Antarctica: First Hand Accounts of Exploration and Endurance

Bitter cold. Fast whipping winds. Blinding blizzards. That's the general weather forecast for the better part of Antarctica. The world's most southern point is nothing but a vast sheet of ice; yet, explorers are drawn to its barren beauty. Antarctica: Firsthand Accounts of Exploration and Endurance is a journey to the "highest, driest, windiest, coldest and most remote" of the seven continents.

Edited by Charles Neider, Antarctica is a fascinating collection of vivid tales from the journals of 14 explorers including James Cook, Robert F. Scott, and Richard E. Byrd. This anthology of first-hand accounts of the days and months of the great explorers, including those moments when the survival of the entire expedition was in doubt. With an average temperate of 57° below zero, these brave and articulate men weave tales of the harsh conditions and the amazing battles against Mother Nature. For example, Robert Falcon Scott would march/ski for twelve-hour stretches in the blinding snow across this ice continent. During one such outing, a blizzard engulfed the party, and a crewmember was lost. They found him a few miles back, stripped of clothing, and raving mad.

Available for the first time in paperback, Antarctica is a thrilling tribute to the limitless ambition and pioneering spirit of man.

Novelist, editor, Mark Twain scholar, and Antarctic explorer, Charles Neider has edited The Fabulous Insects: Essays by the Foremost Nature Writers, Man Against Nature, and Great Shipwrecks and Castaways . He is also the author of Edge of the World: Ross Island, Antarctica. He lives in Princeton, NJ.