Book

Starvation shore / Laura Waterman.

Summary:

"In the summer of 1881, when the ship that dropped off the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition sailed for home, these twenty-five men could not have known that only a handful would survive their three-year assignment. Commanded by Lt. A. W. Greely, this was the first attempt of the United States to engage in scientific study of the Arctic. Support of promised re-supply never reached them, leaving the men abandoned by the very government that had sent them up. Beset by gelid cold, scurvy, and the madness of starvation the men start to die. Sgt. Brainard, a man of energy and integrity, alone possesses the ability to hold off their utter moral degeneration, yet cannibalism takes place. The author has used letters and journal entries to ensure immediacy to an Arctic story that really happened, that pits men, in their fight to stay alive, against their better selves and the consequences of becoming bestial." -- (Source of summary not specified).

Record details

ISBN: 9780299323400
ISBN: 0299323404
Physical Description: xviii, 364 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Publisher: Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2019]
Copyright: ©2019

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:

List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Author's note -- The roster of the Lady Franklin Bay expedition -- Prologue: Mount Hope Cemetery, Rochester, New York, and the Greely home on Prospect Street, Newburyport, Massachusetts, 14 August 1884 -- Part one: Fort Conger. A question of luck/ Fort Conger, Lady Franklin Bay, 26 August 1881 -- Benches without backs/ Fort Conger, Lady Franklin Bay, early winter 1881 -- "Our great and marvellous adventure" /Fort Conger, Lady Franklin Bay, Winter 1881- 30 August 1882 -- Interlude: William Beebee does his best / St. John's, Newfoundland, Summer 1882 -- "Our inglorious second winter" / Fort Conger, Lady Franklin Bay, Winter 1882- 9 August 1883 -- Interlude: The misfortune of lieutenant Garlington / Cape Sabine, Summer 1883 -- "Our scenic boat trip into Smith Sound" / Between Discovery Harbour and Cape Sabine, 9 August 1883- 15 October 1883 -- Interlude: Henrietta rolls up her sleeves / San Diego, California, 13 September- End of April 1884 -- Part two: Camp Clay. "Most of us are out of our right minds" / Camp Clay, Cape Sabine, 15 October 1883- Early June 1884 -- Part three: The rescue. "It seems so long to wait" / Camp Clay, Camp Sabine, 22 June 1884 -- Under the apple tree / Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Newburyport, Massachusetts, August 1884 -- Afterword / Cosmos Club, Washington DC, 22 June 1930.