Emperors of the Ice (Paperback)

The 'Winter Journey' of 1911 is at one level merely a fascinating lost chapter in the history of Antarctic science, but it turns out to be a key that unlocks the real meaning of one of the most mythologized and misunderstood episodes in British history, Scott's alleged "race to the Pole". It's also one of the greatest survival epics of all time.  In the Antarctic Winter of 1911, while waiting to assist Robert Falcon Scott in his bid for the South Pole, three extraordinary men decided to amuse themselves with a side-expedition. The point was to test s new twist on Darwinian evolution by collecting and studying the incubating eggs of the Emperor penguin. They set out into the perpetual winter dark hauling two wooden sleds with a combined weight of over 700 lb. It would only take a week, but Everything went wrong Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard has always dreamt of becoming an explorer. So in the spring of 1910, when Captain Robert Falcon Scott offers young 'Cherry' the position of Assistant Zoologist aboard the Terra Nova, Cherry considers himself the luckiest man alive. Cherry's luck, however, will soon change. Far off in the icy unknown of Antarctica, where temperatures plummet below -77[degrees]F, exploration is synonymous with a struggle for life. Frostbite, scurvy, hidden ice chasms, and packs of hungry killer whales are very real dangers. But even these perils don't prepare Cherry for the expedition he and two other crew members embark upon to collect the eggs of Emperor penguins. Along the way, he will face the elements head-on, risking life and limb in the name of science. Rife with captivating details of survival in an icy wilderness, and illustrated with dozens of photographs from the actual journey, this re imagining of the famous 1910 expedition to the South Pole, told in Cherry's voice, is an unforgettable tale of courage and camaraderie.