I can’t stand when authors self-insert stories about their own lives into non-fiction titles. I know this about myself. Unless there is a very, very good reason, i.e. you were literally an eyewitness to a crucial event or have some inside knowledge no one else on Earth has, I’ll be annoyed by any trace of this in a non-fiction title.

However…

The self-inserts here weren’t too bad. In fact, they were usually quite funny, and if they never really added anything to the non-fiction narrative, they did entertain and remained brief enough to be inoffensive.

This was an informative book, although its subject, literally the ship HMS Erebus means it includes lots of detail unrelated to the infamous Franklin Expedition. Readers wanting books mainly about this subject would be better served with other titles. But anyone with a more general interest couldn’t go wrong with this volume.