Erebus : The Story of a Ship - Michael Palin

In the early years of Queen Victorias reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time.

On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror.

Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.

Then, in 2014, she was found.

This is her story.

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Michael brings the remarkable Erebus back to life, following it from its launch in 1826 to the epic voyages of discovery that led to glory in the Antarctic and to ultimate catastrophe in the Arctic.

The ship was filled with fascinating people: the dashing and popular James Clark Ross, who charted much of the Great Southern Barrier; the troubled John Franklin, whose chequered career culminated in the Erebuss final, disastrous expedition; and the eager Joseph Dalton Hooker, a brilliant naturalist when he wasnt shooting the local wildlife dead.

Vividly recounting the experiences of the men who first set foot on Antarcticas Victoria Land, and those who, just a few years later, froze to death one by one in the Arctic ice, beyond the reach of desperate rescue missions, Erebus is a wonderfully evocative account of a truly extraordinary adventure, brought to life by an avid explorer and storyteller.