Description: Led by a veteran Arctic explorer, two state-of-the-art ships and 128 hand-picked men left Greenland on July 12, 1845 in search of the Northwest Passage. The ships were revolutionary: iron-plated, locomotive-powered, and steam-heated. The expedition was last seen by two whalers in Baffin Bay on July 26. It was never heard from again. Over the next fourteen years, over fifty relief expeditions were sent to find the men. In 1859, on King William's Island, in the heart of the Arctic Archipelago, searchers found a mountain of discarded equipment, two skeletons, and a single sheet of paper bearing a chilling message. Signed by the expedition's second-in-command, it reported that the still-intact ships had been deserted after being trapped in the ice for nearly two years. Twenty-four officers and men (including expedition leader Sir John Franklin) were dead of unknown causes. The 105 survivors had embarked on a desperate 900-mile trek inland in an attempt to find safety.

Based on original research in Admiralty records, Ice Blink recreates the full story of the ill-fated expedition and reveals a frightening new explanation for one of the most enduring mysteries in the annals of exploration.

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