The Last Expedition (Vintage Classics) - Softcover

Scott, R. F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099561387 ISBN 13: 9780099561385

Publisher: Vintage Classics, 2013

Synopsis

Includes the British Antarctic track chart and Ponting's glass plate negatives of the photographs that he took while on the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13

Captain Scott's gripping account of his expedition to the South Pole in 1910-12 tell of a journey that was meant to be a voyage of scientific discovery and a heroic exploration of the last unconquered wilderness. Scott's expedition, carried in the Terra Nova, pitted him and his team not only against the elements but also against the Norwegian explorer Amundsen. Ultimately, Scott was beaten by both. The journals are full of incident and drama, courage and endurance, hope and bitter disappointment. These journals were found, along with Scott's body, several months after his death and just 11 miles from base camp and safety.

About this title

Review:

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.

About the Author:

ROBERT FALCON SCOTT was born in 1868. He became a naval cadet at the age of 13 and he was made a full lieutenant in the Royal Navy in 1889. The Royal Geographical Society appointed him to command the National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904. The expedition set sail on the Discovery and reached further south than anyone before. Scott returned to Britain as a national hero. In 1910 Captain Scott organised a second expedition to sail to the Antarctic on board the Terra Nova. On January 17, 1912 the party reached the pole, only to find that they had been beaten by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Scott and his companions died on their march back to safety on March 29, 1912. Eight months later, a search party found the tent, the bodies and Scott's journals. The journals were first published in 1913.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Classics
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0099561387
• ISBN 13: 9780099561385
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 502