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A First Rate Tragedy Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole
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A First Rate Tragedy Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole Trade paper - 1999

by Preston, Diana


Summary

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.

From the publisher

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.

First line

THE HISTORY of Antarctic exploration is a curious story of bursts of activity succeeded by long periods of apathy and neglect.

Details

  • Title A First Rate Tragedy Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole
  • Author Preston, Diana
  • Binding Trade Paper
  • Edition 1st Mariner Book
  • Pages 269
  • Language EN
  • Publisher Mariner Books, History-General
  • Date November 10, 1999
  • ISBN 9780618002016

Media reviews

"This stirring account demonstrates how a thrice-told tale can acquire arresting immediacy... Preston's vibrant biographical passages reveal the [men] in a human context ... [and] the solitude of the Antarctic,[and] the diminutive shapes of intruders filing across immense wastes, is vividly rendered..." Boston Globe

"...[an] absorbing and moving story.... One of the virtues of Preston's account is her clear-sightedness about the fatal amateurishness of the British effort. " The New York Times

"Preston illuminates Scott's occasional bad luck, inexperience and even ineptitude without diminishing his unquestionable courage, honor and humanity ... Preston's balanced look at Scott's life ... sets this apart from many other works on the subject." Publishers Weekly, Starred

"[Diana Preston] reminds us that his is a thrilling story of endurance, perseverance and courage under the most appalling conditions. She dresses Scott once more in the robes of a hero-but thanks to her marvelous vividness, a hero who is also human." Newsday

"Almost 90 years on, the tragic tale retains its allure. Preston's account is at once simple, elegant and compelling..." Boston Herald

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A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole
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A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole

by Preston, Diana

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A First Rate Tragedy : Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole
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A First Rate Tragedy : Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole

by Preston, Diana

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A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole
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A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole

by Diana Preston

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