James Fitzjames: The Mystery Man of the Franklin Expedition - Tapa dura

James Fitzjames was a Royal Naval hero of the early nineteenth century. A lively man with a wicked sense of humour, he joined the Franklin Expedition at the age of thirty-two - and never returned. But he packed more into those thirty-two years than most people do in a lifetime. He sailed iron paddle-steamers down the River Euphrates in 1835-36 and fought with conspicuous bravery in wars in Syria and China (where he was wounded while firing a rocket in a street-fight). But Fitzjames was not what he seemed. He concealed several secrets, including the scandal of his birth, the source of his influence and his plans for what to do after the Franklin Expedition. William Battersby strips away 200 years of misinformation and half-truths to enable us to understand Fitzjames and his significance to the Franklin Expedition for the first time.

James Fitzjames was a hero of the early nineteenth-century Royal Navy. A charismatic man with a wicked sense of humour, he pursued his naval career with wily determination. When he joined the Franklin Expedition at the age of thirty-two he thought he would make his name. But instead the expedition completely disappeared and he never returned. Its fate is one of history's last great unsolved mysteries, as were the origins and background of James Fitzjames - until now. Fitzjames packed a great deal into his thirty-two years. He had sailed an iron paddle steamer down the River Euphrates and fought with spectacular bravery in wars in Syria and China. But Fitzjames was not what he seemed. He concealed several secrets, including the scandal of his birth, the source of his influence and his plans for after the Franklin Expedition. In this first complete biography of the captain of HMS Erebus, William Battersby draws extensively on Fitzjames' personal letters and journals - most never published before - as well as official naval records, to strip away 200 years of misinformation and half-truths and enables us to understand for the first time this intriguing man and his significance for the Franklin Expedition.