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.

James West Davidson's profile page

John Rugge's profile page

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.

“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

“What does it feel like to starve to death? You wouldn’t expect a victim to write a detailed account of the experience, but such was the indomitable character of Leonida Hubbard. Though stranded in a merciless wilderness, he recorded his impressions to the very end. The story of his astonishing adventure is … a narrative that combines the grace of fiction with the power of history …. In a suspenseful narrative style Great Heart captures the excitement of bold trekking into the unknown … These people were extraordinary individuals … dramatizing it all is the untamed magnificence of Labrador … the legacy of these adventures is an amazing tale—a campfire story well told.” Peter M. Leschak, New York Times Book Review

“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

“Davidson and Rugge are known and admired by many as authors of the enduringly valuable The Complete Wilderness Paddler. Now they have another book, this one a narrative of one of the great, if not forgotten, wilderness epics. They have, remarkably, mastered another form of writing and told a story that is just about irresistible. All this might have been lost if the author had not recovered the documents, retraced the routes, and spent years putting together this first-rate book, one of the best of its kind in many years.” Outside

“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

“The story surprises and delights. The book is a solid joy.” Annie Dillard, author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

“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