2 comments about Antarctica Travel Map.

1. If you're going to the White Continent or just a fan, this map gives an excellent, detailed picture of Antarctica. All the major landing spots are covered, & it gives an overview of the wildlife & where they're found. This map was handy when my husband & I planned our trip to the Antarctic peninsula, which we chronicle in our DVD "T&T's Real Travels in Antarctica" available on amazon.com.



2. Our daughter went to Antarctica as part of a research group, and because she is 16, my wife and I were quite anxious to follow the trip. This map proved to be excellent and exceedingly useful to us. It had all the features we needed without being cluttered excess detail. We followed her trip and I only had to access the Web once to locate where they were (and that was because they used an out of date name for their location). Our daughter also had a copy and found it useful on the trip. I would not hesitate to recommend this map to anyone.

5 comments about The Worst Journey in the World.

1. If you watch films like "The yourney of the penguins" you get not the slightest idea how brutally hostile for humans the environment of the South Pole is. If you read "The Worst Yourney In The World", you do. The book is a detailed description of the whole Scott Expedition, complete whith descriptions of packing lists, frostbite, snowblindness, awful food, recalcitrant ponys, and heroic English gentlemen. But the unpoetic language is exactly what makes the book such a worthwile read: The description is written in simple, honest words, that it gets your own imagination going. It reaches its climax with the Winter Yourney, where a small goup of men undertook a journey that was painful and horrific to a downright ridiculous extend, just to get their hands on some penguin eggs. Any romantic exaggeration would have destroyed the impact of this event in the readers mind, it is the simple, honest, sometimes even technial language that transforms this event into a classic tale. The character and the Winter Journey live on in literature, for example in Thomas Pynchons "V". The stuff of legends, on of my alltime favourites.



2. Cherry-Garrard is a literate,educated man, writing his experiences as well as including the memories, and journals of the other expedition members. Interesting how this young man of means who is accustomed to comfortable living,could endure such extreme hardship without complaint. The hardship and adventure begins with the terrible storm experienced on the ship from New Zealand to Antarctica. The description of this ordeal grabs hold and they haven't yet reached the Southern continent. The first year on the ice and the sledge trip during the winter months is gripping.
   
   A compelling aspect is the matter of fact descriptions of the unbelievable [to us] hardship and daily rigors of living, sledging, carrying out scientific experiments, etc., in -20 to -70 degrees. Wind conditions that regularly must have sent wind chill factors [they never recorded such a thing] to -80 to -100 degrees,and the physical exertion. They regularly experience frost bite, hunger, occasional ptomaine from spoiled food, symptoms of Dysentary, and scurvy. Yet, they are able to recover. They never lose their spirit and comeraderie.
   Until discovering the Pole parties' bodies the following year, Cherry-Garrard writes of his contentment and pride in being a member of this expedition.
   In the subsequent years, until he writes the book in 1922, he becomes guilt ridden as to whether he and the other survivors could have reached and saved Scott before they died,[it seems apparent they could not have reached them. [In fact, rescueres would probably have died in an attempt]. It's impossible to imagine living in such conditions for 3 years. Constant cold, diet of seal, penguin, sometimes dog and horse, blubber, biscuit, and tea. Occasionally, chocolate, butter and sugar as a treat.
   I agree with other reviewers that there is redundancy and repetition but I found it interesting to read how different members experienced the same events.
   I thought from reading other books that Scott was somewhat naive and a dreamer when it came to planning and preparing for this expedition. I now feel differently. Scott prepared and planned diligently. He was well liked and respected by his men, in general, he was a strong leader. A terrible mistake was deciding at the last supply depot, to take 5 men on the final push to the Pole rather than the 4 which was the original plan. The 5th man, for which they did not have adequate supplies and the physical collapse of one member after reaching the Pole, probably cost them their lives.
   Reading of a group of men living for years in these conditions, survival aways in doubt, out of touch with the rest of the world, gives perspective and toleration for what we think are trying experiences today. Early explorers are compared to to our astronauts. However,when one considers that communication is constant with space travelers. These men left and were never heard from again until they returned, if they did return, years later.



3. i had been meaning to read this book for ages and when i started it i could not put it down.....what a read. thank you Amazon and keep up the good work.. yours Fintan.



4. The Worst Journey in the World (purchased on 04/05/2008)
   by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
   
   This order has NOT been received. Please advise as what has happened to it.



5. You will NOT be sorry to embark upon this wonderfully written, dramatic, brave and heartbreaking story by a man who survived infinitely more than you and I ever will. With typical English stoicism, but with a beautiful and compassionate effort, he tried to understand Scott and all the others who travelled with him.
   And when you're finished, read "Cherry", an authorized biography by Sara Wheeler for more of his life and times.
   And sit by your warm fireplace...

1 comments about Slicing the Silence: Voyaging to Antarctica.

1. 
   Griffiths opens his book: "To voyage towards Antarctica is to go beyond the boundary of one's biology towards a frightening and simplifying purity. [You need warmth and food, and stories.] Stories are privileged carriers of truth. Truth ... cannot easily be stated explicitly. It is not to be found in a chronicle of facts ... Story creates an atmosphere in which truth becomes discernible as a pattern."
   
   Griffiths layers his account with stories, for example, quoting Ursula le Guin, who argues that Scott's "real heroism" lay in "what he made of his failure", his rendering of a needless sacrifice in virtuoso prose. Scott knew the power of story-telling, as he lay dying in his tent, writing copious letters and notes. "In the elemental purity of the ice, in the white noise of the enshrouding blizzard, the written word assumed extraordinary power."
   
   The book's structure is based on pages in Griffiths' Antarctic diary when he sailed to Antarctica as a guest of the Australian Antarctic Division. Each chapter can be read as a stand alone essay, and each essay is an excellent summary of its topic. These are adventure stories, but contain a great deal of analysis as well.
   
   The first six chapters review the history of the Antarctic up to the International Geophysical Year of 1957/58. It is concise but comprehensive. There are chapters on living in the Antarctic, comparing the heroic era and with the modern. There is an excellent exploration of the issue of food and entertainment and the closing chapter discusses the role of tourists. [I was one of about 30,000 tourists who visited in 2004.]
   
   The background literature is outstanding and extensive and explores literature not usually found in debates on Antarctic. There's an Australian bias to the book, of course, but that adds an interesting point of view. Australia claims 40% of the continent and has taken steps to make that portion "Australian" to reinforce its legal claims.
   
   The book is compelling reading, and very well-produced.

2 comments about Wondrous Cold: An Antarctic Journey.

1. I was fortunate enough to have worked a bit with Joan when she was in Antarctica, as part of the National Science Foundation's, Writers and Artists Program. This wonderful book captures the beauty and majesty of Antarctica like no other. In her many travels to and around the Antarctic, Joan was given opportunities and access to areas that are rarely seen by anyone, let alone the many scientists and researchers that work in Antarctica. You will be immensley pleased with this book and through it become more aware of Antarctica, its history and beauty.



2. Although this is a "coffee table" style book, and the pictures are excellent, its stated goal was to review the interaction of humans with Antarctica, and it does this exceedingly well. Ms. Myers insights and her expressions of the feelings of being on this beautiful continent are excellent. Study the photos well, but read the text thoroughly. By all means, get this book if you have any interest in Antarctica.

2 comments about Spirit of Endurance: The True Story of the Shackleton Expedition to the Antarctic.

1. The current polar explorer Ann Bancroft said she was first inspired to visit Antarctica after the breathtaking pictures and reports of Shackleton's attempts to cross that continent. As she attempts to become part of the first women's team to traverse Antarctica she is passing by Shackleton's Glacier and must be remembering his team and their efforts. The actual photographs of Shackleton's ship in the book Spirit of Endurance and the reproduction paintings of each adventure and challenge they faced draw the reader into the tale. Students are fascinated by the hardships the men encountered and endured. The decision regarding the fate of their sled dogs was as heartbreaking to the reader as it must have been to the men of Endurance. The remarkable heroism and perseverence of Shackleton and his crew is an inspiration to the adventurers in all of us.



2. After reading Alfred Lancing's book of almost the same name (see the previous review), I had an irresistible desire to learn more about the heroic adventures of this Antarctic explorer. For anybody else suffering from Shackleton Fever -- this book is a good choice. Written in association with the American Museum of Natural History, this beautiful volume chronicles the whole expedition in glorious detail and contains dozens of magnificent reproductions of Hurley's original expedition photographs. To reach this book, the plates traveled a long and perilous journey, rescued from shipwreck, dragged across ice flows, through lifeboats, sometimes buried in the snow, or cached in special locations, carefully soldered together to keep out moisture. Frank Hurley was a talented photographer, and his detailed photos give a new dimension to an already engrossing story. Ms. Alexander's account is more detached than that of Lancing -- appropriate for a documentary work. The change in emphasis brings in new details that made the epic even more exciting the second time, and the professionalism of her writing made the book a pleasure to read.
   
   -- Auralgo

4 comments about Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition : The Voyage of the Nimrod.

1. Everyone has heard about Ernest Shackleton's remarkable Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, when his ship Endurance was crushed in the ice and Shackleton made his epic open-boat journey to South Georgia to help rescue his men. What most people don't know was that the first expedition Shackleton led to the Antarctic was every bit as full of derring-do and death-defying moments as his later one. Moreover, historically it was much more significant than his other ventures.
   
   "Nimrod" is the story of that first expedition, when Shackleton, with no official support and pulling everything together on a wing and a prayer, led a small group of inexperienced men to the Antarctic. This party overcame numerous challenges to accomplish remarkable achievements, including making the first ascent of the great volcano Mount Erebus, being the first men to reach the South Magnetic Pole, discovering and ascending what was the largest known glacier in the world, being the first to reach the heart of the Antarctic plateau, and shattering the record for the farthest south ever reached, by coming to within 97 miles of the South Pole. But each sledging party that went out from base camp almost ended in death and disaster, and it is part of the enthralling telling of this tale that trouble builds upon trouble until only hardihood, courage, and a great deal of luck could pull Shackleton and his comrades out of the fire.
   
   This book is a model of what history can be at its best: a masterful combination of scholarly research and compelling dramatic narrative that keeps one desperately reading throughout the night in order to find out what happens next. Riffenburgh has an obvious delight in the delicious details and inter-connections of history, and he knows how to mix a bizarre collection of eccentric characters and curious settings with lavishly descriptive accounts enriched by a healthy dose of suspense, humor, pathos, and gossip.
   
   One of the major weaknesses of virtually all of the accounts of polar exploration published in recent years is that they have made no effort to put the myriad of ventures to the snow and ice into their place in history. Why were people so interested in the Antarctic as to be willing to put their lives on the line to explore it? What relation did it have to the imperial mindset dominant a century ago. How was it related to the exploration of Africa or the mountainous centre of Asia? This is the first tale of an expedition to look beyond the events of one trip and to answer all of these questions. It gives the rare but incredibly valuable insight into not only what happened by why, and it allows one to see polar exploration finally put into its historical context. One finishes "Nimrod" having been not only immensely entertained, but enlightened.
   
   This is a book that, in its vivid detail, the energetic manner of its telling, and its insights into history, brings scholarship and engrossing writing into one. It is easy to suspect that Alan Moorehead, Peter Hopkirk, or Simon Winchester would be proud to have written it.



2. Today you can look at what's going on at the South Pole by simply pointing your browser at: www.phys.unsw.edu.au/southpolediaries/webcam.html. It's hard to imagine that in 1908 Shackleton went through so much trouble trying to get there and not making it. I look at the pictures of him using pony's to pull sledges. And his boat, the Nimrod, with her sails set; you almost want to say, "are you kidding."
   
   There is a lot of discussion in this book about the conflict between Shackleton and Scott. It has been said that if you really wanted to get somewhere on an expedition, you should go with Scott. But if you're priority was more on getting home alive, go with Shackleton. This was, I think never so evident as in Shackleton's next voyage in the Endurance.
   
   This book focuses on the voyage of the Nimrod, as it says in the sub-title, but it is more than that. The insight Mr. Rifenburgh shown in his understanding of the people, the way he brings them to life with good story telling and his grasp of the overall view of the explorations make this book an absolute delight.



3. After reading this book I unexpectedbly became an Ernest Shackleton and Antarctic exploration fan. Next I read The Lost Men and am reading Endurance. This is a thorough history that reads like an adventure novel. Highly recommended!



4. I have a bookshelf that groans under the weight of tomes about Antarctica. No one has forgotten the Nimrod Expedition that knows anything about the "Heroic Era", so I found the title to be at least presumptuous. So let's get to the critique: Riffenburgh at first concentrates on the historical context, the post-Victorian Edwardian Era of the UK, which was gratifying. I didn't know that the Presbyterian elite that ruled Ireland were called "the Pale". From that I assumed the origin of the expression "beyond the pale". Purely a synthesis on my part. After that, I was happy to hear about the comparatively numerous encounters with orcas on the sea ice. Previously I'd only heard about photographer Ponting's "close call" on the ice floes. I submit that they were only curious, having never seen humans before. It was clear from the narrative the killer's engaged in much "periscoping", hauling their upper bodies out of the water and "scoping out" these weird new things. Since there has never been a documented account of killer whales - in the wild -attacking a human being, I prefer to believe these early 20th century types assumed a nefarious motive on the whales' part where perhaps none existed. Now that we know far more about them I suspect the explorer's worries were overblown. In an orca's case, I'm pretty sure they didn't think these guys were seals. In other news, killer whales exist in Antarctica. That would make them pole-to-pole mammalian predators. If I was them, maybe I'd want to knock one of these boys into the water so I could echo-sound 'em with my primary sensor. Just my theory. The author addresses, but doesn't dwell on, the misery that is man-hauling. That was fine with me, I'd already been through it in previous books. For all that, caloric requirements, cold's effect on the human body, read "Race for the Pole" by Ranulph Fiennes. To really wallow in it, read Roland Huntford's stuff. When I started reading on this subject the pickings were pretty thin (early 90's). Now, I can't keep up with the books being written. Perhaps that's the Discovery Channel, and Nature Channel, March of the Penguins, etc ad infinitum. Now, what I want to see is an effort to recover the tracked vehicle that sank through the ice in the bay - it's only 600 feet deep. Bring that thing up. It seems that the Scott and Shackleton expeditions resulted in the first caterpillar-tracked vehicle ever invented. The author adds a few bits of new knowledge while thankfully avoiding as much as possible well-trodden ground. I was primed for more Scott-bashing; he avoids it though I sensed he wanted to. Read this simply to add to your knowledge, if such is your bent, about Antarctic exploration. To know everything that's been written about it requires this; synthesize your own opinions only after your own bookshelf is filled with this research, done for you at minimal cost, and for that, my hat is off to this author and the rest. BTW, if melting icecaps drowns our coastal cities, perhaps an ameliorating factor would be that Antarctica would become the most beautiful place in the world, like Alaska's inside passage, only a lot more of it. Nature always balances the books.

5 comments about The South Pole: An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the Fram, 1910-1912.

1. 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?



2. 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.



3. 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.



4. 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.



5. 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.

5 comments about Big Dead Place: Inside the Strange and Menacing World of Antarctica.

1. Somewhat interesting, and at times amusing. Although at times there is potential for depth in critically evaluating living at the bottom of the world, the author rarely goes there. He is stuck on the absolute surface of things, rattling along, I suspect, on pot or some other substance. He seems to have no perspective from which he can organize his observations into any kind of meaningful structure.



2. Big Dead Place is a great combination of Antarctic history and Antarctic humor. It's fascinating to see that a place that could be described as an icy hell has somehow become a beaurocratic one as well. While the tone of the book is lighthearted, with an emphasis on humor, it's clear that Johnson cares deeply about Antarctica. This book gave me a great insight into Antarctica, one that I doubt I could have gotten elsewhere; it did so whilst being funny! If you get this book, you will be entertained and you will learn something about what is probably the strangest place on the planet. I can't recommend it highly enough.



3. Having spent 12 years working "on ice" and at every US Station and Ice Breaker, I can say this: Johnson has only scratched the surface on the lunacy, idiocy and buerocratic hell the US Antarctic program has become.
   
   Since Raytheon has taken over as contractor, it's been one laugh after another. HR isn't about helping employees, it's about sticking to the corporate policy with a velvet hammer.
   
   It'll be a fine day when the last Rathioyd leaves Antarcitca, but like the old song by The Who, it'll be "...meet the new boss, just the same as the old boss..."
   
   Having met and known a few Antarctic treaty signatories, I'm sure they're doing a slow spin in their graves.



4. For every scientist stationed in Antarctica, there are five support crew including dish washers and trash men. Luckily for us the author, Nicholas Johnson, was among them.
   
   Johnson's story is an insider's view of life on the bottom of the planet for those of us who will probably never make it to the South Pole (which may be a good thing, after reading about the frosty welcome tourists get from the "polies"). The author combines hilarious anecdotes about day-to-day life with the history of the continent's exploration. The photo of the Easter Island snowman alone is worth the price of the book.



5. Anyone approaching this book as a sociological critique of human mores in an extreme environment is looking for a different book. Oh, there's plenty of sociology, plenty of critique, and plenty examples of human mores in an extreme environment; but these are the simple byproduct of an intelligent man's opening his eyes and recording what he sees as an Antarctic contract/wage worker.
   
   On the bounds of journalism, not quite Gonzo, not quite straight reportage, the author manages to weave enough Antarctic lore, daily observation, and well-researched history into the narrative, so that the reader is ever mindful of the locale. This alone is a feat of work, for at times one would swear from the corporate shenanigans at the Bottom of the World that this was written as a script for the movie version of "The Office," and rejected for being too real.
   
   The end result--as is the case with most accounts of human bureaucracy in a sublimely inappropriate venue--is hilarity. Think of it as a Monty Python sketch on a continental scale, funded by the American government, subcontracted to an arms manufacturer, and played by a diverse cast of world citizens who can never escape the moral of the story: that things just aren't fair.

5 comments about People of the Deer (Death of a People).

1. A truly insightful story of the inland eskimo people of the Canadian Arctic. It details not only their day to day survival in a harsh land, but also tells of their myths, legends, and history. It also tells of the whiteman's interference with their culture and how that affect may ultimately lead to their extinction. The book sincerely takes the reader into the lives of the People of the Deer.



2. First published in 1947 and available in a wide variety of editions since then, Farley Mowat's first and most distant book is still remarkably readable in the world of the 21st century. It concerns one of the stranger human sagas of the last century, that of the discovery and destruction of a remote Inuit society, the Ihalmiut, in Canada's north. The setting of the book is far enough away in time for us to marvel at how little things have changed since. The contemptuous attitude of European man for the aborigine seems hardly to have altered over the years. We are still hard put to understand the needs of the first peoples and how to answer them.

   Farley Mowat has combined a fine sensitivity for the natural environment with a sharp eye for the details of man's place within it. It must be exceedingly rare in the history of anthropology that such an inexperienced investigator has taken such pains to get to the source of his information. Mowat lived among the Ihalmiut for over a year to write the book. During that time he witnessed the rapid deterioration of the small group which remained, and tried to examine the causes of their decline. With very deft prose for such a young writer, he points out the difference between the intentions and the actions of the European discoverers of The People (as they refer to themselves) and the consequences of such disparity. The Ihalmiut were exploited in much the same way as any other tribal band found wandering by the early explorers. However, as Mowat points out, this was an exceptional group which had survived the extreme rigours of a barren land (known to us simply as The Barrens) for so many generations, only to be felled by contact with the very race which might have provided them with so much assistance.

   The Ihalmiut are long gone from their homeland but their story serves to remind us of our often difficult relationship with the land and the people on it. Perhaps, as a race of city-dwellers, we need to consider our place in the natural environment more than ever. Mowat's work is a just accounting of where we stand in relationship to nature. Nor does he suggest that we should all go and live in the tundra. Yet People of the Deer is a source of considerable inspiration for those now ready to reflect on the unbalancing effect of contemporary values.




3. This book is magic. You will never think about a small band of Indians as statistics again. This book does volumes to make people of our society really feel what goes on in traditional societies. To feel jealous of their solidarity. To feel unloved by our own. It's great! READ IT.



4. What ever you do, do not waste your precious life reading this book...



5. The concept is correct anyway. These people were led to their demise by three factors: the church, commercialization (HBC), and the Canadian government. Mowat claims he spent two years living among these people. This is doubted by some. I've traveled in some of the areas that this book takes place. Not everyone has great things to say about this author. One person I talked to called him a historical novelist. He has other nicknames.
   
   But while it is questionable that all the events described in this book and its' successor (The Desperate People) actually took place, at least he got the main theme correct.

1 comments about Endless Sea.

1. I have read all of Amyr's books in Portuguese and have found all to be captivating. Adventures like his are hard to find in this modern day where it seems like everything has already been explored and one can practically buy his way up Everest.
   An additional surprise to many will be that, much as Shackleton's Antarctic adventure is used in business planning, team building, etc., Amyr's books are bursting with practical applications for business and life in general.
   If you love adventure, you will love this book.