Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford, Paul Theroux ISBN: 0-375-75474-1 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 17 August, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.52 (62 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Amundsen x Scott
Comment: Between December 1911 and January 1912, two expeditions reached the South Pole, the last unexplored place on the surface of the planet. Amundsen, the competent norwegian leader, reached the pole and came back to tell his story; Scott, the controversial british leader, reached the pole but could not come back, and died in the middle of the frozen continent. Amundsen's feat is one of the greatest and cleanest of all human history; Scott's tragic outcome became matter of legend.
Human nature and humanity's predilection for heroic (even if useless) accomplishments made Scott widely known, and made Amundsen a bitter old man unitl his death (surprise!: Amundsen's death, years after he reached the pole, was also kind of heroic and widely useless). When Huntford wrote this book (back in the seventies, if I'm not mistaken), Scott was the hero and Amundsen was "that norseman that went to the Pole".
Huntford's is one of the first books to elevate Amundsen to his real and deserved status. Through almost 30 chapters and more than 600 pages, Huntford compares Amundsen and Scott, not only their polar expeditions, but also their background lives in respective countries, past influences, exploration techniques, people they were related to, and much more. From the beginning, using a compelling writing style (academic but never boring or slow) Huntford paints Scott like a buffoon, a pitiable character driven by dreams of glory and power. Maybe Scott was not as bad as Huntford thinks, and maybe Amundsen was not as godlike as well; the reader has to absorb the huge amount of information about the expeditions contained in this book, and decide for himself if he completely believes the biographical information about Scott and Amundsen. Even so, this book is not for readers with a small capacity and willingness for changing his thoughts about Amundsen and Scott. And, no doubt, Scott's admirers will never go past page 100.
This book could be a "Grade:10" if there were photographs of the expeditions included.
To complement Huntford's book I would suggest Cherry-Garrard's "The worst journey in the world", a great account on Scott's side of the exploration. I said "complement" and not "oppose". If you read both books, you'll know what I mean.
Grade 9.3/10
Rating: 4
Summary: A great read despite the anti-Scott bias
Comment: After reading books on Shackleton and the Endurance expedition, I read this book as it was supposed to be the definitive work on the race to the South Pole. I was not disappointed. It is an impressively researched book that educates and entertains simultaneously; a truly fascinating story. Huntford's treatment of Scott is, however, overtly biased. Chapter after chapter, the author juxtaposes the methods, preparation, and planning of the two explorers; Amundsen and Scott. This alone is enough to compel the conclusion that Amundsen deserved his victory, and that Scott was a bumbling leader, not suited for such a monumental undertaking. As such, Huntford need not constantly remind the reader that Scott was incompetent. It was evident enough.
Even though Scott's ignorance caused the death of his entire polar party, it is difficult not to be moved by the effort they made, and the manner by which they faced death. Yet Huntford, attempting to remove Scott from the realm of martyrdom, remains entirely unsympathetic. It is but one criticism in what is otherwise a fantastic book.
Rating: 5
Summary: No hero-worship
Comment: In the winter of 1911-12, a British naval expedition under the command of Robert Falcon Scott set out to reach the South Pole, but were beaten to it by 5 Norwegians and their dogs.
Roland Huntford's account of this neck-and-neck race through the Antarctic stands out from others in that it gives a complete picture of both British and Norwegian teams, the men leading them, the men following, and the political, nationalistic, scientific, & emotional motives driving both expeditions. This has resulted in a controversial book, because the parallel accounts naturally lead to comparisons, as Huntford explores the question of why the Norwegians succeeded while the British were hampered with delays, shortages, and finally, disaster. He lays the blame at Scott's door, citing evidence of faulty planning & leadership, and comparing it to that of the more experienced Roald Amundsen.
This could be dry stuff for reading, but it isn't. I can open any part of this book and be intstantly drawn into Huntford's narrative--his energetic character sketches, "gentlemen's disagreements", snatches of diaries and letters, diets of the rival camps, scientifically detailed descriptions of the terrain, and all the physical discomfort that comes with sledging for hours in winds of -30 degrees C. It is a scientific rather than heroic account, tracking the teams over glaciers and through nightmarish mazes of crevasses to the accompaniment of sextant and altitude readings.
Scott loyalists will not like this book, as Huntford ruthlessly points up the errors in judgement that led to the death of Scott's party 11 miles short of the main food depot, and shows little reverence for this long-revered British hero. One certainly detects an anti-Scott bias, and in some places I thought Huntford's interpretations of Scott's actions may not have been fair. However, the real damage lies in Scott's own words: "...In future food must be worked so that we do not run so short if the weather fails us. We mustn't get into a hole like this again..."
Told from several viewpoints on both sides, this is so far the most three-dimensional history of the race to the South Pole I've encountered, and the most arresting.
 |
Title: The South Pole by Roald E. Amundsen, Roland Huntford, Captain Roald Amundsen ISBN: 0815411278 Publisher: Cooper Square Press Pub. Date: January, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Shackleton by Roland Huntford ISBN: 0786705442 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
 |
Title:Last Place on Earth ASIN: B00005J74R Publisher: Bfs Entertainment & Multimedia Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $59.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $53.98 |
 |
Title: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing ISBN: 078670621X Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: April, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Farthest North by Fridjtof Nansen, Roland Huntford ISBN: 0375754725 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 17 August, 1999 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
