every summer, he voyages in the Northwest Passage as a resource historian with Adventure Canada.