The Man Who Mapped the Arctic

The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin’s Lieutenant

By Peter Steel

Raincoast Books, Vancouver, 2003

288pp, $39.95

ISBN: 1-55192648-2

It appears the Franklin Myth, and those around it, shows little signs of waning as we get deeper into yet another century.

A fine book has emerged on one of the giants of that era, George Back. Intrepid life, indeed. Like so many of his era, young George was serving in the Royal Navy before he turned 12 and was imprisoned by Napolean’s army for several years which certainly shaped his character.

Author Steele does a superb job on the narrative of this tales that spans eight decades, always keeping it interesting. It reads like a great magazine piece and not a stuffy artifact of history. The section on Back’s years as a French prisoner were particularly enlightening. Penal service at that time

was vastly different than now, and he had the ability to move around the country experiencing different forms of incarceration as well as enjoying the bawdy pleasures of France at a young age. It was a life-changing meeting with an old Navy man at the time, that the teenage Back was told to shape up and harness his obvious talents that began Back’s exemplary career as a leader, artist and tough traveller. 

Add to that, a constant complainer about mosquitoes in the north. That makes Back all the more real to us and flies [sic] in the face of the pious and puffy Franklin who could never bear to kill one of God’s smallest creatures.

The Man who Mapped the Arctic is both a joy and revelation to read. George Back was a very real, and imperfect, character in an exciting era of hardship and heroism. Peter Steele keeps this story in touch with George Back’s contemporary times and ours, putting it into context for both eras. In doing so he has done a service both to George Back and his grateful readers.

Ancient Mariner

The Amazing Adventures of Samuel Hearne

By Peter Steel

HarperCollins, Toronto, 2003

334pp, $36.95

ISBN: 0-00-200098-9

Ken McGoogan brings his non-fiction novelist approach to the iconic Samuel Hearne in Ancient Mariner. The idea of using actual dialogue attributed to long-dead people is off-putting to some but he shows it can work.

Hearne, like George Back was sent into the Royal Navy at a young age in a very tough time– a century before Back. McGoogan is great at weaving a tale with style and personal dialogue. He contends Coleridge’s classic poem  The Rime

of the Ancient Mariner is based on Hearne. He also delves into the actual events of the Bloody Falls massacre and two centuries worth of theories on it. Fascinating stuff.

Hearne’s epic 2200 mile journey across the breadth of northern Canada is enough for such a book, but there were many other wonderful accomplishments. McGoogan sometimes pushes too hard to spin-doctor Hearne’s motives but he brings up all the facts and opinions and it all makes for absorbing reading for northern paddlers who marvel at the man’s exploits.