The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice - Hardcover

Jones, Max

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192804839 ISBN 13: 9780192804839

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Many have told the story of Sir Robert Scott's dramatic and, ultimately, tragic race to the South Pole. But in The Last Great Quest, Max Jones adds a new dimension to the story by probing the nature of heroism in modern Britain as reflected in the strengths and weaknesses of Scott himself. In particular, he charts the cultural reverberations of Scott's death and sacrifice on the eve of the greatest slaughter in British history--the First World War.
A dramatic opening leads to a compelling examination of the British traditions of exploration, the scientific ambitions of the expedition, the "race to the South Pole," and the disaster itself. Jones argues that Scott's death was a pivotal moment in British history, and central to this is his extraordinary journal--the ultimate expression of self-control and heroism in the face of death--which was immensely popular in the years before the war. This important and challenging interpretation of Scott's life and death re-evaluates the man and his sacrifice. Indeed, Jones shows that the story of Scott of the Antarctic is a key to understanding modern British history, connecting Scott with Dr. Livingstone, the Titanic disaster, and the ascent of Everest. In particular, Scott's story helps us to fathom the generation who fought and died in the Great War.
The most important new contribution to our knowledge of this compelling story in nearly 25 years, and the first account that sets the story in a wider historical context, The Last Great Quest brims with original conclusions that are based on previously unavailable evidence.

About this title

About the Author:

Max Jones is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester . He has published various articles on Scott, and was the "talking head" for A&E's documentary on Shackelton.

From Publishers Weekly:

In an earnest attempt to add a compelling new dimension to the story of Capt. Robert F. Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1911, Jones, a University of Manchester lecturer, instead becomes bogged down in miscellany. Scott and his team's deaths on the frigid Antarctic expanse as they made the 800-mile journey back to their ship after discovering they'd been beaten to the Pole by Roald Amundsen almost a month earlier has proven rich book fodder over the last 92 years. Jones eschews straight biography or adventure narrative to provide what he sees as a needed cultural context for Scott's voyage and its aftermath. He writes, "The legendary figures who first ventured into the unknown remain impenetrable, unless we apprehend the world which made them." To recreate that world, Jones begins with a detailed history of the establishment of the Royal Geographic Society, sponsor of many of the great British explorers, and concludes with an examination of British heroes in the first part of the 20th century, connecting Scott to Dr. Livingstone and Robert Peary. In between, the book makes thorough examinations of such disparate and seemingly irrelevant topics as the raising of money for and the erection of monuments to Scott and his party, and the fierce public debate over the admission of women to the RGS. The result, unfortunately, is a jumble. Jones has done some admirable research of primary sources, but he lacks the organizational acuity to make this a convincing book. 60 photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0192804839
• ISBN 13: 9780192804839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400