Antarctic Destinies: Scott, Shackleton, and the Changing Face of Heroism

by Stephanie Barczewski

Book Overview

This book covers the two most famous expeditions of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration, Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova expedition of 1910-12 and Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition of 1914-16. For decades after his tragic death on the return journey from the South Pole, to which he had been beaten by five weeks by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, Scott was regarded as a saint-like figure with an unassailable reputation born from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826445624
• ISBN13: 9780826445629
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Any general-interest library strong in exploration history and Antarctic history in general will fin

ANTARCTIC DESTINIES: SCOTT, SHACKLETON AND THE CHANGING FACE OF HEROISM follows the changing reputations and historical discovers of three early explorers of the Antarctic and their entwined lives and objectives. The idea of the heroic explorer and their special challenges comes to life in chapters that reveal their changing images, their lives, and how and why their reputations have changed in the literature. Any general-interest library strong in exploration history and Antarctic history in general will find this invaluable.

Authoritative account

An authoritative and well researched review. The author has used her literary skills with inteligence and there is evidence of a degree of passion for her subject. I have enjoyed the book immensely. I don't consider this a book for the novice. One needs a reasonable understanding of Antarctic exploration and history to appreciate the finer points encountered. There is a bias towards Scott in her comparisons, but the author makes her position clear from the outset;in fact her reason for writing the account. I am full of admiration for her exhaustive research on the achievements of the two explorers and their life and times. I have found the account a wonderful addition to my Antarctic Library and it is already being used as a source of reference to other work. There some factual errors in the text and in one photo along with some typographical errors, which are disappointing in such an authoritative review, but do not detract from the substance of the theme. I have pleasure in recommending this work. I believe all 'Antarcticans' would enjoy this account which offers a catalyst to 'polarise' ones views on the destinies of these two explorers.