Originally published: London : Allen Lane, 2009.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-413) and index.

Prologue : 'There is no land unhabitable nor sea innavigable' -- 'All is not golde that glistereth' : the expeditions of Martin Frobisher -- 'The passage ismost probable'; 'there is no passage nor hope of passage' : the views of John Davis and William Baffin -- 'A sea to the westward' : the discovery of Hudson Bay -- 'To seek a needle in a bottle of hay' : the rival voyages of Luke Foxe and Thomas James -- 'Northward to find out the Straits if Anian' : the tragic voyage of James Knight -- 'The maritime philosophers stone' : the vision of Arthur Dobbs -- 'I left the print of my feet in blood' : Samuel Hearne and the speculative geographers -- 'No information could be had from maps' : James Cook's final voage -- 'Insults in the name of science to modern navigation' : fantasy voyages through the Northwest Passage -- 'Our prospects were truly exhilarating' : the gateway of Lancaster Sound -- 'The man who ate his boots' : John Franklin goes overland -- 'This set us all castle-building' : the later voyages of Edward Parry -- 'The very borders of the grave' : the ordeal of the Rosses -- 'To fill up the small blank on the northern charts' : the explorations of Back, Dease and Simpson -- 'So little now remains to be done' : the last voyage of John Franklin -- 'Franklin's winter quarters!' : clues on the ice -- 'The Northwest Passage discovered!' : the Pacific approach of McClure and Collinson -- 'A thorough downright catastrophe' : the search expedition of Edward Belcher -- 'They fell down and died as they walked' : the fate of Franklin's crews -- 'My dream since childhood' : Roald Amundsen and the passage -- 'I felt that I was on hallowed ground' : the voyages of Henry Larsen -- Epilogue : the Northwest Passage and climate change.