1 comments about In Shackleton's Wake.

1. people feel the urge to risk their lives in endeavors like this one! I had to wonder about the incredible amount of money that must go to re-enact such a dangerous voyage, too. But the story makes fascinating reading. A first-person account of sailing some of the most treacherous seas in the world really brings out the dangers faced--involuntarily--by Ernest Shackleton and his men.
   One change I wish for the book: a detailed map comparing Fuchs' journey with Shackleton's. Fuchs mentions several options Shackleton might have taken, but without a map, I can't see them for myself. Otherwise, this is a very readable (though I did have trouble with nautical terms, not being a sailor myself) and interesting addition to the literature of polar adventure.

3 comments about Mountains of Madness: A Scientist's Odyssey in Antarctica.

1. Dr. Long's narrative of his expedition to the Antarctic is fascinating and enlightening. One does not need to be a paleontologist or scientist to appreciate or understand the ramifications of the findings made during his expedition. He is also refreshingly honest and forthright with his personal discoveries and the ramifications of those discoveries on his life. If you are interested in the Antarctic, our Planet Earth and adventure, if you are interested in a writer and scientist who is candidly straightforward, especially about himself, this is a book for you!



2. John Long's "Mountains of Madness" tells the story of the author's fossil-hunting expeditions in Antarctica. The book's title comes from H.P. Lovecraft's jarring epic "At the Mountains of Madness" -- a classic novella of science and horror set in the southern continent. The author's references to Lovecraft's terrifying tale effectively convey the splendor and danger of the Antarctic wilderness. Long also writes with a wonderful sense of humour --his warmth and charm draw the reader into a entertaining and informative narrative of scientific discovery and individual experience. This book is a must read for anyone who enjoys stories of popular science and adventure.



3. _Mountains of Madness_ is an account of two fossil-hunting expeditions to Antarctica by Australian paleontologist John Long. In this entertaining book, Long provides details of what it was like to travel and work in Antarctica, describing what he saw and felt, and also providing details of the results of his expeditions. Long with his colleagues made two trips to the southernmost continent, the first time in December 1988 and the second time in October 1991, though the bulk of the book describes his experiences on his significantly more productive second trip.
   
   Long's 1991 expedition was not one for the faint-hearted. A"deep field" expedition - so-called because it was more than 200 kilometers from base and outside helicopter rescue range - was necessary for Long to reach the target of his fossil explorations, the remote Cook Mountains, part of the Transantarctic Mountain chain (Long dubbed the northernmost Cook Mountains the "Mountains of Madness" after a famous H.P. Lovecraft 1931 tale of a doomed Antarctic fossil hunting expedition).
   
   In order to get to the fossil-bearing strata that was the expedition's target (Long was after fish fossils from the Devonian period, 355-408 million years ago), Long spent eight weeks out in the field on a two man, two woman expedition. Arriving on top of a glacier thanks to a ski-equipped C-130 transport aircraft, the expedition carried all of its supplies (including climbing gear, rations, and geological equipment) on top of sledges towed by snowmobiles called skidoos.
   
   Though they had many advantages over the earliest explorers of Antarctica - notably motorized transport and satellite and radio communication - they were still at considerable risk. Only the thin fabric of their polar tents protected them from the howling, super-chilled winds of Antarctica. Frostbite, hypothermia, and dehydration (Antarctica is the driest continent) were constant concerns. Sudden blizzards could produce whiteout conditions, preventing all movement and keeping the expedition inside their tents for days, even delaying the expedition from reaching food caches and causing them to worry about running low or out of supplies. Glacial crevasses were difficult to detect as well as being deadly, nearly invisible dangers that could swallow up people or even vehicles. Long and his colleagues came up with the term "the A factor" to describe that no matter how well they thought they had planned for something, for various unpredictable reasons they lost about one day in four when working in the field in Antarctica, whether it was due to mechanical failure, waiting for someone or something to arrive, an injury or illness, or the weather.
   
   On Long's first expedition, denied access due to events to prime fossil-hunting locales, the author was able to take in some of Antarctica's amazing sites. He visited the Dry Valleys region, a 1,860 square mile region of exposed rock and sand, an area in the Transantarctic Mountain region that remains free of ice and snow year round because the land is rising at a faster rate than glaciers can encroach on it and the scouring, howling, arid winds make snow and ice buildup impossible. Interesting locales within the Dry Valleys include Lake Vanda (an interesting stratified lake, usually covered by four meters of ice but whose deepest layers of water are considerably warmer thanks to a salty and chemical-rich makeup), the Onyx River (the continent's only river, which flows for a mere 60 days each year at the peak of summer), and seal mummies (half-skeletonized remains of desiccated seals, half buried in sand; it is believed that they are the remains of seals that had an ear infection, became disoriented, wandered inland, and starved to death). Long also visited Cape Royds, where he was able to visit Ernest Shackleton's preserved hut, restored to look as it did when the great explorer was there, and an Adelie penguin colony.
   
   Long provided a little history of fossil exploration in Antarctica. The first fossils found were pieces of fossilized wood from Seymour Island, collected by Captain Carl Larsen, a Norwegian, in 1892-1893. The first major fossil expedition was in 1902 by Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjold, who collected from the western islands off the Antarctic Peninsula, discovering Jurassic plant fossils, giant penguin fossils, and many fossil shells. The first vertebrate fossils from the Antarctic mainland were Devonian-age fish found in rocks near Mackay Glacier near Granite Harbor in 1911-1912 by Australian scientist Frank Debenham.
   
   The main interest Long had though were his fish fossils. Long sought out what had been dubbed the Aztec Siltstone, fossil-bearing Devonian-age rocks that got their name from their original site of discovery that was a pyramidal mountain in a shape that suggested to the geologists an Aztec temple. The author had long been interested in the Devonian period as that was when fish evolution was at is most exciting and in Antarctic fossils as discoveries there could shed tremendous light on fish evolution in other areas of the long gone super continent known as Gondwana (which at one time was comprised of many now separate areas, such as Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Africa, and India).
   
   Long's second expedition was tremendously successful, resulting in the discovery of five new genera of lobe-finned fish, three new genera of sharks, and one genus of placoderms (an extinct group of armored fish). Long details in the book (published in 2001) how he was still preparing and analyzing specimens, including some as yet undescribed forms of lungfish, placoderms, some new types of acanthodians (an extinct group of spiny fishes), and a new ray-fined fish (ray-fined fish are the largest modern group of fish and include such familiar types as trout and goldfish). Long's fossil discoveries also aided in formulating theories regarding the reconstruction of Gondwana faunas from both Antarctica and other countries and also theories relating to the reconstruction of the geographic position of Gondwana itself.
   
   Long enthusiastically described the fossils he found and their great importance. My only compliant was that there were no illustrations of either the fossils or how the fish might have looked in life.

5 comments about South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1917.

1. Frank Hurley's book is a mastepiece of photographic art. Having read many Antarctic books already, particularly "South" the story of the endurance expedition, I devoured this book to see the whole story in detail.

   The book is a work of technical genius and without artistic equal among work of that era, particularly when you realise what awful conditions he worked under.

   The notes accompanying the pictures relate the epic tale in only slightly less detail than the South book, but you still fully appreciate the efforts which went into it's production.

   Other members of the crew could have been more resentful of Hurley, due to the time he spent in his darkroon (he was not part of the ship's crew, therefore was not obliged to stand watch) and shooting film. Instead they regarded him with great respect, especially the numerous occasions he risked his life for the best shots. The true measure of the respect he engendered from the crew is the book itself. When the ship went down and the crew faced an uncertain future, all personal possesions bar a few photos and each man's personal journal were lost. Shackleton still insisted that many heavy glass plates be preserved dragged across the ice and sailed to South Georgia via Elephant Island. Still more were smashed by Hurley, once prints were taken (see "Green Collection" in Scott Polar research Library Cambridge UK) as he could not bear them to be left behind.

   This book would form an essential addition to any Antarctic library. The faces all became attached to the names I already knew so well, seeing them at the start of the voyage then lost and forlorn next to the upturned boat on Elephant Island tells it's own harrowing story.
   This bleak tale is uplifted by the magnificent images, which match the joy felt by all when Shackleton, "The Boss", returned to collect them safe and well. Even as a first foray into Antarctic literature.
   (NB earlier reviewer incorrectly stated that Shackleton went back to UK after South Georgia returning to rescue the crew from Elephant Island. In fact He could not rest knowing the men expected his return and after only a few days rest, when his crew from the "James Caird" were ill in bed he took a whaler and eventually got the men safely off the Island several weeks later, after two unsuccessful attempts.)




2. This is the most defenitive retelling of Shackleton's adventure in pictures. Frank Hurley was an exceptional photographer who just happened to take pictures of a journey that without them would be simply unbelievable. Any Hurley's picture of the Endurance expedition is a treasure, and in this book are all of them!



3. I was fortunate that I could follow Shakelton on T.V. while reading and viewing these excellent pictures. This book is outstanding and I would urge anyone interested in either Shakelton or photography to get it. I could not help but think that every member of this expedition had story to tell. We have heard only a few. Amazing the limits of human endurance and to think that they had a photographer with them who realized what he was filming, and did so for all of us to see.To Hurley was far ahead of his time, and I am inclined to think that Ansel Adams had probably learned from Mr. Hurley.



4. This mammoth book is the definitive pictorial account of the voyage of Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the 'Endurance', on their death defying journey to Antarctica between 1914 and 1917 as told through the camera lens of master photographer Frank Hurley. The book is approximately twelve inches square, and can easily be mistaken for a (very large and heavy) coffee table book from afar. Once it is opened, though, it is obvious that this in no trifling work. It contains background and narrative on Shackleton and the expedition and all of the surviving Hurley photographs (almost 500 of them total) and in scope is the most complete and amazing account of the expedition I have ever seen.

   The text is enlightening and wonderful, but the photographs are the unmistakable stars of the book. Hurley was taken along to document the expedition, and document it he did, despite the fact that it turned out completely differently than any of the men would have ever wanted or imagined. The photographs range from breathtakingly beautiful pictures of water and ice, to fascinating character studies, particularly of life aboard the ship, to poignant photos that are impossible to view without being choked up, of which I place the photos of the dogs and cat at the top, realizing that all the animals, their most faithful of friends, were ultimately killed on Shackleton's orders to conserve food (many of the dogs were eaten.) It is truly fortunate that Hurley was along to document the voyage; mere words alone could never do justice to one of the greatest survival stories ever told, and certainly the most harrowing that I can imagine.

   The book is a timeless masterpiece and belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with an interest in the Antarctic, polar exploration, or man's ability to endure untold hardships yet emerge victorious over the elements.




5. I found this book to be a wonderful companion to "Endurance" by Alfred Lansing. It includes plenty of material about the Endurance expedition as well as all of the surviving photgraphs of the expedition taken by Frank Hurley. The photographs are excellent (including a few taken in color), and we find out plenty about what equipment Hurley used at the time.
   
   Not only are the photos impressive in their own right, they are also very informative about how the Antarctic looks and what life in that region can be like.
   
   I like this book very much and I'm happy to recommend it to everyone.

5 comments about No Horizon Is So Far: Two Women And Their Extraordinary Journey Across Antarctica.

1. An interesting story but only an average read. Jumping from one author to another is distracting. There are many other books written about women doing remarkable journeys that make a better read an deserve attention.



2. These intrepid modern-day explorers dare to go where only penguins march on the ice-encrused terrain. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, and highest altitude continent, with spectacular views but dangerous to traverse. These two women from opposite ends of the earth, Minnesota in USA and Norway, used to the extreme cold climates, tell their individual stories in this one book with the held of a professional writer, Cheryl Dahle, to piece the diaries together as a journey of their dreams.
   
   The photo sections show them as they looked in their youth and on the various sections of their explorations. They give details of how they trained for this difficult adventure, and of the problems they endured getting the monetary sponsorships. Apple would not donate cash, but did provide $150,000 in computer equipment, phones, and technical support. One photo shows Liv making her regularly scheduled call to CNN out in the middle of nowhere with snow and ice everywhere.
   
   From November 13 to February 18, the summer season when the sun shines twenty-four hours each day, they treked from the northernmost point about Queen Maud land to McMurdo, an American research base. It was quite a four-month feat, but they did it not just for the record but to show youth everywhere what can be accomplished. They were physically in their prime and had trained for years for this extraordinary walkand and skiing ordeal. Liv Arnesen and Ann Brancroft are to be commended; Ann was the first woman in history to cross the ice to both the North and South poles. Liv was the first woman to ski 745 miles to the South Pole solo during a fifty-day expedition. Together, they achieve the dreams both have held onto since young girls playing in the snow in their native homelands.



3. Now I know what women can do, and it's great. These women seem just like me and yet they did this extraordinary thing. They're probably mad, but good on them.



4. My bookclub chose this book this month and we were very excited by the subject matter. What a disappointment! I've never read such a poorly, blandly and simply written book about such an expansive, exciting and complicated subject! I felt like I was reading a book written for 4th graders, being talked down to to make it simple. I found no difference between the 2 voices of Ann and Liv and would have prefered a much more detailed account of their expedition. I have no doubt that their trip was fascinating in so many ways, unfortunately, they weren't able to translate that into their book. Maybe as educators of children they forgot that adults like a good story on a more sophisticated level.
   Too bad.



5. I agree with other reviewers that this is only an average read. But the story of this Antarctic adventure is still remarkable and anyone interested in women's outdoor adventures will find this book enjoyable.

4 comments about Ushuaia to Antarctica - Drake Passage Map: Polar Voyage Log Map.

1. The chart is very extensive with much detail. If you are planning a trip out of Ushuaia, Argentina this will be handy to have.



2. A nice souvenir for your trip to Antarctica, this map is nice purchased beforehand. during your trip you can have items notated and the adventure signed by your tour guides and Captain of your ship. For a small tour group like mine, you can also have everyone sign the back.
   In this way it is a wonderful souvenir for framing.



3. If you are one of the many tourists who visit the Antarctic Peninsula by cruise ship, then this is the map for you. An excellent reference to takei with you and plot your voyage while travelling or once you get back before you forget the details of your exact route. Not a nautical chart, but an excellent map to explain to friends and family where you went and to sue with your photo's to show where you visited on your trip to the Antarctic.



4. I was disappointed with the map. I purchased it a few months after our trip to the Antarctic Peninsula and found that many of the places we visited were not shown on the map. This could possibly be explained by the fact that the map is in Spanish and we used English names.

5 comments about Time on Ice: A Winter Voyage to Antarctica.

1. I have been fortunate to share Deb and Rolf's adventures; I stayed in radio communications with them throughout both their arctic-antarctic adventures, and helped edit both their books. Even in draft form, even though I knew the story in detail, its first reading was exciting. It is truly unfortunate that a lot of the material was cut during the final edit by the publisher.

   I've also seen the video that was made during their stay...it punctuates their story with unforgetable images.

   I know I have prejudice, but I am convinced that anyone who has an interest in the human aspects of exploring will find it absorbing. This is NOT a book designed just for sailors. It is a story about challenge and what it takes to meet that challenge.




2. This book is one of the few books that portrays not only the classic aspects of human adventure but the more philosiphical underpinnings of our own life experiences in the clutter of modern civilization. Time on Ice will not only take you to antarctica, but to the desolation and isolation experienced therin. The moments of beauty, excitement, distress and love all connect at a very human level. I would recomend this book to anyone, something i have never done before.



3. While I can't quite share the enthusiasm of several of the other reviewers (Viking spirit and all that), I thought this was a solid book and enjoyable to read. It generally moves along at a slow pace, but this is to be expected given the nature of the trip. Accounts alternate from Deborah's view to Rolf's. Of the two, Deborah is the slightly better writer and she sometimes hits on long bouts of excellent descriptions of everything from the weather to their mood. Rolf's writing is more technical but provides a decent balance to Deborah's. This may not be hardcore, edge-of-your-seat adventure (though there are tense moments), but it's a good bet for anyone interested in long distance sailing, Antartica, polar environmentalism, or any combination of these.



4. This is a very interesting book. I was amazed with their strength to accomplish their dream. The only negative aspect is that the book sometimes has a lot of details and it lacks more details about their day to day activities.



5. An incredble journey.

   Well written, alternating chapters between Deborah and Rolf. This is a wild ride. Most of us sailors/adventurers will never make this journey. Deborah and Rolf are the most likeable and articulate sailor-environmentalists that show us life from Pole to Pole. If you have any interest in Antarctica or blue water sailing, you willl find this book to be very compelling.

5 comments about Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy.

1. Many people know of Ernest Shackleton's tragic Antartic expedition. His ship, the Endurance, becomes trapped in the ice and is eventually crushed. Shackleton and his men, make there way back to civilization through Shackleton's efforts. However, not many people know about the other group of men involved in that same expedition.
   
   On the other side of Antartica, on the Great Ross Ice Shelf, a group of ten men sail and set up camp. Their task is to set up a number of supply depots for Shackleton's team. Once they cross the South Pole, the team would be abel to resupply at the depots established by this other team of men.
   
   Unfortunately, their ship is lost and they are trapped. The fate of the Endurance is unknown to them and they struggle to complete there assigned tasks. It is a tale is suffering and incredible human endurance.



2. The other half of Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-15 started from McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea and laid supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf for Shackleton and his team to use as they crossed the continent from the Weddell Sea. Here as on the Endurance disaster struck at the very beginning. The Ross Sea party's ship was blown out to sea, marooning the men for two years with little more than the clothes they stood up in. Fortunately, the lavishly equipped Scott Expedition had departed in a hurry four years before and left a surprising amount of stuff behind. Hard-headed Aeneas Mackintosh and his men carried out their task despite their own precarious position, laying depots that would never be used. The cost was the lives of three men, including Captain Mackintosh himself.
   
   The loss of the ship was something no one could have prevented, but the deaths were fundamentally due to inexperienced leadership, which ultimately went back to Shackleton, who left ambiguous orders about who would be commander: Mackintosh, captain of the ship but with only one short sledging journey to his credit, or Ernest Joyce, who had gone south with Scott on the Discovery, with Shackleton on the Nimrod, and had selected dogs for Douglas Mawson. The stubborn Mackintosh insisted that final decisions were his alone. His refusal to heed Joyce's advice led directly to the death of three-quarters of their dogs by the end of the first sledging season. The Expedition never fully recovered.
   
   The author doesn't have the English language quite under control, particularly his verbs. "Men's legs burying deep in the drift"? I blame his copy editor.



3. Too many books and movies about Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expidition end with Shackleton reaching South Georgia Island and returning to rescue his crew of Endurance. This book chronicles the story of the party who was to lay Shackleton's supply depots for his cross-Antarctic journey, a journey he never made. These men in many ways had an even harder task than Shackleton's party. They not only had responsibility for their own well-being, but (as far as they knew) Shackleton's as well. This book is a riviting account of their harrowing journey and what Shackleton found when he went back for THEM after rescuing his own crew. This book will make all other accounts of Shackleton's Endurance expidition seem incomplete.



4. In all the other books I've read about Shackleton's adventures, there have been little more than passing references to the men entrusted with laying the provisions that would have sustained Shackleton's party for the second half of their intended journey across the ice. Completely cut off from the world, abandoned on the ice, those brave men struggled more than a year in horrific conditions to lay the depots that would have been the salvation of Shackleton's party. Daily, they weighed their lives against those of their comrades for whom they were preparing and the harshness of reality against the bond of their word.
   
   With enough background and history to provide clear understanding of the parties and resources involved, the book offers a suprisingly detailed look into the lives and hearts of these valient men. I found their courage inspiring and their devotion to each other and their mission moving. Informative and touching, this book is a must read!



5. This would have been a five-star book, had the maps not been so poorly presented. Of the three maps printed in the book, none of them have a scale, which is the cardinal sin of cartography. Ten miles? A hundred miles? Beats me. Also, while the map of all of Antarctica understandably does not have a north arrow (when you're at the South Pole, every direction is north), one of the smaller maps has south as up while the third has north as up, which is needlessly confusing.
   
   These quibbles aside, the story is fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time. Saying "never have so many done so much for so little" sounds cliched, but it's true. What a horrible exercise in futility, although of course at the time the men did not know their efforts were for naught. Overall, I highly recommend this book and just wish the maps could be corrected.

5 comments about South: The Last Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance.

1. Shackleton was an amazing man full of true grit and true leadership. Among the many things that stand out in his story of survival is the importance of keeping a journal. Even after many supplies and equipment were left on the ice, the men were instructed to continue to carry their journals. And what if they had not? Where would be the true story that outshines most fictional adventure stories in the minds and imaginations of many, including myself?

   If you want to read more about Antarctica, I suggest T.H. Baughman's "Before the Heroes Came."




2. What an expedition! There is a lot to be learned about leadership and survival by the adventurers on this journey. If you like men against the elements, who survive by their wits and never ever give up, this is the tale for you. A great winter read.



3. When the Antarctic explorer ship Endurance became trapped by ice in the opening days of World War I, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his companions found themselves stranded for the winter. Months later, when the ice floe that had been their "home" became unstable as spring breakup began, the party - with their ship long since broken apart - took to their three open boats, and made their way to Elephant Island. There they set up a precarious camp, where most of the group waited while Sir Ernest and a few carefully chosen companions struck out for South Georgia. That South Atlantic island, 800 miles away, was known to have year-round British inhabitants.
   
   Those are the bare facts of one of the great true adventures, a story told here by Sir Ernest himself. His dry writing style may take some slogging, at first, for contemporary (especially American) readers; but his wit is equally dry, and his descriptions vivid. I was especially interested to note the differences between the Shackleton party's attitudes and those of today. Not only is this a magnificent survival tale (NOT ONE of Shackleton's men died!); it's also a snapshot of how those quintessential English explorers of another era thought about the world they were discovering. For better or for worse, how times and attitudes have changed!



4. After more than a year of seeing pretty much nothing but ice and snow, and living in, at times, sub-zero temperatures, Sir Ernest Shackleton writes about his camp's current conditions; "Drifts four feet deep covered everything, and we had to be continually digging up our scanty stock of meat to prevent its being lost altogether... On this day, and for the next two or three also, it was impossible to do anything but get right inside one's frozen sleeping bag to try and get warm. Too cold to read or sew, we had to keep our hands well inside, and pass the time in conversation with each other." He's so matter-of-fact... no fluff here. He just tells it like it is. I love that about this book. The conditions worsen by leaps and bounds as the story continues, but I'll leave that for you to explore on your own. Anyway, the first few chapters are very informative regarding how the expedition was planned, where they were headed, how they got there, etc... for me, it started a little slow, but I understand why the writer wanted to include this information. So, then you get into the "meaty" survival stuff... and is it ever so fascinating. And for me, it's especially fascinating because it doesn't seem to be sugar-coated, as so many writers are proned to do when telling their story. In fiction, I don't mind so much the way a writer gives you every detail, written ever so eloquently, but when it comes to true stories... especially survival stories, I personally just want to hear the straight talk. A GREAT SURVIVAL STORY AND PERFECTLY WRITTEN for this reader.



5. SOUTH: THE LAST ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION
   
   Here is a list of equipment that Sir Ernest Shackleton did NOT have for his memorable Endurance expedition: GPS location finders; radio ; RADAR, SONAR; computerized navigation; professional medical care; thermal clothes; MRE'S (Meals Ready To Eat), double steel hull; air and logistical support, public relations agents; marketing proposals; lawyers.
   Shacketon's crew navigated with a sextant; traversed the icecap with dog sleds instead of ski-doos, and ate canned herring, tinned meat, pemmican, biscuits and occasional seals.
   
   What he did have was an old ship, a strong crew, an incredible work ethic, classic British stoicism and unerring sense of the right thing to do.
   
   His book reads like a Robert Louis Stevenson or H.G. Welles story, but it is the unvarnished truth. His matter -of -fact account is brilliantly illustrated by Frank Hurley's dramatic black & white photos of The Endurance encapsulated in ice, its masts and spars dripping frozen water like the maritime apparition in Melville's "Benito Cereno."
   I seriously doubt whether a modern expedition equipped with all the bells and whistles and sponsored with corporate money could duplicate what Shackleton's Endurance accomplished under the most adverse circumstances imaginable.
   Because the Endurance expedition occurred in 1914-15 at the start of World World War I
   Shackleton's accomplishment was largely overshadowed, and the Antarctic was all but forgotten until the `fifties and `sixties when its scientific and strategic value was rediscovered.
   Now, as the Antarctic ice cap melts from global warming, one wonders at Shackleton's accomplishment.

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...