A study of Captain Sir John Franklin and the expedition he led in 1845 to find the North West Passage connecting the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Franklin, his crew and their ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, never returned - the cause of their loss a mystery. Several expeditions were launched to search for the ships in the years which followed and a number of relics discovered. Inuit evidence of the ships becoming icebound, the crew setting off on foot but succumbing to the cold and starvation and reports of cannibalism were given to the explorer John Rae in 1854. Rae's report to the Admiralty led to widespread revulsion in Victorian society, enraged Franklin's wife Jane and destroyed his own reputation. Lady Franklin's efforts to eulogise her husband and restore his reputation were supported by many leading Victorians and resulted in a number of further searches. The author re-examines Franklin's life, the background and context of the expedition and the available evidence.