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Rating: 
Summary: Eye-witness testimony to the Franklin Expedition
Review: . . . and others . . .When Charles Francis Hall went looking for the Franklin expedition he heard exciting but contradictory evidence from the Inuit natives he encountered. Years after Hall, David Woodman's careful analysis of Inuit narratives does much to separate lines of history from complex story-telling. This book describes the ways in which the Inuit testimony can be validated and what things it has to report to us about what may have happened to the Franklin expedition. As such it contains what may be the first real "new" information about the Franklin expedition that we are likely to obtain absent startling new finds in the region. Though Scott Cookman's new study "Ice Blink" has genuine insights to offer on the possible reasons for the evident deterioration of the Franklin expedition after its first year in the ice, Woodman's "Strangers Among Us" ultimately provides more information on exactly what happened -- and invaluable information from Inuit hunting peoples about why it might have happened at that time and in that place. If you are interested in the historical mysteries of the third Franklin expedition this book should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-witness testimony to the Franklin Expedition
Review: . . . and others . . . When Charles Francis Hall went looking for the Franklin expedition he heard exciting but contradictory evidence from the Inuit natives he encountered. Years after Hall, David Woodman's careful analysis of Inuit narratives does much to separate lines of history from complex story-telling. This book describes the ways in which the Inuit testimony can be validated and what things it has to report to us about what may have happened to the Franklin expedition. As such it contains what may be the first real "new" information about the Franklin expedition that we are likely to obtain absent startling new finds in the region. Though Scott Cookman's new study "Ice Blink" has genuine insights to offer on the possible reasons for the evident deterioration of the Franklin expedition after its first year in the ice, Woodman's "Strangers Among Us" ultimately provides more information on exactly what happened -- and invaluable information from Inuit hunting peoples about why it might have happened at that time and in that place. If you are interested in the historical mysteries of the third Franklin expedition this book should not be missed.
Rating: 
Summary: Strangers Among Us
Review: I read this book despite not being overly familiar with the details of the Franklin expedition or Inuit culture, so I am not in a position to argue whether or not the author's conclusions are valid. But I have to say that I found the author's arguments to be quite compelling and, provided that Charles Francis Hall accurately intepreted the stories that his Inuit friends told him, it would seem that survivors of the Franklin expedition managed to survive for several years by living off the land.
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