Northwest Passage: The Quest for an Arctic Route to the East

Hans B. Neumann is a history lecturer at Scarborough College, University
of Toronto.

The transit of the Northwest Passage was one of the most long-enduring
and fascinating chapters in the history of exploration. It also holds a
special place in the history of Canada. The quest began in the early
sixteenth century, and the goal was not successfully achieved until
Roald Amundsen’s voyage of 1903-6. What began as a search for the
shortest sea route to the lucrative trade with the Orient eventually
became, in Struzik’s words, “a stage for Western man to play out
roles he could not play at home.” Along the way tragedy marked the
path more often than triumph; the most notable of the former must surely
be the Franklin expedition of the 1840s (which is thoroughly discussed
in the text).

Struzik, himself an old Arctic hand, spins out a lively, thoroughly
researched story, giving the whole background for the various efforts to
cross the Northwest Passage. It is a balanced, well-crafted
presentation. Most refreshing is the emphasis on the European
explorers’ inability and/or unwillingness to adapt to local conditions
or to learn much of the ways of the Arctic from the aboriginal peoples
they encountered on their voyages. Prisoners of their European-cast
minds, they frequently authored their own tragedies.

Every major episode in the nearly 400-year quest is authoritatively
discussed. The text concludes with a helpful chronological table that
reviews the salient dates and events, and an excellent up-to-date
bibliography.

Much visual sparkle enhances the book with the inclusion of Beedell’s
photographs. These splendid color pictures, profusely scattered
throughout the book, of the often hauntingly beautiful Arctic landscape
as well as of its wildlife, almost perfectly counterbalance the text.

All in all, a most successful effort directed at the serious adult
reader with an interest in the history of exploration and geography.