Great Heart: The History of a Labrador Adventure

by John Rugge, James West Davidson

Overview

In July 1903 Leonidas Hubbard set out to explore the uncharted interior of Labrador by canoe, accompanied by Dillon Wallace, his best friend, and George Elson, a Métis guide. Bad luck and bad judgment led the expedition into disaster and the party was forced to turn back. Hubbard died of starvation just thirty miles from camp. Two years later Wallace decided to complete the overland expedition and clear himself of blame for Hubbard's death. He had, however, a rival - Mina Hubbard. She blamed Wallace for her husband's death and, with Elson as her guide, intended to complete the trek first. The result was an epic race between the avenging widow and her husband's best friend. Reconstructing the story from the long-lost journals and diaries of the 1903 and 1905 expeditions, James Davidson and John Rugge trace the explorers' routes and re-create the saga. Great Heart is a gripping drama of individuals pushed to the limits of human endurance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773530751
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	05/11/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

James West Davidson is a historian living in the Hudson Valley, New York. He is the co-author of American Nation and The Art of Historical Detection. John Rugge is a physician living in the Adirondacks. They are the authors of The Complete Wilderness Paddler.

Editorial Reviews

The story of these four unlikely explorers … [is] to be remembered long after the pages of this book are closed. Hurrah for authors Davidson and Rugge for alchemizing the scattered diaries, letter, and printed accounts of these fatebound four into the most welcome of literary adventures: a good read.” Ivan Doig, author of This House of Sky


“The poetry of Service and Kipling, Jack London’s Call of the Wild, the exploits of Peary … are the backdrops to Great Heart. … Two remarkable writers … have written a compelling story of robust, heart adventure—and also of rivalry, suspense, romance, and fierce loyalty. Well-written, this book easily deserves a place on the selves next to other great adventure books such as “Kon-Tiki” and perhaps even Call of the Wild.” William Breyfogle, Milwaukee Journal


“What a movie this book would make … It’s the kind of book that will make anyone studying North American history look at Labrador with intense interest … It’s also the kind of book, written so fluidly, that captures a reader’s imagination … Davidson and Rugge are obviously passionate about the land …. Besides giving readers a literary adventure like no other, they pass on immense respect for the small band of history-makers who burned their hearts our mapping Labrador’s barren.” Margaret Mironowicz, The Globe and Mail


“What a movie this book would make … It’s the kind of book that will make anyone studying North American history look at Labrador with intense interest … It’s also the kind of book, written so fluidly, that captures a reader’s imagination … Davidson and Rugge are obviously passionate about the land …. Besides giving readers a literary adventure like no other, they pass on immense respect for the small band of history-makers who burned their hearts our mapping Labrador’s barren.” Margaret Mironowicz, The Globe and Mail


“Historian James West Davison and physician John Rugee … canoed the various routes themselves … and wrote a tale that combines scrupulous adherence to the evidence with a cross-cutting narrative Hitchcock would have admired.” Dennis Drabelle, The Washington Post

From the Publisher

This book recounts the intertwined fates of three expeditions to Labrador at the turn of the century. In 1903 Leonidas Hubbard, Dillon Wallace, and George Easton mounted an overland trek that was eventually defeated by weather, terrain, and poor preparation. Hubbard perished. Seeking to vindicate her husband, Minna Hubbard set out to replicate the failed journey with the help of Easton, even as Wallace planned a similar attempt. The authors reconstruct the stories of the first expedition and its vying successors from the participants' journals and diaries, and use some fictional devices. An unusual tale based on historical fact, this should enjoy a wide audience.
— Jerry Maioli, Western Library Network, Olympia, WA

Library Journal