The many attempts by navigators to find a Northwest Passage via its Pacific portal all ended in failure; however, their discoveries spurred expansionist developments that would forever alter the landscape of North America. In Discovering Nothing, David L. Nicandri maps a cast of geographic visionaries and practical explorers as they promoted or sought a workable commercial route linking the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. The discovery of the legendary northern passage proved elusive, but the equivalent land bridges that were built in the form of two transcontinental railroads changed the futures of Canada and the United States. Drawing from close readings of explorers’ personal journals, Nicandri provides readers a detailed, engaging, and multifaceted investigation into the many players and failed enterprises at the core of this search, beginning in the eighteenth century through to today — and to the unexpected impact of climate change on this fabled passage.

David L. Nicandri's profile page

David Nicandri was executive director of the Washington State Historical Society from 1987 to 2011 and was editor of the society’s journal, Columbia Magazine. He received the Charles Gates Award for the best article in Pacific Northwest Quarterly and the Robert Gray Medal of the Washington State Historical Society. David was awarded honorary doctorates from Gonzaga University, the University of Puget Sound, and the University of Idaho, and was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus by SUNY at Plattsburgh. He also served on the board of trustees of Evergreen State College. David is the author of numerous books, including Captain Cook Rediscovered: Voyaging to the Icy Latitudes.

"Nicandri brings the impressive impact of his intense research to a revisiting of the whole question of the hunt for the Northwest Passage that baffled Cook."

Cook's Log. Vol. 47. No. 4.