Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition

Written by Bruce Henderson

Narrated by John Pruden

It began as President Ulysses S. Grant's bid for international glory after the Civil War-America's first attempt to reach the North Pole. It ended with Captain Charles Hall's death under suspicious circumstances, dissension among sailors, scientists, and explorers, and the ship's evacuation and eventual sinking. Then came a brutal struggle for survival by thirty-three men, women, and children, stranded on the polar ice. When news of the disastrous expedition and accusations of murder reached Washington D.C., it led to a nationwide scandal, an official investigation, and a government cover-up.

The mystery of the captain's death remained unsolved for nearly 100 years. But when Charles Hall's frozen grave in northern Greenland was opened, forensic scientists were finally able to reach a shocking conclusion.

Now, telling the complete story for the first time, bestselling author Bruce Henderson has researched original transcripts of the U.S. Navy inquests, personal papers of Captain Hall, autopsy and forensic reports relating to the century-old crime, the ship's original log, and personal journals kept by crewmen to bring to life one of the most mysterious tragedies of American exploration.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515979517

Bruce Henderson

<p></p><p>Bruce Henderson has written more than twenty books, including the national bestseller <em>Hero Found</em> and <em>Rescue at Los Baños</em>. Henderson served aboard the aircraft carrier USS <em>Ranger</em> (CVA-61) during the Vietnam War. He lives in Menlo Park, California.</p>

Reviews for Fatal North

[Mark Gaynor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hands down, one of the most intriguing audiobooks to date in my vast library.

[Rachel Grant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating adventure story. A great study of the best and worst of people.

[mattries37315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Following the Civil War President Grant wanted to unite the country through various ways, one being the exploration of the North Pole masterminded by a two-time Artic explorer from Cincinnati. Fatal North: Adventure and Survival Aboard the USS Polaris, the First U.S. Expedition to the North Pole by Bruce Henderson follows the internally divided and essentially doomed expedition that see’s its leader most likely murdered, and its crew allowed to go undisciplined afterwards that its surprising he was the only casualty.Henderson essentially follows the expedition from the perspective of George Tyson, a subordinate officer on the ship, who like its leader Captain Charles Francis Hall, wanted to reach the North Pole but is stunned by the lack of motivation and decline of discipline by Hall’s successor. Tyson latter becomes the nominal leader—due to the drastic decline of discipline on the ship—of a group of crew and the expedition’s Inuit abandoned by the ship on the ice and survived six months before rescue. One of the biggest questions that Henderson attempts to tackle is if the expedition’s leader was murdered and if so who did the deed, but the evidence and time result in no hard conclusion.Fatal North is historical book of adventure and survival with a dash of mystery that Bruce Henderson wraps together in easy-to-read prose that shows great research.

[fasterhorses-620292 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow -- Fatal North: Murder and Survival on the First North Pole Expedition, by Bruce Henderson, is an amazing book! First, the amount of research that went into this is amazing. Then, the fact that people are called to explore the harshest, farthest away spots on the planet is amazing. And the story itself -- murder, treachery, endurance in the most horrible of conditions, and such poor and clearly biased inquiry afterwards -- is amazing.