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In November 1910, a ship called Terra Nova left New Zealand on its way south to Antarctica. On board was an international team of explorers led by Robert Falcon Scott, a man determined to be the first to reach the South Pole. A year and a half later, Scott and three members of his team died during a brutal blizzard. Their dream of reaching the Pole first had already been dashed by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, and now on their return trip--slowed by ill health and bad weather--Scott's party found themselves trapped in a tent without sufficient provisions, while the wind howled endlessly outside. Even in his final hours, Scott found the strength to continue the journal he'd started at the beginning of his adventures; the diary was found beside his frozen body.
Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals is the explorer's detailed account of his time in Antarctica. The team's daily progress towards their final goal is recorded in Scott's vivid, personal narrative, as well as his impressions of the harsh conditions, the stark beauty of the tundra, and his own increasingly desperate ambition to beat his rivals to the Pole. Shortly before he died, Scott wrote: "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." Robert Falcon Scott and his men died, but their story lives on in his journals. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
`Review from previous edition ' a damn good read'' Literary Review, November 2005
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Robert Falcon Scott was a GREAT writer,
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This review is from: Journals: Captain Scott's Last Expedition (Paperback)
You have to give credit when credit is due. Even if Robert Falcon Scott made tons of errors while leading the Terra Nova expedition to Antarctica, even if those errors resulted in human loss, boy, what an extraordinary, marvelous writer he was.After reading tons of adventure and exploration book, you tend to appreciate real talent when you encounter it. Robert Falcon Scott was a GREAT writer. This book is about the brutal expedition Scott lead to be the first human being at the South Pole. By now, I guess you all know he came in second to Roal Amundsen by mere weeks, and gave up his life (along with those of his 4 comrades) while trying to get back to Cape Evans. What those poor, frozen, starving and sick human being went through is simply horrific. And Scott's writing more than draw a clear picture of what they experienced. I suggest you read Scott's journals first. Then, if you really want to know WHY they died, you can pick up "The last place on earth" by Roland Huntford, which is another maspiece in it's own right. Scott's book is one of the most poignant work of litterature you can pick up.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Scotts was the greater achievement,
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This review is from: Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals (Paperback)
About halfway through this diary account of the Terra Nova expedition, it becomes clear why Amundsen made it first to the pole ... and why Scott's was the greater achievement. The Norwegians focused completely on getting to the pole and back: no fuss, no elaboration, no scientific spin-offs. Amundsen cared not a whit about paleobotany, the discovery of a new parasite in fish livers or pony psychology. (More to the point, Amundsen kept to dogs.) Scott took an interest in everything, and he was willing to experiment. The diaries brim with accounts of sledging diets, weather balloons, penguin dissections, ice crystal formation, geologic strata and killer whales. He writes of what it is like to be without the sun for four months, of feelings stirred by the aurora australis, and of the colors of ice and sea and sky. He describes camp life and daily routines and the antics of ponies and dogs. And, knowing he has failed in his goal, he speaks movingly of his obligations to his country ... and to science. Among the items dragged to their final camp by three exhausted, half-frozen dying men were 35 pounds of fossils - fossils which would help rewrite geologic history.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed -- But buy it anyway,
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This review is from: Scott's Last Expedition: The Journals (Paperback)
It's really too bad that "Scotts Last Expedition" was heavily edited by Sir J.M. Barrie, the talented author of Peter Pan. We'll never get to read Scott's real diary, which, I suspect, is a good deal more forthcoming on his feelings about Lt. Teddy Evans (his No. 2), Cecil Mears (his dog driver), and perhaps his own flawed self. Still, "Scott's Last Expedition" belongs in every collection on Antarctic exploration, regardless of whether you feel Scott is a hero or a buffoon. An original copy from the 1920s will set you back $300 or more, so this paperback reprint for $10 or so from Amazon isn't a bad deal at all. True, it doesn't look or smell the same, but it still has all of that great source material on diet, clothing, equipment and the officers and crew.
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