The Home of the Blizzard: A Heroic Tale of Antarctic Exploration and Survival

In The Home of the Blizzard, Sir Douglas Mawson records his historic expedition to explore uncharted land in Antarctica. Pitted against formidable natural forces, he and his team faced unrelenting winds with speeds of up to two hundred miles per hour as well as freezing temperatures and day-long blizzards. They traversed the previously unexplored King George V Land directly south of Australia and collected geological samples and magnetic readings. After accident and illness led to the death of his two teammates, a starving and frostbitten Mawson finished one hundred miles of the return journey alone.

Mawson kept a detailed journal of his expedition, reprinted here in the popular abridged version from 1930. He puts the reader at the cold, windy scene with vivid descriptions of the men and their sled dogs persevering over rough terrain. Mawson's thoughts upon losing his colleague Lt. Belgrave Ninnis in a deep, snow-covered crevasse in a glacier or while dangling from his own sled in another crevasse while alone and near death convey the dual excitement and danger that accompany his unique expedition. Readers will be swept up in Sir Douglas Mawson's amazing and historic adventures. The over 300 accompanying photographs taken during the Antarctic trip paint a vivid picture of that harsh and extraordinary land.

Sir Douglas Mawson was an Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer born in 1882. In 1909, he was among the first party to reach the Magnetic South Pole as a member of Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod Expedition. He manned his own expedition to Antarctica in 1911. He died in 1958 and was given a state funeral in Australia, where he was a national hero.