The Mammoth Book of Polar Journeys : 42 Eye-witness Accounts of Adventure and Tragedy in the Artic and Anatartica

Exerting a magnetic pull our imaginations, the poles have been the object of many gripping first-hand accounts of exploration -- literally, journeys to the ends of the earth A passport to the last wildnernesses of Earth, this is the definitive collection of first-hand accounts of polar exploration -- 50 true stories of intrepid travel through the desolate and dangerous regions of both Arctic and Antarctic. Beginning with Sir John Franklin's starvation trek through Alaska in 1821 and ending with Vassilli Gorshkovsky's northern expedition aboard a creaking ice-breaker in 2005, these true stories encompass every kind of triumph and disaster. The inspired but doomed courage of Captain Scott, and the marvellous leadership of Shackleton are well known, but here are many other stories including: The Bear, by Frederick A. Cook, 1908 Meeting with Polar Eskimos by Knud Rasmussen, 1932 By Dog-Sledge to the Top of the World, by Wally Herbert, 1968 Hell on Earth by Reinhold Messner, 1989-90 Solo by Pen Haddow, 2003 And many more. Timeline Part one : the North Pole. Introduction : The North Pole The march to Fort Enterprise / Sir John Franklin (1821) Farthest North / William Edward Parry (1827) Escape from the ice / George E. Tyson (1872-3) The last days / George W. De Long (1881) Nansen of the North / Fridtjof Nansen & Hjalmar Johansen (1893-6) Where the Eagle dared / Salomon Andrée (1897) Stefansson in 'The friendly Arctic' / Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1908-17) Cook attains the Pole ... / Frederick A. Cook (1908) Ninety degrees North / Robert E. Peary (1909) Sledge-tracks / Ejnar Mikkelsen (1909) Thin ice / W. Elmer Ekblaw (1913-17) Rescue from Wrangel Island / William Laird McKinley (1914) "At last! at last! people" : Rasmussen encounters Eskimo / Knud Rasmussen (1921-4) Wings over the Pole / Richard E. Byrd (1926) Too close to the ice / Umberto Nobile (1928) White devils / David Haig-Thomas (1938) Hunting in the land of the long day / Doug Wilkinson (1953) Top of the world / Wally Herbert (1969) Satan's cauldron / Ranulph Fiennes (1982) Cold reality / David Hempleman-Adams (1983) Blood on the dream / Barry Lopez (1986) Musher / Alistair Scott (1988) Perfect storm / Bear Grylls (2003) Part two : The South Pole. Introduction : the South Pole Farthest South / Ernest Shackleton (1908-9) The ascent of Mount Erebus / T. W. Edgeworth David (1908) The winter journey / Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1911) Pole position / Roald Amundsen (1911) Forestalled / Robert F. Scott (1912) Last man walking / Douglas Mawson (1912) The loss of the Endurance / Ernest Shackleton (1915) The boat journey / F. A. Worsley (1916) Crossing South Georgia / Ernest Shackleton (1916) Alone / Richard E. Byrd (1933-4) The first men in the white Eden / John Rymill (1934) Going all the way / Vivian Fuchs (1956-8) Cape Adare / David Lewis (1977-8) The killer under the water / Gareth Wood (1985) Melting point / David Helvarg (1999) Mind over matter / Catharine Hartley (2001) Swimming to Antarctica / Lynne Cox (2002) Appendix I : The last letters of Robert Falcon Scott RN Appendix II : The early life of Robert Falcon Scott / by James M. Barrie Appendix III : The Antarctic Treaty Bibliography Glossary The Polar Who's Who Sources & Acknowledgments. Here is not only the biggest but the very best collection of polar writing--42 firsthand accounts of challenging the last wildernesses on Earth. Legendary heroism sits side by side with modern-day discovery of the ice caps in tragic retreat.

To explore the white stuff you always need the right stuff. We see Oates stepping outside, Byrd locked out of his hut in a blizzard, Peary losing his toes to frostbite, but forcing his weary limbs through the snow as the mercury dropped.

It was more than physical courage. Such extremes reveal what is inside too. 'We had reached the naked soul of man,' Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton recounted after his epic expedition south.

& B & Exerting a magnetic pull our imaginations, the poles have been the object of many gripping first-hand accounts of exploration - literally, journeys to the ends of the earth & /B & A passport to the last wildnernesses of Earth, this is the definitive collection of first-hand accounts of polar exploration - 50 true stories of intrepid travel through the desolate and dangerous regions of both Arctic and Antarctic. Beginning with Sir John Franklin's starvation trek through Alaska in 1821 and ending with Vassilli Gorshkovsky's northern expedition aboard a creaking ice-breaker in 2005, these true sto Collects fifty first-hand accounts of intrepid travels through the Arctic and Antarctica, from Sir John Franklin's starvation march through Alaska in 1821 to Vassilli Gorshkovsky's trip aboard a creaking Russian ice-breaker in 2005. Original. Fifty first-hand accounts of intrepid travel through the wild polar wastelands form Sir John Franklin's starvation march through Alaska in 1821 to Vassilli Gorshkovsky's trip aboard a creaking Russian icebreaker.