Race to the End: Scott, Amundsen and the South Pole

Race to the End: Scott, Amundsen and the South Pole

by RossD.E.MacPhee (Author)

Synopsis

Race to the End is the gripping true story of the race to the South Pole. A century ago England's Robert Falcon Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen -- two explorers with vastly different visions -- set out separately for the South Pole. The race between the two resulted in grand heroism, bitter tragedy, and the birth and perpetuation of myths that have lingered for generations. The book recaptures each team's trek to Antarctica, and on to the South Pole -- a journey through Earth's harshest, most unforgiving terrain. Ross MacPhee's piercing insight and keen storytelling illuminates not only the natural, biological, and scientific detail, but also the human and emotional motivation. He helps answer the philosophical question asked of every person who undertakes a dangerous and epic exploration: why did they do it? The highly illustrated pages feature diary entries, letters from members of the exploration teams, drawings, paintings, and photographs of the landscape, living quarters, equipment, and methods of transport. Images of the last items discovered with Scott and his four mates, who perished upon their return from the South Pole mere miles from the warmth and safety of their base camp, are published here for the first time.

$13.51

Save:$13.25 (50%)

Quantity

2 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 286
Publisher: Natural History Museum
Published: 15 Sep 2011

ISBN 10: 0565092715
ISBN 13: 9780565092719

Media Reviews
...a thoughtful, refreshing and thankfully well-balanced, first-rate account that engages from the first sentence. MacPhee provides as close a perfect retelling of the two fabled expeditions as one could possibly hope for... Michael H. Rosove, Polar Record
Author Bio
Ross MacPhee is an evolutionary biologist and Curator of Mammals at the American Museum of Natural History, where he curated the forthcoming Race to the End of the Earth exhibition due to open in May 2010. He has conducted fieldwork in both polar regions and is currently searching for fossils of ancient mammals on islands in the northern Weddell Sea. He is the editor of a number of books and has had more than 100 papers published in scientific journals. He has been involved in several television documentaries, including What Killed the Megabeasts? for Channel 4.