South : the story of Shackleton's last expedition, 1914-1917

Max Jones, Dr

Scott's last Antarctic expedition is one of the great adventure stories of the twentieth century. On 1 November 1911, a British team set out on the gruelling 800-mile journey across the coldest and highest continent on Earth to travel to the South Pole. Five men battled through unimaginably harsh conditions only to find the Norwegian flag had been planted at the Pole just weeks before. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, and Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek, starved and frozen to death, only eleven miles from a supply camp. In November 1912, a rescue party discovered their last letters and diaries, which told a story of bravery, hardship, and self-sacrifice that shocked the world. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions and preoccupations of an imperial age. He also shows how heroes are made and manipulated, through a close examination of the unprecedented outpouring of public grief at the news of the death of Scott and his companions. Max Jones uses fascinating new evidence and prevously unseen illustrations to take us back to this remarkable moment in modern history, and tells for the first time the full story of The Last Great Quest. Leer más…

Robert Falcon Scott; Edited With An Introduction And Notes By Max Jones

For anyone interested in the history of the Antarctic, these journals are essential reading. Dolores Geisler's Review here on Amazon beautifully captures the appeal of these fundamental documents and the character of the men involved. And, of course, there are many other excellent sources on not only the Scott expedition, but the Amundsen's side of the race to pole as well. One of my greatest travel experiences was a tour of the Shetland Islands, a short visit to the continent itself, South Georgia and the Falklands. Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton filled the lectures, those three and dozens of others who explored Antarctica. Of all of these, Scott's wonderful prose endures: "We took risks, we knew we took them; things have come out against us, and therefore we have no cause for complaint, but bow to the will of Providence, determined still to do our best to the last [...] Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead bodies must tell the tale, but surely, surely, a great rich country like ours will see that those who are dependent on us are properly provided for." This is a book to savor, to read in small bits of time, perhaps over a month or so. It is incredibly detailed, but its great strength is how it builds to its dramatic climax in small, incremental steps. There are much shorter versions of these events, including some... Leer más…

Joe Simpson, Chris Bonington (Foreword)

Touching the Void is the heart-stopping account of Joe Simpson's terrifying adventure in the Peruvian Andes. He and his climbing partner, Simon, reached the summit of the remote Siula Grande in June 1985. A few days later, Simon staggered into Base Camp, exhausted and frost-bitten, with news that that Joe was dead.What happened to Joe, and how the pair dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted when Simon was forced into the appalling decision to cut the rope, makes not only an epic of survival but a compelling testament of friendship. Leer más…

Hal Marcovitz

-- Biographies of some of the most important explorers the world has known -- Ideal for research or class use -- Written in accessible, easily understood language -- Complements school curriculum. The life of the explorer from Great Britain who strove to chart one of the world's most formidable regions. Leer más…

Roland Huntford; Paul Theroux

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition. Leer más…

Margot Morrell, Stephanie Capparell

Lessons in leadership, based on the leadership principles used by Sir Ernest Shackleton from 1914-1916 to preserve himself and the lives of his crew as they were stranded on an Arctic ice flow. Shows how to apply that kind of strength and endurance to being an effective leader in any field or activity. DLC: Leadership. Leer más…

Cherry-Garrard, Apsley

SUMMARY: "Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has ever been devised," wrote Apsley Cherry-Garrard in a deceptively jaunty introduction to this classic story of bravery and fortitude first published in 1922. The story he relates is of Scott's last expedition to the Antarctic, from its departure from England in 1910 to its arrival in New Zealand in 1913; it is one of the most famous and tragic in the annals of exploration. Driven by an obsession for scientific knowledge, these brave polar explorers embarked on a journey into the unknown, testing their endurance by pushing themselves to the ultimate physical and mental limits as they surveyed the striking and mammoth land that lies far to the south.Cherry-Garrard was himself a member of the expedition that had two goals: to discover as much as was scientifically possible about the terrain and habitat of Antarctica, and to be the first to reach the South Pole. The party was plagued by bad luck, weather conditions of unanticipated ferocity, and the physical deterioration of the party on the last part of the journey. Confronted by the shattering knowledge that Roald Amundsen had reached the South Pole a month before them, Scott's party then had to negotiate the last, heroic part of their journey, a doomed attempt which has entered modern mythology.The Worst Journey in the World is the inside story of this most famous of journeys and is truly one of the best and most moving... Leer más…

Roland Huntford, Robert Falcon Scott, Roald Amundsen

In 1910 Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen set sail for Antarctica, each from his own starting point, and the epic race for the South Pole was on. December 2011 marks the centenary of the conclusion to the last great race of terrestrial discovery. For the first time Scott's unedited diaries run alongside those of both Amundsen and Olav Bjaaland, never before translated into English. Cutting through the welter of controversy to the events at the heart of the story, Huntford weaves the narrative from the protagonists' accounts of their own fate. What emerges is a whole new understanding of what really happened on the ice and the definitive account of the Race for the South Pole. --from publisher description Leer más…

Smith, Michael

One hundred years ago, in March 1909, Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition came home safely. When Scott heard the news, he immediately contacted Tom Crean with the intention of planning his own adventure. And thus the Terra Nova Expedition was born. The remarkable Tom Crean ran away to sea aged fifteen and spent more time in the unexplored Antarctic than Scott or Shackleton, and was one of the few to serve and outlive both. Michael Smith's original biography of this enigmatic figure spawned a Guinness ad, a one-man play that is still touring today and a children's version of the Ice Man which has been chosen as the 'One Book' for literacy groups in Cork and Limerick. Tom's story continues to fascinate people because of his extraordinary feats of survival, his bravery and his dedication to his comrades. At the end of his expedition days, Tom came home to Ireland, married and built a pub, the South Pole Inn, in Annascaul, County Kerry. He was an ordinary man who did incredible things, a modest man who became a hero. An unforgettable story of triumph over unparalleled hardship and deprivation. Leer más…

Alfred Lansing, Elena Grau

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, defined heroism. Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book -- with over 200,000 copies sold -- has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition. Chicago Tribune One of the most gripping, suspenseful, intense stories anyone will ever read. Leer más…

Stapledon, Olaf

Widely regarded as one of the true classics of science fiction, Star Maker is a poetic and deeply philosophical work. The story details the mental journey of an unnamed narrator who is transported not only to other worlds but also other galaxies and parallel universes, until he eventually becomes part of the "cosmic mind." First published in 1937, Olaf Stapledon's descriptions of alien life are a political commentary on human life in the turbulent inter-war years. The book challenges preconceived notions of intelligence and awareness, and ultimately argues for a broadened perspective that would free us from culturally ingrained thought and our inevitable anthropomorphism. This is the first scholarly edition of a book that influenced such writers as C.S. Lewis and Arthur C. Clarke and which Jorge Luis Borges called "a prodigious novel." Leer más…

Alfred Lansing, Elena Grau

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, defined heroism. Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book -- with over 200,000 copies sold -- has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition. Chicago Tribune One of the most gripping, suspenseful, intense stories anyone will ever read. Leer más…

Owen Beattie, John Geiger, Margaret Atwood, O. Beattie, J. Geiger, John Geiger

Re-released to coincide with the discovery of one of the lost Franklin Expedition ships.__Frozen in Time__ tells the dramatic story of how Sir John Franklin’s elite naval forces came within sight of the Northwest Passage, only to succumb to unimaginable horrors. A gripping tale of cannibalism, bureaucratic hubris, great courage and ground-breaking science, it shows how the excavation of three sailors from the 1845–48 Franklin expedition, buried for 138 years on the Arctic headland of Beechey Island, has shed new light on what has been one of the world’s great maritime mysteries. Leer más…

Wilson Mcorist; Foreword By Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Shackleton's Heroes is a genuine treasure of Antarctic history, and an almost unbelievable tale of real heroes who risked themselves for the lives of others. It tells the extraordinary story of how a small party of men, against almost insurmountable obstacles, put down vital food depots on the Great Ice Barrier for Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 - 1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Their efforts to help each other survive comprise some of the most incredible feats of heroism in the history of polar exploration, which until now have been entirely overshadowed by the legendary feat of Shackleton on the other side of the continent after the sinking of the Endurance. The complete story is revealed here for the first time, through the diaries of these forgotten men, written out on the ice and at their base camp. We can experience their pain and suffering through their own words, 100 years after the original expedition began. With a foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Shackleton's Heroes is an adventure story of the highest calibre, told through the voices of the men who completed an almost impossible task in horrific conditions Leer más…

Smith, Prof. Michael

"Mr. Smith, in illuminating this unforgettable figure, brings his own considerable scholarship in the field to the story, in addition to access to new archives." - __The Wall Street Journal__"Shackleton has finally received the literary treatment his legendary life deserves." - __Booklist__An extraordinary character and one of history’s great explorers, Ernest Shackleton pioneered the path to the South Pole over 100 years ago, becoming the dominant figure in Antarctic discovery. His incredible adventures on four expeditions to the Antarctic have captivated generations. But Shackleton was a flawed character whose chaotic private life, marked by romantic affairs, unfulfilled ambitions, and failed business ventures, contrasted with his celebrity status as the leading explorer. Drawing on extensive research of original diaries, letters, and numerous publications, Michael Smith brings a fresh perspective to the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration that was dominated by Shackleton’s enduringly fascinating story. Leer más…

Shackleton, Ernest

In 1914, a party led by veteran explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton sets out to become the first to traverse the continent of Antarctica. Their initial optimism is short-lived, however, as the ice field slowly thickens, encasing the ship Endurance in a death-grip, crushing their craft, and marooning 28 men on a polar ice floe.... In an epic struggle of man versus the elements, Shackleton leads his team on a harrowing quest for survival over some of the most unforgiving terrain in the world. Icy, tempestuous seas full of gargantuan waves, mountainous glaciers and icebergs, unending brutal cold, and ever-looming starvation are their mortal foes as Shackleton and his men struggle to stay alive. What happened to those brave men forever stands as a testament to their strength of will and the power of human endurance. This is their story, as told by the man who led them. Leer más…

Fitzsimons, Peter

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER History comes to life with Peter FitzSimons in the story of Australia's most famous polar explorer and the giants from the heroic age of polar exploration: Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton. Sir Douglas Mawson, born in 1882 and knighted in 1914, remains Australia's greatest Antarctic explorer. On 2 December 1911, his Australasian Antarctic Expedition left Hobart to explore the virgin frozen coastline below Australia, 2000 miles of which had never felt the tread of a human foot. He was on his way to fulfil a national dream he had first conceived three years earlier, while on his first trip to the frozen continent on the Nimrod expedition under the leadership of the charismatic Anglo-Irishman Sir Ernest Shackleton. Even as Mawson and his men were approaching Antarctica, two other famous Antarctic explorers were already engaged in nothing less than a race to become the first men to reach the South Pole. While Roald Amundsen of Norway, with his small team, was racing with dogs along one route, England's legendary Scott of the Antarctic, with his far larger team, was relying primarily on ponies and 'man-hauling' to get there along another. As Mawson and his men make their home on the windiest place on earth and prepare for their own record-breaking treks, with devastating drama to be their constant companion, the stories of Amundsen and Scott similarly play out. With his trademark in-depth research, FitzSimons provides a compelling portrait of these great... Leer más…

Shackleton, Sir Ernest

Paul-Emile Victor, préfacier du présent ouvrage, aime à rappeler que s'il a consacré sa vie à l'exploration des régions polaires, c'est en grande partie pour avoir lu un jour la relation du voyage de Sir Ernest Shackleton à bord de l'Endurance : à ses yeux, aujourd'hui encore, le plus beau récit d'aventures qui ait été publié en ce siècle - rien de moins..." Le célèbre géologue polaire Raymond Priestley résumait ainsi les mérites des trois plus grands explorateurs de l'Antarctique, dessinant à sa façon la silhouette du voyageur polaire idéal : " Comme chef d'expédition, donnez-moi Scott." Pour un raid rapide et efficace, Amundsen..." Mais quand l'adversité vous entoure et vous ne voyez pas d'issue, agenouillez-vous, et priez que l'on vous envoie Shackleton. "" On ne saurait mieux évoquer la personnalité de l'illustre Sir Ernest, dont les voyages sont autant de chroniques de l'impossible. On ne doit pas non plus oublier que l'aventure casse-cou fut tout ensemble un savant d'une rare érudition, un marin hors pair..." et un écrivain qui excelle à conter ses propres aventures. " " " Leer más…