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Serving as doctor to the Americans "wintering over" at the South Pole in 1999, Jerri Nielsen made headlines when she discovered a lump in her breast that a self-administered biopsy revealed to be an aggressive, fast-growing cancer. No flights in or out of Antarctica are possible during the continent's long winter, and Nielsen's account of giving herself chemotherapy while she and her fellow "Polies" waited for the weather to break is even more gripping than the news reports at the time. She's candid about her pain and fear; the media battle waged by her embittered ex-husband makes her ordeal even more challenging. Interestingly enough, however, this high drama does not overshadow Nielsen's deeper narrative of a woman who came "to the Ice" seeking new meaning in a life shattered by divorce and estrangement from her children. In the back-to-basics world of Antarctic medicine, with outdated equipment, few supplies, and no assistants, she rediscovered her vocation as a doctor, free from the imperatives of corporate-directed medicine. More importantly, Nielsen found spiritual solace in the world's most extreme environment, where she was "introduced slowly to the notion of giving more than you have and using less than you need ... of knowing that all you really own are your own thoughts." She makes the glories of the Pole so palpable that, by the end, readers will not even be surprised when she signs an e-mail to her family, "from the wonderful Ice." --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Serving as doctor to the Americans "wintering over" at the South Pole in 1999, Jerri Nielsen made headlines when she discovered a lump in her breast that a self-administered biopsy revealed to be an aggressive, fast-growing cancer. No flights in or out of Antarctica are possible during the continent's long winter, and Nielsen's account of giving herself chemotherapy while she and her fellow "Polies" waited for the weather to break is even more gripping than the news reports at the time. She's candid about her pain and fear; the media battle waged by her embittered ex-husband makes her ordeal even more challenging. Interestingly enough, however, this high drama does not overshadow Nielsen's deeper narrative of a woman who came "to the Ice" seeking new meaning in a life shattered by divorce and estrangement from her children. In the back-to-basics world of Antarctic medicine, with outdated equipment, few supplies, and no assistants, she rediscovered her vocation as a doctor, free from the imperatives of corporate-directed medicine. More importantly, Nielsen found spiritual solace in the world's most extreme environment, where she was "introduced slowly to the notion of giving more than you have and using less than you need ... of knowing that all you really own are your own thoughts." She makes the glories of the Pole so palpable that, by the end, readers will not even be surprised when she signs an e-mail to her family, "from the wonderful Ice." --Wendy Smith
Customer Reviews:
Life at the South Pole.......2007-03-05
This book is the story of Dr. Nielsen's time working at the south pole. It is full of anecdotes of everyday events that gave me a feeling for what life must be like in such a remote place.
It reminded me a lot of science fiction and especially Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Robinson has another book on Antarctica that is said to be very similar to Red Mars. It's uncanny how similar Dr. Nielsen's account is to science fiction stories about space colonization.
Maybe the idea of life on the frontier brings out these themes. The difficulty of life makes people work together and abandon some of the petty problems from home. That gives people a new perspective on the culture of their home.
This story also made me consider how psychologically hard cancer must be. Dr. Nielsen says being in Antarctica in some ways made it easier because she didn't have to deal with daily ups and downs as the results of many tests came back. They only had the most basic diagnostic equipment in Antarctica.
Nielsen is honest about her fear of her illness and the pain of being alienated from her kids. Although it's unlikely because of her history of cancer, I hope the powers that be approve her for more work in remote locations.
Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible batttle for Survival at the South Pole.......2007-01-29
The book was worth every penny and it was sent in a timely manner.
Warm and Beautiful, not gruesome........2006-08-04
This book was a fascinating portrait of the American South Pole Station and the people who winter over there. It is rich with details that one would never have thought of, like the difficulty of contacting the outside world when the communications satellite only peeks over the horizon for a brief time each day. All the people at the station are portrayed as exceptional, (maybe eccentric), strong, very human people who survive in part because of the great love and respect with which they treat each other--not to mention a strong sense of humor! Really inspiring. Made me want to go there myself.
Where Life and Death Meet the Ice.......2005-09-19
"Ice Bound" is three stories that come together to create one indelible experience: a woman's struggle and escape from an abusive marriage, a travel adventure to the South Pole, and a life and death fight against cancer. Dr. Jerri Nielsen lived all three of these stories and writes about how they merged into one phenomenal journey.
Some reviewers have been critical of Dr. Nielsen's motives or of the construction of her memoir. I cannot share their criticism-I found Nielsen's story to be an excellent telling of excitement, struggle, self doubt, and near death at the extremes of the Earth. I have lived high above the Arctic Circle; I know the wonder and awe one sees in the ice, the humbling realization that death awaits behind any mundane mishap. Despite this tension, day upon endless day passes beneath skies that are forever light or forever dark, an exotic sameness that captivates but provides little material for a full-length book. If anything, I congratulate Dr. Nielsen and her co-writer, Maryanne Vollers, for being able to relate Nielsen's story in such depth and detail, to have been able to sift through the routineness of life at South Pole Station for enough material to construct an interesting book.
Dr. Nielsen was diagnosed with breast cancer during an Antarctic winter. We cannot blame the victim; Dr. Nielsen did not wish this condition upon herself. She did not want others to risk their lives on her behalf-others made that choice for themselves. Dr. Nielsen could not have stopped them if she had tried. The story of the courage and dedication of others is as important a theme in Dr. Nielsen's experiences as is her own internal fight to overcome loss and despair.
I recommend "Ice Bound" for a very accurate and authentic description of life in polar places. Nothing takes the romance out of extreme places more than a true story well told. I think that her struggle against cancer would have to energize others suffering from the same condition, and I think that her children's alienation from her by a vindictive ex-spouse is a more common story than many may realize.
What Coulda Been Great Turned Out Just Good..........2005-07-31
Dr. Jerri Nielsen's trek to the South Pole would have been filled with danger no matter what...most of the people that head down there must have a few screws loose to want to spend a year in complete darkness, with extremely cold temperatures, only to lose (in part) their social skills, their memories, and their sanity. What makes her story somewhat extraordinary is the fact that as the only trained medical professional 'wintering over' at the South Pole, she diagnosed and was forced to treat her own breast cancer with a small untrained support staff.
The book takes you on the journey of how Nielsen got to the pole - and how she got out, and the factors attributed to both. With mounting frustrations over her estranged family, including her children, and with the US medical system, Nielsen, an adventurer in her mind, took up the opportunity to head down south...way south. What lay there was a network of amazing friends, and a workload of amazing proportions. Even in the cancer-ridden portions of Jerri's story, she often mentions lighthearted evenings and events and the plight of others over her own pain.
My problems with the book? First off I'm not a huge fan of how Nielsen wrote the story. Her tone is somewhat smug, as though she is writing an insiders guide that can only really be understood by her fellow "polies". She re-iterates many times over how special and wonderful it was, and how clueless the rest of the world is, and while I believe the experience was incredible, 160+ pages of exposition about the day-to-day events of the pole isn't necessarily relevant to the tag line of the book "A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival"...it almost feels as though Jerri would have written this book as a memoir for herself had it not been for the international interest in her cancer case. The main interest being her cancer, it is somewhat misleading as to what Jerri actually puts into the book, as though she wants to make sure she acknowledges every person that came across her path while she was there, rather than discuss her cancer case.
My second issue was with the language. At times the medical talk was too intense for the average reader, leaving you drawing blanks. Most of the understanding of Jerri's cancer came from the back and forth e-mails between Nielsen and her cancer specialist Kathy.
Another issue I had was how the book meandered at times with Jerri's dreams and plans for the future. There were some e-mails and long descriptions of what Jerri and other wanted to do that I could hardly be bothered to read them in entirety. I think most people, like myself, would be more interested in the present situation in the story rather than read a two-page letter her brother wrote on sailing his boat into space.
I think altogether I appreciated this book more of a study of Antartica and what it is like to live there (insane by the way) rather than reading it for the sensational story Nielsen promises to divulge in regards to her cancer. I have admiration for what she did, and think it was important for her to acknowledge the media in some way, but I just wasn't totally sold on the actual book itself.
Book Description
Before Sir Ernest Shackleton's exploration of the Antarctic waters in 1914, Captain Roald Amundsen led a courageous team through ice-chocked waters to become the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911. Read the fascinating account of his journey in The South Pole.
"Roald Amundsen planted the Norwegian flag on the South Pole on December 14, 1911: a full month before Robert Falcon Scott arrived onthe same spot. Amundsen's 'The South Pole' is less well-known than his rival's, in part because he is less of a literary stylist, but also, perhaps, because he survived the journey.His book is a riveting first-hand account of a truly professionalexpedition; Amundsen's heroism is understated, but it is heroismnonetheless."
--The Times of London, 23 June 2001
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the spring of 1911 two separate expeditions left their respective camps in Antarctica in a desperate bid to achieve the glory of being first to reach the South Pole: a British party, led by Captain R. F. Scott, and a Norwegian one under Captain Roald Amundsen.
The South Pole,— Amundsen's first-hand account of the expedition,— is a fascinating and highly readable history of the tenacity and perseverance of the age.
"The last of the Vikings," Roald Engebreth Gravning Amundsen was a powerfully built man of over six feet in height, born into a family of merchant sea captains in 1872. In 1903 he navigated the Northwest Passage in a 70-foot fishing boat. Soon afterwards he learned that Ernest Shackleton was setting out on an attempt to reach the South Pole. Shackleton abandoned his quest a mere 97 miles short of the Pole, but Amundsen began preparing his own expedition. Although this was the age of the amateur explorer, Amundsen was a professional: he left little to chance, apprenticed with Inuits, and obsessed over every detail.
On October 18, 1911 Amundsen's party set out from the Bay of Whales, on Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, for their final drive toward the pole. His British counterpart, Robert Falcon Scott, dependent on Siberian ponies rather than on dogs, began his trip three weeks later. While Scott clung fast to the British rule of "No skis, no dogs," Amundsen understood that both were vital to survival. Aided by exceptionally cooperative weather conditions, Amundsen's men passed the point where Shackleton was forced to turn back on December 7, and at approximately 3pm on December 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole, one month before Scott's party would arrive.
A polar masterpiece of history and adventure,
The South Pole is the stunning first-hand account of one of the greatest success stories in the annals of exploration. Most skillfully Amundsen constructs the expedition's character through its personalities
the cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crew
providing insight not only into Amundsen's philosophy of exploration, but into the classical age of polar explorers.
Download Description
World-renowned polar explorer Captain Roald Amundsen's (1872-1928) conversational, candid, and engrossing account of his Norwegian expedition's successful race, first aboard the Fram and then by dogsled, to be the first to reach the South Pole. Setting out from Norway in August, 1910, the Fram arrived in Antarctica in January, 1911. After months of preparation by the members of the expedition operating out of their Bay of Whales base on the Ross Ice Shelf, Amundsen and four of his companions set out for the South Pole on October 20, 1911, with four sledges, each pulled by 13 dogs. On December 14 the five reached their goal, arriving a full month before the rival British expedition led by Captain Robert F. Scott. "I cannot say -though I know it would sound much more effective - that the object of my life was attained. That would be romancing rather too bare-facedly. . . . Of course, there was a festivity in the tent that evening - not that champagne corks were popping and wine flowing - no, we contented ourselves with a little piece of seal meat each, and it tasted well and did us good," Amundsen wrote afterward.
Customer Reviews:
MasterPiece. .......2007-06-07
Wonderful. Strong. Beautiful. It is a great book. You end up thinking that the five hundred pages are not enought. Amundsen is the project management himself. It is a pleasure to read such an adventure in a such complete edition, with all maps, photos, cientific info, etc. Highly recommended.
Disappointed with the Indy Publishing edition........2007-01-16
Don't waste your money on the Indy Publishing edition of this book. No pictures, no maps, no dust jacket. It is no fun to read a full paragraph description by the author of an incident that was recorded with a photograph that is not in the book. A better investment would be the paper back edition.
Amundsen was funny!.......2006-02-22
This book was a lot of fun, in a geeky documentary sort of way.
Amundsen had a dry sense of humor, kind of like Tolkien. You know, polite and proper but every once in a while you can picture an arched eyebrow. Like Gandalf cracking a subtle joke. If you are not paying attention, you will miss it... but if you *are* paying attention, it'll make you chuckle.
I laughed out loud several times when reading this book, which is something I never did when reading other Antarctica books.
So if you are worried about this book being "dry" and "boring", well, did you like Lord of the Rings? If so, Amundsen's writing might "click" with you too.
The Norwegian Method.......2006-02-12
Roald Amundsen's "The South Pole" is a detailed, even exhaustive account of his successful 1910-1912 expedition to the South Pole. Amundsen's expedition was the first to reach the South Pole, after failures by other expeditions.
Amundsen was relentlessly methodical and practical in planning and executing the expedition. He identified a practical method of travel for the long haul to the South Pole from the Antarctic coast: dog sleds and skiis. He and his crew experimented and tested all their equipment and supplies in the Antarctic while patiently waiting for the right weather to travel. In striking contrast to his British competitor, Robert Falcon Scott, Amundsen correctly estimated the amount of food that would be consumed by physically active men operating for weeks in sub-zero temperatures. Amundsen's preparation is so complete that the actual expedition sometimes has all the drama of a weekend fishing trip. Amundsen was apparently a modest man, and it falls to Roland Huntford in an introduction to draw the obvious comparison with the catastrophic failure of the Scott expedition.
Amundsen's account provides all the detail necessary for anyone who might wish to duplicate his feat. Unfortunately, his writing style is very dry and even dedicated students of polar exploration may find finishing this book a long haul.
This book is highly recommended to students of the history of polar travel.
Preparedness Leads To Success.......2003-05-27
In the Foreword, Roland Huntford describes Amundsen's narrative as "all that Scott's is not". How right he is! This a very large book, but nonetheless an easy read. Amundsen relates a fascinating tale of fortune, misfortune, hardship, and ultimately - success. The narrative is detailed, but not overly so. In many places, a dose of humor is weaved in. Complete with numerous photos, maps, and scientific data, this book should be considered one of the great narratives of exploration. The great moral lesson of this tale is that preparedness ultimately leads to success. Is it any wonder that Roald Amundsen and his comrades won the race to the South Pole?
Book Description
The Information Age is OVER -- In business today, it is all about TALENT!
"Smart Is Not Enough
" explains the core issue of 21st century business.
Forget technology - Forget outsourcing TALENT is the #1 challenge in your organization. Whether you're a CEO or an entry level college grad; whether you manage a staff or not,
this book is for you. It can help in career planning, in developing your management strategy, or just help you understand the playing field in business today. Author Alan Guarino explains the full gamut of cutting-edge talent management, from how to
find it,
develop it,
deploy it and
lead it, to his South Pole Theory of "hidden talent" talent as a solution for the shortage of critical talent in the business world of the 21st Century.
The South Pole Theory explains that traditionally, corporations biased their talent searches towards those who performed at the top of their academic classes. Yet, some of the most successful executives and business leaders weren't good students themselves. Grades aren't the only predictor of success in the real business world. This book shares techniques for finding those determined, dedicated go-getters who fall through the cracks when we judge them solely on academics. To compete in business today, top companies need to cultivate every available source of talent. This book shows business leaders how to find and capitalize on this special pool of talent-- the future versions of people like Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinkos, Wayne Huizenga of Blockbuster Video, and many others.
Alan Guarino (Marlboro, NY) is CEO and co-founder of the executive search firm Cornell International. His firm is now owned by Adecco, the largest recruiting company in the world.
Customer Reviews:
SMART IS NOT ENOUGH!.......2007-05-19
Interesting read! Only negative would be that the book offers a relatively high level view from a very experienced practioner's perspective and could use a bit more research data to support contentions.
Average customer rating:
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Antarctica: Or, Two years amongst the ice of the South Pole
Otto Nordenskjold
Manufacturer: Archon Books
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Time Warp Trio: South Pole or Bust (an Egg) (I Can Read Book 3)
Jon Scieszka , and
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ASIN: 0061116408
Release Date: 2007-01-23 |
Book Description
Joe, Fred, and Sam are stranded in Antarctica! They must join Robert Scott on his journey to the South Pole and help his team find the eggs of the emperor penguin. Can the boys survive long enough to get The Book and warp back to Brooklyn?
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- Engaging book on Antarctic research and on the Weddell seal
- Hot read for cold subject
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The Hunter's Breath: On Expedition with the Weddell Seals of the Antartic
Terrie Williams
Manufacturer: M. Evans and Company, Inc.
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This is the story of a dedicated group that goes to Antarctica to study the Weddell seal, the only mammal on earth able to survive year-round in the most extreme Antarctic temperatures.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging book on Antarctic research and on the Weddell seal .......2007-01-14
_The Hunter's Breath_ by Terrie M. Williams is an engaging account of six field seasons the author and seven colleague spent studying the Weddell seal of the Antarctic, where they spent 10 weeks at a time in a camp on the sea ice of McMurdo Sound, off the western coast of Ross Island, situated near openings in the ice where seals could haul out and sun themselves (and in particular pregnant seals could give birth, and raise their pups).
For years scientists had been frustrated in studying the Weddell seal, in particular observing how they feed and behave beneath the ice. The seals operated under many meters of ice, in very deep and very cold waters that were inaccessible to human divers and even submersible robotic probes. In 1997 miniaturized video technology finally caught up with the dreams of Dr. Williams and other researchers. Williams and her colleagues invented a device called a VDAP or Video Data Acquisition Platform, a waterproof device able to withstand tremendous pressure that could house a Sony 8mm video camera connected to a microcomputer. Also connected to the computer were an array of sensors, including devices to measure dive depth, swimming speed, compass bearings, heart rate, water temperature, a hydrophone to record sounds heard and emitted by the seal (seals are very vocal underwater), and a tiny acceleratometer mounted near the seal's tail to record the swing of every flipper stroke. Attached to the seal on a neoprene pad, the devices performed brilliantly.
The device invented, the team selected with great care a suitable study area and camp site. They wanted to find an area containing cracks large enough to allow the seals to breathe and haul out but not so thin or fractured as to be unable to support the weight of the camp.
The team went to great efforts to counter the various dangers posed by Antarctic research, notably frostbite, hypothermia, dehydration, and the sometimes fierce weather. They contended with temperatures as low as -70 degrees Fahrenheit and hurricane-force blizzards called herbies, monstrous storms with driving grit-like ice blown in from the continent in winds between 60 and 75 miles per hour. After three back-to-back herbies and then an actual snowfall the camp site had so much snow that the ice started to bend and the camp started to sink; quick work was required to save the facility.
Their efforts were well worth it, as they accumulated many dozens of hours of footage of seals beneath the ice, mountains of data, and enough results for a slew of scientific papers. You can see some video stills (along with many of the test subject seals, such Ally McSeal, their first test subject seal, Godzilla, the only male they used, and Ms. Zodiac, a lazy seal that spent so much time on the ice sunning herself that they eventually removed her equipment) in beautiful photographs in the book.
Although the trials and tribulations of the researchers were interesting the seals were the stars of the book. A mild-mannered species of phocid seal, Weddell seals are the only year-around mammalian resident on the permanent ice shelf in Antarctica. They survive colder temperatures, dive deeper, and live further south than Antarctica's three other seal species (Ross, Leopard, and crabeater). They are usually nine feet or more in length and average about three and a half feet in width in the middle. Colors range from bluish-black to soft gray and they have whitish spots that are particularly prominent on their upturned bellies when they sun themselves (originally they were called sea leopards). They were first mentioned by Captain James Weddell in a book recounting his Antarctic explorations from 1822-1824 and formally scientifically described a few years later. Though apparently not seriously hunted by sealers, some were killed by Antarctic explorers to provide blubber to burn for heat and to melt snow and ice for drinking water (explorers as a result often appeared dirty in photographs thanks to the oily soot of Weddell blubber) and to feed sled dogs.
Weddell seals are champion divers; only sperm whales and elephant seals can perform as well or better. She compared the dives of these seals to a person running a 10K race on a single breath of air. They can travel up to four miles under solid ice on one breath, can stay submerged up to 82 minutes (a typical dive is 20 minutes), and dive to depths of 1,312 feet.
The seals have huge eyes to enable them to see in the depths, eyes two and a half times the size of a human's, almost the size of a tennis ball. This, along with their keen hearing and whiskers enable to them be excellent hunters of giant Antarctic cod, schools of flittering Antarctic silverfish, and fish dubbed "borks" (_Pagothenia borchgrevinki_), which live just beneath the ice in 27 degree Fahrenheit water.
Every year the seals make an annual trek under miles of solid sea ice to ice cracks in McMurdo Sound to find mates and raise pups, as cracks always open in the ice in certain areas thanks to tidal stresses and ocean currents. Simply getting there is a tremendous feat, requiring unerring navigation and careful calculations of how far they can get on a breath of air; to make a mistake would mean drowning. They make use of every single hole, weak spot, or air pocket they can find to get a breath along the way, covering a distance of 80 miles from the open sea to their final destination (30 miles more than normal thanks to the giant iceberg B-15, 170 mile long and 1000 feet thick iceberg that completely disrupted the annual cycle of sea ice formation, breakup, and dispersal). In addition, their anatomy is adapted to enlarging even the smallest hole in the ice; their large, reinforced canine teeth stick out from their skulls, giving them a bucktooth-appearance but enabling the seals to scrape ice from the sides of holes in a behavior termed reaming.
Hot read for cold subject.......2004-04-16
Dr. Terrie Williams has written an enchanting book about her research and her enthusiasm for the natural world---a world few of us have the chance to experience. The book blends the rigor of her scientific approach with a fine-tuned talent for story telling. If this book were an eye into the harsh world of the Antarctic it would have a twinkle in it.
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- There still are heroes among us.
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With Byrd at the Bottom of the World: The South Pole Expedition of 1928-1930
Norman D. Vaughan
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
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My Life of Adventure
ASIN: 0811719049 |
Customer Reviews:
There still are heroes among us........2005-06-27
While vacationing in Alaska, I picked up this wonderful account of Antartic exploration in the 1920's by Norman Vaughn. It's a graphic description of life in the Antartic that convinced me that men were much tougher back then than they are today. Vaughn even spent time as a "coal stoker" on the ship carrying them to their eventual home for a year. Four hours of the hell he describes in the hold of that ship would reduce most of us to tears. He convinced the captain to allow him to do it, and suffered through it for 20 days, just to "toughen myself for the Antartic."
When I finished the book, I remarked to the innkeeper how much I admired this hero, thinking he was long gone. She replied "Well, that's old Norm. He still lives around here. As a matter of fact he was just on the Leno show."
Yep, he's 99 now, still living in Alaska, and promoting his latest book. I can't wait to read that one.
Amazon.com
British explorer Robert F. Scott spent three years exploring the Antarctic, returning to England a hero in 1904. His ambition was to be the first man to reach the South Pole, and he overcame innumerable obstacles to assemble another expedition, which left in 1910. Scott and three of his men did reach the pole, only to discover that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had been there only five weeks earlier. Slightly more than two months later, Scott and his companions died in their tents, their bodies--and Scott's diaries--found eight months later by a search party. This account of Scott, having followed the explorer from childhood through his naval training and marriage, gives us at the end not only a national symbol but a fully developed tragic hero. Diana Preston commendably ventures beyond the longstanding myth, including material that shows how Scott's decisions and faulty judgements ultimately sealed his fate.
Book Description
On November 12, 1912, a rescue team trekking across Antarctica's Great Ice Barrier finally found what they sought -- the snow-covered tent of the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Inside, they made a grim discovery: Scott's frozen body lay between those of two fellow explorers. They had died just eleven miles from the depot of supplies that might have saved them. The remaining two members of the party were nowhere in sight, but Scott's eloquent diary revealed their nightmarishly similar fate. It is a story that continues to haunt the popular imagination, and which has never been told more grippingly or with greater compassion than in this book.
Customer Reviews:
a second rate book.......2006-01-01
The entire thesis of the book is that Scott's fate was a darn good attempt, despite the result. Unfortunately, Ms. Preston's arguments fall flat. By the end, the reader has but no choice but to deem the mission a failure on a grand scale through Scott's incompetence more than anything else.
Ms. Preston's failed arguments have been summed up by other reviewers well, so I won't rehash all of them, but I will add this. One of the aruguments she tries to use that Scott was a product of his time and that his actions, such as the pseudo-scientific mission, were reasonable given the times. However, she then also tries to justify certain actions, such as man-hauling , by stating that this is now fashionable with modern adventurers. Well, you can't rightly defend him both in and out of historical context. It's cherry picking and it's scholarly dishonest.
Ok, given my criticisms above why then did I give it even two stars. Well, it was fairly well written in the story-telling sense, if not logic. I also think it provided a good look into the British colonial mindset, which Ms. Preston still clings to in a lovely wigged-Parliamentarian manner. So while the thesis of the book is laughable, the book does provide some good, if unintended, entertainment. In other words, I finished it.
Good account of the South Pole expedition.......2005-02-15
Diana Preston was written a concise, good book about Robert Falcon Scott who led a 1910-1913 expedition that reached the South Pole. Scott and his four companions died on the return from the Pole, but left journals that told of their ardous journey right up to the end. Scott lost the race to the Pole to Norwegian explorer Raoud Amundson who beat him by a month but in death Scott became a great English hero nevertheless.
Preston's book is not as good as two others about the expedition. Apsley Cherry-Garrard was with Scott for the expedition, but did not accompany Scott to the Pole. His account, "The Worst Journey in the World" is a classic of travel adventure. Roland Huntford's, "The Last Place on Earth" is a blistering attack on Scott's competence and character along with a favorable account of Amundson.
Was Scott incompetent? Well, Amundson made the 1400 mile plus trek to the Pole and back from his base camp in 99 days, averaging about 15 miles per day. Scott averaged less than 10 miles a day, the short Antarctic summer ended, the weather got worse, and he and his companions died. Amundson made good use of skis and dogs; Scott relied on man-hauling his supplies. The British apparently loved Scott in death because of his amateurism, rather than in spite of it. A timely and tragic death can be enhancing to one's reputation.
Preston is generous with Scott and tells a touching story of Scott's relationship with his ambitious and independent wife.
Smallchief
Scott as Tragic Hero.......2003-01-22
Books on North Polar exploration seem to take a pro-Peary or pro-Cook slant. Even the National Geographic Society pushes Peary's claim, because it also helped fund his expedition. So when a book like Bryce's COOK AND PEARY comes out, saying what many of us believed all along, that both men were unscrupulous liars and neither deserve polar priority, it's a breath of fresh air on the subject. Nevertheless, Bryce also tempers this conclusion by saying both men were skilled in extreme conditions and remarkable real achievements below their belts before they started lying on a big scale and claiming for themselves what they had not achieved. Bryce tries in a valiant book to put an end to the nonsense that if Cook failed, Peary won, and vice-versa.
Books on South Polar exploration must be different. Amundsen reached the pole. It's indisputable. Scott died bringing back the proof that he didn't get priority. Because he reached the pole and -- to the anti-Scotteans, more importantly -- he got back. However, Scott's expedition was not a failure. It was, first and foremost, a scientific expedition; Scott wanted polar priority and probably deserved it (Amundsen wanted the north, denied him by the charlatans Cook and Peary, so he jumped Scott's claim).
Scott's reputation, unlike Amundsen's, has undergone a roller coaster ride for almost a century. First he was made a hero. Then the iconoclasts set in. Roland Huntford's book on Scott and Amundsen was the Big Nail for the anti-Scott forces. To them, Huntford's book is gospel, and to question it is to question reality.
But Huntford, a fine biographer of polar explorers (Nansen, Shackleton), was distintly and unapologetically anti-Scott. And while Scott made errors (the biggest being his modern-minded "diversity" in taking seaman Evans along), his expedition was meticulously planned and employed the latest scientific and techonological advances. Solomon's COLDEST MARCH lays some Scott criticism aside (and since Solomon is a scientist who has actually worked in Antarctica her credentials should carry more weight with the anti-Scotteans than it does). Scott and Amundsen were products of their class and their era, but both also had been on polar adventures before and both men knew what they were up against. Scott is often, these days, portrayed by his detractors (euphemism) as mercurial and indecisive and, in some cases (as in the dramatization of Huntford's book) cruel.
In fact, Scott's polar expedition was a tragedy, in the classic sense as well as the modern. Many events beyond his control led to his death, but decisions he made did go woefully wrong. In any event, it seems, in light of more recent evidence than Huntford's, the whole party would have made it back in most years, but conditions were different on that part of the Antarctic than had been scientifically observed previously. Scott made some bad decisions that led to the tragedy, but it also seems he had a run of bad luck, while Amundsen (and this is not a detraction of him to say so) had a run of good luck. It's ironic that Amundsen left a letter for Scott to take back (and he did) in case Amundsen died, but it proves Amundsen knew that, even with his methods, which seem the "right" ones because he lived, he ran the risk of death in those extreme conditions.
In A FIRST RATE TRAGEDY Preston presents her case clearly and with fairness, and without the judgmentalism that mars Huntford's well-researched and iconoclastic study.
To lighten up some on Scott, folks, does not demean Amundsen's achievements. It's not the silly either/or with the partisans for Cook or Peary. Both Amundsen and Scott could have died (probably should have died) and both might well have made it back alive. There seems to be, in the anti-Scotteans, the fear that if someone treats Scott with a modicum of non-judgmentalism and doesn't bludgeon Scott as a downright fool, it somehow makes denigrates Amundsen. Nonsense. Both men were brave, courageous and intrepid leaders. Their men deserve every bit of praise as being the brave men they were. Scott's expedition was more interested in the scientific end and Amundsen's willy-nilly chase for hte pole was an opportunistis to get the fame to do researches in the north, but the achievements of both neither man, unlike Cook and Peary, need to be given proper appreciation without the need to bludgeon the other.
Preston's A FIRST RATE TRAGEDY is a study of Scott whose time has come.
Great book on the polar adventure.......2002-04-11
This is a great tale of the fateful journey of Mr. Scott to the South Pole and the disaster that became him on the return journey.
Instead of rehashing the story of the book in this review, which other reviewers have already done, it's more interesting to focus on the book itself. I notice that many of those who rate this book poorly seem to do so because the author was too sympathetic to Scott, too hard on Schackelton or Amundsen, or point to other works as superior accounts of this historic tale.
I give this work 5 stars for a couple of reasons. First, she develops the inner psyche of each participant, digging into their personalities, explaining what made them tick and how that caused them to make the decisions that they made. Second, it's obvious a well-researched book. The author continually points out inconsistencies between the participants published (and sanitized) works vs. what they said privately in their journals. Third, the story is balanced. I supposed this is a point that other reviewers disagree on, for what one person calls "balanced" another person calls "biased". She points out what they did right and what they did wrong, not dwelling on either point. People who downgrade this book seem to do so because the author didn't berate Scott more for his mistakes and blunders, of which he made many of. However, I'm interested in history, and not finger pointing. Fourth, it's a great story.
The reading of this book is easy and interesting, and I recommend it.
A First Rate Justification.......2001-11-22
Please read other works of Antarctic exploration before you read this book of fiction promoted as a work of historical research. Read books like Huntford's "The Last Place on Earth", Amundsen's "South Pole", Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World", and from Scott's own diaries "The Diaries of Captain Robert Scott" for reliable information on which to make up your own mind about Scott's expedition. Read these books with a nuanced view, using your critical thinking to come up with your own conclusions. I doubt you will agree with Preston's thesis when you have done so.
In my readings, I have identified 31 separate areas in which Scott's methods were inadequate for safe polar travel as compared to his contemporaries (Amundsen, Peary, Cook, Borchgrevink, Nansen, Shackleton, etc.). Could all 31 areas really have been a matter of bad luck, Ms. Preston? I think not.
If this is the only book you are reading on Antarctic exploration, don't even bother. While she writes a good story, it is just that - a story.
Amazon.com
Actor Michael Palin has managed to keep busy since his days with the British comedy group Monty Python. First, he traveled Around the World in 80 Days while a BBC crew filmed his adventures; in Pole to Pole, Palin once again straps on his old kit bag--this time to traverse the globe from north to south. Accompanied once again by a dauntless film crew, Palin begins in the far, frozen wastes of the Arctic Circle, then passes through 17 countries, including Norway, the former USSR, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, and Chile, before standing at last at the South Pole. Along the way the company is faced with revolution, illness and injury, and not a few bumpy plane rides--occurrences they meet with the obligatory stiff upper lip. Palin also rides in a hot air balloon, acquires a camel, consults a witch doctor, and plunges into the heart of a South African diamond mine, two kilometers beneath the surface of the earth.
These adventures and more are related in Palin's journal entries and illustrated by dozens of color and black-and-white photographs. The best travel stories often chronicle trips no sane person would care to experience herself; in Pole to Pole, Michael Palin has done the suffering for us, leaving readers to enjoy the humor, excitement, and joy of exotic climes from the comfort of our armchairs.
Customer Reviews:
Still Fresh.......2006-09-26
"Pole to Pole" is one of the earlier, and therefore better, of Michael Palin's travel series. It benefits from a definite aim (a journey from the North to the South Pole) rather than being a rather aimless wander.
It also has the advantage of being a record of a world on the edge of huge changes - for example Palin passes through what turned out to be the end of a decaying USSR. Within days of leaving Odessa, the anti-Gorbachev coup took place which hastened the break up of the Soviet Union. Later on Palin's journey took him through Zimbabwe, which from the account in the book had not yet fallen to pieces. On the downside, the Sudan was in civil war at that time, and still is.
This was Palin's second major travel project after "Around the World in 80 Days" and still has a fresh feeling about it. The humour is wry, and Palin does not spare the reader the downside of travelling through the countries he encounters - poor accommodation, constant health worries and so on. In all, an enjoyable read.
G Rodgers
North Pole to South Pole via Africa.......2005-12-28
This review is based on watching the DVD version of "Pole to Pole", the BBC TV program made in 1991 that showed Michael Palin traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole.
The trip was based on several rules. The use of aircraft was only allowed when surface travel was not possible, and public transportation was used as much as possible. The trip attempted to follow the 30 degree east longitude line, down through Scandinavia, the then-existing USSR, Turkey and all the way down through the continent of Africa.
The trip took five months and was quite arduous at times. Transportation was almost non-existent in central Africa, parts of Africa had to be avoided due to civil war and Michael Palin was hit by several health problems including two cracked ribs.
The wonderful thing about Michael Palin's travelogues is the enthusiasm, wit and charm that Mr. Palin shows. There are many impromptu encounters with the local people that are humorous and interesting. And, of course, there's the beautiful photography showing the stunning nature that was found along the way.
On the down side it was depressing to see the poverty and hints of political repression and social unrest in parts of Africa. The AIDS epidemic in Africa was also mentioned, and Michael Palin visited an evacuated village near Chernobyl.
This trip was made in 1991 and already when the trip was over world history had changed the landscape, in that the USSR completely unraveled shortly after Michael Palin traveled through it. The years that have passed since 1991 can be noticed in other ways too. For example, the situation in most of Africa has unfortunately gotten worse rather than better. And Antarctica, almost completely inaccessible in 1991, now has a tourist trade with 23,000 landed tourists during the 2004-2005 season!
The DVD version of this trip consists of three discs. These contain eight 50-minute episodes (total of six hours 40 minutes) and, as extra material, a 30-minute interview with Michael Palin. I found the interview to be very interesting and am glad that it was included.
Highly recommended, as is the book version of this trip and all of Michael Palin's other trips, both in DVD version and as books.
Rennie Petersen
Best of the series.......2004-05-19
This time, avoiding the obvious too-much-time-at-sea problems of "Around the World in 80 days", Palin's team becomes a marvel of light travel and problem-solving in this somewhat dangerous, honest and good-natured tour of 1990 Eastern Europe and Africa. The music's better too. The best of his series, without a doubt, and possibly the best of this genre of travelogue.
They should have called it a day after "80 days"!.......2004-01-04
This is another of those programmes that has, and will be, repeated ad nauseam on UK TV, but why, I can only put down to the popularity of Michael Palin and the fact that there's a lot of air time to fill, so repeats are a cheap alternative to new programmes! Following the success of "Aroung the world in 80 days" they decided to send Palin on another gimmick travelogue on celluloid. Unfortunately, "Pole to Pole" pales by comparison. Although it sets out rather well, when Palin gets to Africa - and there is an awful lot of Africa in "Pole to Pole", things get very dull, and you get the feeling that Palin is also bored by the experience a little too. Once you have crossed the deserts of North Africa, from there down, everything looks pretty much the same. One mud hut looks like another; one smiling black face looks like any other smiling black face; you've seen one elephant and you've seen them all and when the jeeps get stuck in the mud yet again, you can but roll your eyes and look at the clock to see when the net programme begins!
Finally, to cap it all, "Pole" ends with an anticlimax, much as "80 days" did, with Palin not being able to finish his journey at the Reform Club in London. This time, however, Palin is no where near the South Pole, as someone at the BBC did not make sure that the supply boat which only sails once a year from the Cape to the South Pole had room for the expedition team! It just ends with the feeling that there should be one more episode - Palin sits on the dock with his back to the camera and just says something on the lines of "That's all folks". I expected more. I mean, couldn't they have layed on a jet or something, even just to complete the journey. They could have lied, even, and said that he had made the boat aafter all. We wouldn't have minded, would we?
This expedition was poorly planned by the BBC and incompleted as it was, it should not have been aired in the first place!
Palin-esque at it's best.......2003-12-03
This is probably the best of the Palin travel series - excellent and highly recommended. It's a shame it seems to be so difficult to find!
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