The Making of a Hero
A new portrait of Roald Amundsen, celebrity entrepreneur of polar exploration October 2012
By now most Canadians are familiar with Sir John Franklin’s search for the Northwest Passage that ended in his death, the loss of his ships and starvation. Ironically, far less is known about Roald Amundsen, the young Norwegian adventurer who, at the age of 31, set out to sail through the passage in a 22-metre fishing boat with a crew of six and succeeded—a stark contrast to the British Admiralty’s decades of failed attempts led by seasoned commanders in their…