Editorial Review

The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as "Time" magazine put it, "defined heroism". Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book--with over 200,000 copies sold--has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the "Endurance's" fateful trip. of photos and maps. Nationwide traveling museum exhibition. ... Read more

Reviews

Incredible
This is an absolutely amazing and true accounting of the 1914 Antarctic expedition gone to hell. It is clear that the author did an incredible amount of research, and though this book doesn't read like a novel, its presentation is much more powerful this way, giving a panoramic view of the whole terrible and desperate situation of these men.

I don't have any experience even comparable to what these men went through, the closest I've ever come is rowing down the coast of Maine in the summer in a 30 foot pulling boat, and I'll tell you, this guy gets every detail.

Anyway, an absolutely incredible look at human endurance, at what a person will go through if he must. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

One note...make sure the version you buy or get at the library has expedition photographer Hurley's photographs in it. Some paperback editions don't, and you're really missing part of the experience without them.

Nothing is so bad that it can't get worse
This book is one of the few exceptional -absolutely execptional- tales of survival and it proves the maxim that nothing is so bad that it can't get worse. But also it proves that you can know the end of a story - it is a well known fact that Shackleton brought all his men through this arduous trial and all survived - and it doesn't spoil the story at all. Truth is not only stranger than fiction, but it is a good deal harder.

The bare-bones of the story are that Shackleton and his team left civillisation in 1914 in the Endurance to travel to attempt to reach the South Pole - a trip he had tried and failed by only a couple of hundred miles or so to achive in 1908. Amundsen had already reached the pole first but for Shackleton it was unfinished business. The Endurance had been built to push through the pack ice, but conditions proved too much and it was trapped in pack ice. Summer wore on and there was no escape - the winds were in the wrong direction - then winter hit and they were trapped in their boat. They settled in to a routine until the ice went against them and cracked the Endurance. Shackleton realised the only way out was on their own, so they abandoned the boat and made for the pack ice at first dragging the boats, then relying a floe to carry them north where they might find more supplies, or be rescued.

In the end they had to rescue themselves and this is the story of their indomitable courage and strength to survive under incredibly harsh conditions and in grave discomfort. We are talking about camping out in antartica - in less than adequate shelter, with essentially starvation rations, no heating, barely adequate clothing.

Lansing tells this story in a sparing style and it really works. He has had access to (I think) all the diaries available from men who kept them on the trip and they are very revealing of both personalities and foibles of the various characters who made up the trip - and these aren't all a bunch of saintly characters pulling together for the sake of their team and mutual survival - they fight, some are occassionally selfish, they love their dogs but have almost no compunction of putting them down when they have to - and they are very real and human.

Lansing also brings to light some of the things you wouldn't think about it - the incredible boredom that they all felt, that they were generally alternatvely wracked by either gripping hunger or desparate need for survival and how to escape - the one emotion replacing the other depending on conditions. He also explains some of the things you wouldn't even think to ask - how they went to the toilet for instance, the conditions inside the huts and the tents and so on. It brings a very vivd picture of life as it must have been for the group.

And really, nothing isn't so bad that it can't get worse. Each time you think that Shackleton is about to win there is a small disaster, or the elements go against them - they are constantly battling for their lives with decreasing odds of their survival. Even once they make it off the floe and onto land they have to move again to a safer landing place - and then they must work out how to get help. The nearest land is Chile some 500 miles away but it is almost impossible to get to because of wind and current, so they must try to South Georgia, over 800 miles away and a tiny speck of an island 25 miles across and they only thing in their way between Antartica and South Africa. Hardly an easy thing find in an open 22 foot boat. I know recently they tried to re-enact the voyage of Shackleton in his tiny boat - the James Caird - but without success as storms forced them to abandon the attempt. And that was a luxury trip compared to Shackleton's - the conditions on board were appalling - with stones for ballast - very little room and the ever present rotting reindeer hair from their sleeping bags. It is all credit to their navigator Frank Worsley that they reached South Georgia at all....but then they had had to land on the wrong side of the island due to conditions......but read the book - definitely read it.....

This book would make a great adventure book to introduce Antarctic exploration for younger children or teenagers as it is so vivid and so exciting. They are chased by killer whales and leopard seals, they are constantly fighting the elements and they are if nothing else a very human group of people. This is one of the best books of survival I have ever read and is highly recommended.

Required Reading for the cynical and jaded
I first became interested in Shackleton's incredible story after seeing photos and a short version of Caroline Alexander's book in the National Geographic a couple of years ago. Since then, I've read and reread Lansing's account, as well as Alexander's, and twice seen the new Butler documentary which incorporates the photos and early film of the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley.

This is quite simply one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Survival in the face of incredible hardship. Astonishing bravery, persistence, and resourcefulness, all in the face of unimaginable bad luck. This story should have ended in death at least five times. Instead, after 16 (or 20, depending on who you're counting for) months marooned in the antarctic circle, not a single member of Shackleton's crew was lost.

Lansing's account is creditable and more interesting than Alexander's, though her book has the better pictures. I'd suggest buying both.

An Antidote for the Age of Whining and Self-Absorption
Everything that defines courage and leadership for our age and any other is within the 280 pages of this wonderful book. For nearly two years, in conditions of constant zero and below cold, freezing wet, and often hunger, Ernest Shackleton kept all 27 men who sailed with him on the Endurance alive to eventually return to the England they left on the verge of World War I. That single-minded devotion to his men should make this book required reading for every would-be politician and corporate executive before he dares ask for the faith, trust and respect of those he would lead.

Lansing dedicated the book "In appreciation for whatever it is that makes men accomplish the impossible." He wisely and without flourish often lets the men's own words -- through the journals that many of them kept at the time and in interviews forty years later -- tell their extraordinary story, each stage of which reads more harrowing than the last. On an expedition that would have attempted to cross the Antarctic on foot (a feat not accomplished until four decades later), the Endurance is trapped in pack ice before it can reach shore. Shackleton's perhaps foolhardy original goal thus turns to keeping his men alive until they can be rescued. After ten months locked in the drifting pack, the Endurance is crushed and the men forced to abandon her for an ice floe, then several weeks later a smaller floe still. Eventually they take to three boats to reach forlorn Elephant Island from which Shackleton takes a skeleton crew of five and in a 22 foot open boat navigates the enormous seas of Drake's Passage to South Ascension Island. Once there he only (only!) has uncharted glaciers to cross to reach the whaling station on the other side of the island from which rescue of the Elephant Island castaways is eventually launched. The only other crossing of South Georgian Island by foot at the time Lansing wrote in 1959 occurred on a "easier" route with equipment and time. Shackleton had neither, only a fifty foot piece of rope, a carpenter's adze, and the knowledge that to stop moving was to invite death by freezing. At journey's end, to the astonished manager of the whaling factory, he says simply, "My name is Shackleton." I would have liked to have known him and all his men.

Startling good read
Whew!! That's the first word that comes to my mind. It surfaced in my thoughts numerous times as I was reading this tale. This book is overwhelming. I had always heard tales about Shackleton and this was a most compelling read. I found myself unable to put it down. It just grabs a hold of you and won't let go. Alfred Lansing did a superb job of storytelling here. It is one of the most amazing tales of human courage and endurance ever written. This is a fabulous story. Sir Ernest Shackleton truly displayed extraordinary mettle in spite failing to achieve the initial objective. His leadership is undeniable. He held a crew together to endure the harshest climate on the planet. That the entire crew survived the venture is testament to the power of the human spirit. The will to survive can attain soaring heights as this tale suggests. Lansing attempts to get into the nature of the different men but he allows their diaries to dictate the writing. This is great because supposition by authors of nonfiction can be fatuous. Drawing excerpts from the diaries of the men is a way to draw upon the incredible human drama and psychology that must have unfolded in this venture. The obstacles encountered by the crew are staggering. The wind, the dampness, the bitter cold and the long months of darkness in the winter seem like more than any man should be able to stand. They slept in wet sleeping bags in sub-freezing temperature; ate unappetizing foods; and still managed to keep their hopes alive. These were not accommodations up to Hyatt standards. One wonders how many people today would be tough enough to triumph over these hardships. The pain, ennui and discomfort must have been staggering. I found myself just shaking my head with awe at numerous passages in the book. These are men who went to Hell and came back alive. That is remarkable in and of itself. This book is a classic account of one of man's most remarkable journeys. Read it and discover for yourself.

I couldn't put it down!
It's been a long time since I came across a book that I couldn't put down. Despite all the more recent books about Shackleton, Alfred Lansing's book is still wonderful. He creates a sort of suspense so you are constantly wondering what will happen next to this band of star-crossed but determined explorers, what harrowing hardship will they overcome next? . I couldn't help musing whether I would behave as bravely in their situation. A great read!

"Man proposes [God disposes]" ---diary entry
Endurance by Alfred Lansing was first published in 1959. The copy I have is a 26th printing which indicates how popular this book has been. It is an adventure story that is entirely historical. It covers the 1914/15 attempt of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of 27 to be the first to cross the Antarctic continent overland west to east. This goal was interrupted for good when their ship, the Endurance, became trapped in ice in the Weddell Sea. The call for adventure soon became a constant struggle for survival that lasted ten months. The crew set up camp on various ice floes only to be forced to move when the dreaded cracks appeared. Their progress towards land is controlled by the direction and force of the gales. Conditions change almost daily in the chaotic and brutal Antarctic climate. When the ice floes were no longer an option, the crew set out in three small boats taken on the voyage hoping to find land. Once land was found, the crew split up as six members took one of the small boats into the dreaded Drake Passage in the hopes of finding help. Both groups were in danger of not surviving the unforgiving environment.

Lansing bases his work on interviews with survivors and the waterlogged diaries several of them kept. He is thus able to provide the reader with details of the crew's day-to-day life. Everything from the personalities of various members to their diets, clothing, attempts at building shelters, etc. are described. I do not have knowledge of seafaring vocabulary or conditions, but Lansing is able to describe such things as the pressure caused by broken floes of ice (p.47) in a clear manner. As an historical event, this story needs no poetic license. It is one of the most suspenseful history books I have read. Just when things looked good for the crew, the tide turned and vice versa. After reading what all these 28 men went through, the ending, although surprisingly brief, was very moving.

The only part of the book that disappointed me was the ending. I wanted to know what happened to some of the main characters after their ordeal. The epilogue just covers the attempt to rescue the 22 members left on Elephant Island and goes no further. It seemed unfair to leave the story like that. Despite this shortcoming, I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in historical adventure. It is one of the best books of that ilk one will read. One interesting note: Shackleton's goal was not achieved until 1958, 40 years after Shackleton set out on the Endurance and a year before this book was first published. It is 282 pages and includes a short section of b&w photos and illustrations.

Put this one in the shopping cart and proceed to check out.
What are you waiting for? Don't delay any longer. Probably the best and most exciting book I have ever read. Not one dull spot in the whole book. Total engrossment word by word. From what I can tell this book is the most free flowing account of Shakelton's expedition, leaving out no major events from begining to end. This book makes you want to know what happened to each of these men after they all were rescued. It also leaves you wondering what happened to the other support boat that was part of the expedition. So now I'll have to read Shakelton's own book "South".

Reading in it's amazing best
This is a superbly written account of an Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shakleton on a ship named Endurance. It is trapped by ice and eventually crushed by it. In order to survive, the crew look toward it's leader for answers and the only chance at rescue is to make it to a whaling station that is more than 1500 miles away. Everything is frozen, the weather is the worst on earth and thats just the begining. It's all here, the amazing spirit that some humans show when pushed to the brink of death, starvation, freezing, thirst, tiredness to the deepest parts of one's existence, humor, friendship, respect, leadership, etc. How it must have been for these men to survive such a harrowing experience is beyond belief. If not because it was so well documented by the individual crew members who kept journals, indeed no one would beleive it. To have survived so many months floating on a moving, cracking, shifting, crushing ice floe only to have to undertake an 800 mile sea voyage in a 22 foot lifeboat in the most brutal ocean in the world where winds rarely fall below huricane force, find and land on a hellish coast of a small island easily missed. Then on foot and starving have to coss it on ground so treacherous that no one had crossed it before, or would dare again for another 50 yrs. A brutal reading that will leave you exhausted. Pass it on and share with your friends and family. ... Read more

Editorial Review

In August 1914, days before the outbreak of the First World War, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail for the South Atlantic in pursuit of the last unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. Weaving a treacherous path through the freezing Weddell Sea, they had come within eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped fast in the ice pack. Soon the ship was crushed like matchwood, leaving the crew stranded on the floes. Their ordeal would last for twenty months, and they would make two near-fatal attempts to escape by open boat before their final rescue.

Drawing upon previously unavailable sources, Caroline Alexander gives us a riveting account of Shackleton's expedition--one of history's greatest epics of survival. And she presents the astonishing work of Frank Hurley, the Australian photographer whose visual record of the adventure has never before been published comprehensively. Together, text and image re-create the terrible beauty of Antarctica, the awful destruction of the ship, and the crew's heroic daily struggle to stay alive, a miracle achieved largely through Shackleton's inspiring leadership.

The survival of Hurley's remarkable images is scarcely less miraculous: The original glass plate negatives, from which most of the book's illustrations are superbly reproduced, were stored in hermetically sealed cannisters that survived months on the ice floes, a week in an open boat on the polar seas, and several more months buried in the snows of a rocky outcrop called Elephant Island. Finally Hurley was forced to abandon his professional equipment; he captured some of the most unforgettable images of the struggle with a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film.

Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History's landmark exhibition on Shackleton's journey, The Endurance thrillingly recounts one of the last great adventures in the Heroic Age of exploration--perhaps the greatest of them all. ... Read more

Reviews

A Gripping and Beautiful Tale of Leadership, February 12, 2000
This is a truly gripping and beautiful book. The story of the voyage and survival of the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to traverse the Antarctic continent on foot, is truly awe-inspiring. The photographs of Frank Hurley, the expedition's photographer, are sublime and powerful. I can't recapture the magnitude or beauty of the book in a few words, but two things struck me as particularly moving. At one point, Shackleton and five men sailed 800 miles in a 22-foot boat through the tempestuous South Atlantic Ocean to reach help. I doubt that even Alexander's account of the voyage does justice to the courage, skill and fortitude exhibited by these men.

Two comments put this one piece of the survival struggle into perspective. Alexander comments, "They would later learn that a 500-ton steamer had foundered with all hands in the same hurricane they had just weathered." And upon reaching civilization for the first time, the captain of the Endurance, Frank Worsley records the reaction of some of the hardiest seamen in the world:

Three or four white-haired veterans of the sea came forward. One spoke in Norse, and the Manager translated. He said he had been at sea over 40 years; that he knew this stormy Southern Ocean intimately, from South Georgia to Cape Horn, from Elephant Island to the South Orkneys, and that never had he heard of such a wonderful feat of daring seamanship as bringing the 22-foot open boat from Elephant Island to South Georgia.... All the seamen present then came forward and solemnly shook hands with us in turn. Coming from brother seamen, men of our own cloth and members of a great seafaring race like the Norwegians, this was a wonderful tribute. (The Endurance, pages 166-167).

The second thing I found so moving about Alexander's account was the skillful and authentic way she weaves Hurley's unbelievably stark and beautiful photographs into the fabric of this story. Most moving of all, though, is the absence of photographs during the voyage described above. Shackleton, who lived and led for his men, left them to bring help, and it is somehow fitting that we have the same sense of solitude and lack the tangibility of a photograph to reassure us about the well-being of the 22 men left behind.

Shackleton ("the Boss") to his men, was a true leader. In her conclusion, Alexander writes of him, "He would be remembered not so much for his own accomplishment -- the 1909 expedition that attained the farthest South -- as for what he was capable of drawing out of others." She goes on to quote Worsley:

Shackleton's popularity among those he led was due to the fact that he was not the sort of man who could do only big and spectacular things. When occasion demanded he would attend personally to the smallest details.... Sometimes it would appear to the thoughtless that his care amounted almost to fussiness, and it was only afterwards that we understood the supreme importance of his ceaseless watchfulness. (The Endurance, pages 193-194).

Alexander goes on to say, "Behind every calculated word and gesture lay the single-minded determination to do what was best for his men. At the core of Shackleton's gift for leadership in crisis was...the fact that he elicited from his men strength and endurance they had never imagined they possessed; he ennobled them."

I think the most interesting passages with respect to his leadership are those that deal with the obvious INCREASED strain that Shackleton experienced after HE was safe but 22 of his men remained stranded on Elephant Island, even after 2 attempts to reach them. Again, Worsley's insight is revealing: "The wear and tear of this period was dreadful. To Shackleton it was little less than maddening. Lines scored themselves on his face more deeply day by day; his thick, dark, wavy hair was becoming silver. He had not had a grey hair when we started out to rescue our men the first time. Now on the third journey, he was grey-haired."

When Shackleton finally reached Elephant Island and realized that all his men had survived, Worsley writes, "He put his glasses back in their case and turned to me, his face showing more emotion than I had ever known it show before...we were all unable to speak. It sounds trite, but years literally seemed to drop from him as he stood before us."

In my estimation, this is the true quality of a leader: he leads his people, but more than anything, he leads FOR his people.

Could have been better, August 30, 1999
The story of Shakleton's Endurance expedition is my all-time favorite, having discovered it after I found out that my ancestor was one of the heros (Tom Crean). This book's highlights were the extra unpublished photographs and the details of the lives of the survivors after they made it back to civilisation. However this books fault (and a major one) is that it details the time on the Endurance and on the ice floes at the expense of the stories about the two boat journeys and the crossing of South Georgia. The crossings of Drake passage and South Georgia are almost rushed through (I can't even remember Drakes Passage even being mentioned). All the drama of the voyage of the James Caird, probably the greatest boat voyage ever undertaked, and the brilliance of Worsley's navigation are completely lost in the authors effort to tell us about the lives of the men on Elephant Island, especially Hurley of whom she is particularly fond. Frank Worsley's 'Shackleton's Boat Voyage' conveys all the drama and excitement of the voyage of the James Caird in vivid detail, while Alfred Lansings' 'Endurance' is without a doubt the best book written on the subject, a book I couldn't put down for a second, and I knew how it ended.

THE BEST BOOK!! YOU MUST READ IT!!, October 14, 1999
The Endurance by Caroline Alexander is a non fiction book about an explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew as they try to become the first explorers to cross Antarctica on foot. Sir Ernest Shackleton was one of the most known polar explorers of his day. Shackleton and his crew of 27 set out to sea on his boat Endurance on August 8th, 1914. The 28 men went down to Buenos Aries, Argentina then they continued to their last stop South Georgia Island which is in the southern Atlantic before they went to the pack ice and beyond. Once they got the ship into the pack ice they followed the cracks between each floe (leads) to try to get to the main land of Antarctica. Do they ever get home to England? Do they all even survive such a journey? This book was a heart racing kind of book. If you previously were not interested in history books The Endurance might change your opinion. I was impressed by how these men risked their lives freezing to death just to obtain their personal goals. The adventure of when they have to abandon ship will leave you hanging from your seat. The way Caroline Alexander wrote the book was engulfing . Her detail was thorough and she must have put many months of research on their journey. She also used clips from journals telling in the sailor's words what was happening and what was going on in their minds. I have read a few books about sailing the sea and The Endurance was the best one because of the way in which it was written. The photographer Frank Hurley took unbelievable shots of the whole expedition. The types of photos that were taken included, black & white stills, movies and color slides. The photographs look like they were taken recently by a digital camera instead of a Kodak in the early 1900's. Technically the pictures are crisp and clear for surviving the 22-month journey. This is a book that should be in every school library and all public libraries so everyone can experience The Endurance.

Better than Lansing, October 26, 2000
After reading this book, I bought and read the "classic" by Alfred Lansing and while it was a very good read, I believe Alexander's book to be the better one. She includes details about the crew and Shackleton and about their post-voyage lives that makes the story much more personal. In addition, she includes details of the journey which were left out of Lansing's book which left me with the impression that Lansing was "protecting" Shackleton against possible negative or critical comments--an entirely unnecessary thing to do given his incredible leadership of this voyage. For example, Lansing's book does not talk about the mental breakdown of several of the men after the boat trip to Elephant Isle nor about McNish's resentment of Shackleton for having to kill Mrs. Chippy. Nor does he mention Shackleton's and the other crew member's claims to have felt a "fourth presence" with them on the last climb over the mountains of S. Georgia. These details, together with the incredible photography included in Alexander's book, make her book the more complete and equally exciting rendition of this incredible voyage.

You've read the book, now go see the exhibition!, July 9, 2000
Caroline Alexander, author of this extraordinary book filled with breathtaking photographs, is guest curator of the traveling museum exhibition "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition." As unforgettable as the book is, the exhibition is even more spectacular! The greatly enlarged copies of the photographs, combined with artifacts, diaries, a reproduction of the James Caird lifeboat (frighteningly small) , and personal memorabilia contributed by the families of these explorers make Shackleton's voyage tangible, very much more than something in a book, even one as good as this one.

For those interested in seeing the exhibition, it is at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA from June 23 - Sept. 10, 2000. It will be at the Field Museum in Chicago from October 7 - Jan. 14, 2001. It will be at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences from Feb. 10 - May 6, 2001, and it will be at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington (in Seattle) from June 7 - Dec. 31, 2001.

Oustanding photographs, May 16, 1999
The story of Shakleton's trip to the antarctic is another truly amazing story of survival and recounts one of the last "heroic" adventures of exploring our globe. The event at its time was overshadowed by WW I, but for nearly two years Shakelton and his crew remained either ice bound or adrift on ice flows until landing on uninhabited Elephant Island. From there Shakleton and a small crew crossed the south Atlantic in an open boat in terrifying conditions, made an improbable land fall and were able to effect rescue of the entire crew without a single fatality. In todays world of synthetic fleece, goretex, lihtweight, waterproof thermally efficient gear it is nearly incomprehensible to imagine being cold and wet for two years in antarctic conditions, and surviving. This is a great story of human forbearance, patience, endurance and faith. The writing is a bit flat and at times it seems drudgery to get through, but the story is compelling. The writing is based on diaries and other accounts are heavily utilized. It is the great photography of voyage photographer Frank Hurley that makes this book rank 4 stars by our book club. Readers in our group also read Lansing's account and felt it to be a superior writing of the ill-fated voyage.

Read Alfred Lansing's Book, August 15, 2005
Several days after purchasing Caroline Alexander's, "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" from Amazon.com, I read a few customer reviews that recommended Alfred Lansing's 1959 classic: "Endurance: Shakelton's Incredible Journey." These reviews extolled Lansing's book, and pointed-out how Alexander's was essentially a rewrite of this earlier work. Consequently, I also purchased his book, and thoroughly enjoyed reading the two of them while on vacation a few weeks ago. (I had already begun Alexander's book -- so, completed it before beginning Lansing's.)

Alexander's book has one (and only one) distinct and obvious advantage over Lansing's -- the inclusion of scores of the original expedition photographs taken by Frank Hurley (the ship's photographer). These photos are incredible and make Alexander's book indispensable to anyone interested in Shakelton's Endurance expedition.

That said -- here's why I gave her book only ONE STAR. In the Acknowledgements" section of her book, Alexander makes only a one sentence reference to Lansing's earlier work -- something to the effect of, "An exciting sea adventure." (although more elaborately stated).

Yet, Lansing's "Endurance: Shakelton's Incredible Journey" is a far better account of the Endurance expedition than is Alexander's -- better written, longer (maybe 50% more narrative), far more detailed in its entirety, much more interesting and exciting to read, PLUS: IT WAS FIRST..!!

It surprises me that Alexander paid no real tribute to Lansing's earlier work -- which in many respects seems to have been simply reworded by Alexander. There are, for certain, some substantive differences between the two books (owing the the large amount of source materials, including crew diaries) -- but, on the whole, these are not of real significance; and on balance, Lansing's book tells the entire story much better than Alexander's and is a much more exciting read.

So, buy them both -- Alexander's for the photographs and supplemental information and Lansing's for the tremendous narrative and historical significance. But please Caroline: Give credit where credit is due...

Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antartic Expedition, January 30, 2000
I first read this book, and then I read Alfred Lansing's "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage." I enjoyed the pictures in this book, but found Lansing's description of the journey more engaging. My recommendation is to read Lansing's book together with using the pictures and maps in this book to help visualize the writers' stories.

Your human spirit will live with this book, January 3, 1999
Caroline Alexander's book touches something deep within our human spirit; challenge, hope, survival and love of life. For those who love to challenge themselves by the outdoors with the hope of great rewards these experiences can bring, read this book to understand how these pursuits can also provide very real dangers, except in this book the dangers go beyond one's imagination - twenty-two months in wet, sub-freezing conditions on ice, frozen lands and the Antartic's violent oceans.

If you have read or enjoy reading books and adventures like Krakauer's "Into Thin Air," this book is a MUST read.

Frank Hurley's photographs are excellent. Frank Hurley's committment to taking these pictures is unbelievable when considering the environmental conditions of this part of the world.

My emotions rose and fell with the reading of "The Endurance." The book is a well-written tribute to the 28 men of the expedition. These men are adventurers and heroes beyond description. I was pleased with Ms. Alexander's afterword, which described what became of each of them after their rescue, this completed the story.

A good introduction to the Endurance epic, June 11, 2000
This is the book that really started the current round of "Shackleton-mania" and it is a good introduction to the story of the Endurance Expedition, well written, researched, and, of course, beautifully illustrated with the classic photography of Frank Hurley. But it's important to view it only as an introduction. Heacox' "Shackleton-The Antarctic Challenge" goes into more detail, and Shackleton's own books "South" and "Heart of the Antarctic" are also must-reads, while Lennard Bickel's "Shackleton's Forgotten Men" chronicles the little-known adventures of the Ross Sea party of the Endurance Expedition. So if this book leaves you wanting more, go on to those other titles. Alexander's book also suffers badly from not having an index. I still highly recommend it for its writing style and the wonderful reproductions of Hurley's photographs. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This is the true story of a young American missionary woman courage and triump of faith in the jungles of New Guinea and her four years in a notorious Japanese prison camp. Never to see her husband again, she was forced to sign a confession to a crime she did not commit and face the executioner's sword, only to be miraculously spared.

Reviews

A testimony to one woman's faith and walk with God, May 20, 2003
"I will never leave thee" was the title to the Focus on the Family radio program narrated by Darlene Diebler Rose. In it she tells about her incredible trials and experiences while a prisoner in a Japanese concentration camp. After listening to the program, and buying the CD, I wanted to know and learn more from this tremendous woman, so I bought the book.

Darlene was a young missionary bride when she arrived in Dutch New Guinea to win untouched tribes to Christ. She and her husband had around one year in the field, winning a few converts but ended up imprisoned in separate prison camps. Darlene endured tremendous hardships yet kept her wits about her and walked by faith, always asking God for guidance. Whenever she lost faith and cried to God, He answered her by giving her His peace and assuring her that He would never leave her nor forsake her. He also gave encouragement and answers to her prayers, such as the time she was starving and dying in the dungeon in solitary confinement and she prayed for just one single tiny banana, and God brought the Japanese camp commander to visit her and gift her 92 bananas! [The story of the camp commander Mr. Yamaji is interesting in its own right, and without giving it away, I'll just say Darlene's living right with God had a great effect on him]. While in solitary confinement, Darlene spent her time walking with the Saviour, talking with Him, and playing in her mind the scripture that she had memorized as a girl. She had psalms, hymns, and even entire chapters memorized, and the right line at the right time seemed to pop into her remembrance and give her the answer she needed at that time. God's Hand could be seen protecting her, as there were several circumstances where she could have lost her life had she not followed God's prompting.

What I learned from this book is that no matter what the circumstances, no matter how dismal the situation, those who know Jesus are never alone. I also learned that a Christian's testimony and the way they walk with God is observable by even the hardest and cruelest heart and can allow the Lord to change them.

This book was very hard to put down, and I definitely will want to be rereading it in the future for all of the inspiration and hope it gives. I only wish she had a sequel telling about the rest of her life in New Guinea [yes, she actually went back after the war].

A Face of Faith, June 16, 2000
I am privileged to call Darlene friend, and I first heard much of the material in this book from her own dear lips and read much of it before it was sent to the publisher. What you get with Darlene Rose is reality...real, true faith and reliance on God. She told me once that God only gives good gifts, it is only that some are wrapped in black paper and do not seem, on the face of things, to be good gifts at all. But the knowledge of God and His character enable you to rely on the fact that "all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord." She often spoke of passing the time of her imprisonment by "putting the needle down on the tracks of her mind and playing back the Scriptures she had memorized." She has memorized phenomenal amounts on Scripture, not just verses or even chapters, but entire books. Your time spent reading Darlene's words will be well spent and enable you to better have that faith, despite the fact that evidence is often not seen here on earth. Her faith building words will have an effect on the rest of your life if you let them. I can hear her sweet laughter, she never lost her sense of humor, even in the most dire of circumstances. The soldier who rescued her happened to be named Tom Sawyer, after 4 years of horror when he said "Hi, I'm Tom Sawyer" she replied with "Hi, I'm Becky Thatcher"! Read this book and know that you are reading words from the heart of the real thing, a truly godly woman.

Incredible triumph in the face of trials, February 22, 2002
This heartwarming, inspiring, challenging, well written book quickly shot to the top of the list of our family's favorites! I read it aloud to my family every evening at dinner time (FAR better than watching television!) and we were so gripped by the story that we would often sit around the table long after we were done eating, all other duties forgotten, reading page after page because no one could bear to stop listening!

Darlene Deibler Rose was an amazing young woman with a great talent for writing and a deep love for the Lord. She experienced far more trials in her lifetime than the average American, yet she never became bitter through any of them. She was such a good witness in the way she lived that even the Japanese commander of the prison noticed it. Her relationship with the Lord was living, breathing, alive, and active, not a dead "I go to church on Sundays" relationship. She held on to her faith even when she lost everything else she had. God was her refuge and her security, and sustained her through many events that could have devastated her had it not been for him.

This book is very refreshing and uplifting! It doesn't drag you down into the bleakness of prison or the mire of discouragement, although those things are very real and present in the book. It strengthens and encourages you, letting you know that no matter what trial you are facing, God will work everything for good in the end. I was moved to tears of joy at the end of the book, and now regard it as one of the very best books I have ever read. It reminds you that God never changes. Even when all else fails we can turn to Him for strength and support. I think there are many people whose lives are not right with the Lord even though everything is going well and times are prosperous. Here is a life that was wholly dedicated to God, no matter what He asked of her. She was being refined, as gold in a fire, and she came through pure and bright.

Everyone we have loaned or given this book to has enjoyed it immensely, and I know you will, too.

Tremendous Inspiration, April 3, 2002
This was one of the most interesting, awe-inspiring books that I have ever read. Darlene Deibler Rose was such a wonderful, courageous woman. Her life was such an inspiration to me to trust God, no matter what circumstance that comes to me in life. She was candidly honest, but I appreciated that. It was not offensive but encouraging. I would recommend this book to anyone. In fact, my copy of this book is now in the hands of my mother. After she reads it, she is going to give it to my sister. The book stressed upon me also the importance of scripture memorization, and I am going to encourage my daughter to encourage her little girls while they are young to memorize scripture. I would love to sit down in person and thank Mrs. Rose for her wonderful book!

Encouraging and uplifting, October 18, 2005
I have read countless memoirs of war days from a number of different events, but few focus on the abiding hand of God caring for people in spite of persecution.

Mrs. Rose's accounts of her time in a Japanese POW camp not only bring the experience to life, but, also her deep faith that her God would provide all her needs, no matter what happened.

For those of us "growing up" and raising children in a time where life is relatively easy, Mrs. Rose's story helps teach us about trusting God to provide and care for us, even when the going is tough.

A Rare Gem, August 2, 2001
I agree with the saying, "So many books, so little time" and rarely have re-read any book, let alone re-read a book immediately upon finishing it. THIS IS THE EXCEPTION. Upon reaching the last page I started over immediately, moved and enthralled and inspired by Mrs. Deibler Rose's story. I cannot recommend it more highly, and am already stocking up on copies to give out with Christmas gifts for friends, family and neighbors. Thank you Mrs. Rose for your faithfulness to our Savior and your candidness in writing this part of your history. Pat D.

TRULLY AWESOME !!!!, August 21, 2004
I stongly recommend this book to any and everyone!!. It is by far the best missionary story I have ever read. Darlene's faith and trust in God is an amazing example that we should all be striving towards . It is a book that one can't put down, and very well written. Also the content is safe for reading to your children. Very inspiring!!!

Tremendous testimony!!!!!!!!!, August 27, 1999
I just reread this book. Of all the missionary biographies I have read, this one stands out above all the others. A tremendous love of the saviour in the midst of unbelievably complainable circumstances, Darlene demonstrates a faith that too few of us even fantacize about. As a very young woman, she left the shores of comfort to preach the gospel to a recently (as of 1940) discovered people group. However, God's plan for her was almost immediately top-sided resulting in her becoming a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp during World War II. A tremendous testimony.

Stunning, April 22, 2000
Simply stunning. Mrs. Deibler-Rose's compelling story of her ordeal is simply stunning. God's faithfulness....her courage, resourcefulness and diligence all "supernatural"....all of God. A must read. You will not be able to put it down, and your heart should run to the Saviour.

must read book, February 21, 2006
A fantastic book showing God's faithfulness to us. Very, very interesting and I think everyone should read. It is also a must for any church library. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The history of the birth of Australia which came out of the suffereing and brutality of England's infamous convict transportation system. With 16 pages of illustrations and 3 maps. ... Read more

Reviews

A Historical Masterpiece, May 3, 2001
As luck would have it, I recently had the opportunity to make a brief business trip to Australia. I knew very little about Australia and thought the best way to get some brief but non-superficial background would be to learn something of its history. I opted to read Robert Hughes's book which tells the story of Australia's founding and of its convict past. The book is lengthy, even too lengthy to complete on the 14 hour flights from the West Coast of the United States to Sydney and back. But the story was fascinating, and the book was well worth the attention and effort.

Hughes tells the story of the discovery of Australia, the decision of Great Britain to "transport" its convicted to the continent, the various kinds of lives the convicts found there, the aboriginal settlers and their treatment by the newcomers, and the ultimate creation of a new society. There are harrowing accounts of the passage from Britain to Australia in the convict ships, and still shocking accounts of the secondary places of punishment created in Australia for repeat offenders -- places such as Norfolk Island, Port Aurthur, and Macquarrie Bay. Hughes describes these nineteenth century camps as precursors of the Gulag in our own time, and I am afraid he is correct. They reminded me to of Andersonville Prison in our own Civil War but on a much broader, more wicked scale. The description of the prisons and barbaric punishments were to me the most vivid portions of the book.

Besides the horror stories, there is a great deal of nuanced, thoughtful writing in the book about the settlement and building of Australia and of the dangers of facile over-generalization about how the convicts fared, or about virtually any other historical subject. Some were able to serve out their sentences and rise to prosperity and a new life. Others were shamefully abused. The history of the aboriginal peoples too is described and it is an unhappy subject, alas.

Hughes begins with the early days of the transport and concludes when the system was finally abolished in the 1850's as a result of protests and of the Australian gold rush.

After reading this book, I thought I had realized my goal of learning something of Australia. More importantly, I felt part of the land even though I hadn't seen it before and will likely never see it again. Places that I read about and that were only names took on character and importance.

I have read a substantial amount of United States history but hadn't read about Australia before. This book is well-documented, eloquently written and has a feel for the pulse of its subject. It is an outstanding work of history and is sure to broaden the human perspective of the reader.

RH's "The Fatal Shore" made learning history a pleasure!, July 22, 1999
I have travelled to Australia, thus far, eight times since 1990. In all of my travels I have focused on learning the evolutionary significance of Australia's fascinating fauna, as well as the the culture of its people, past and present. But in all of my travels in Australia (I have yet to go to Tasmania) I have never learned so much about its people (non-Aboriginal) and their colonization, as I have from reading The Fatal Shore. I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a historian or even one who "likes" history. But Robert Hughes's book was so well written, and so insightful, that I can truly say I could not put it down. What I learned from this book really put my travels to Australia in perspective, and it made me want to learn so much more. If I could, I would give this book ten stars! This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who is interested in travel to Australia, or wants simply to learn about Australia's fascinating, albeit horrific, past. Robert Hughes has quite a talent for impecable research as well as for bringing his readers into the heart of unimaginable horrors. Australians need not be ashamed of their past (as is implied in the book) - on the contrary - they should relish in their success as a colorful and awe-inspiring nation (which is something they already do)!

A must read for non-fiction lovers, June 13, 2000
This colorful and splendidly researched history of Australia's founding is breathtaking in its scope. The book is not only a story of Australia's beginnings, but an impressively researched history on the political pressures in England that led to the founding of Australia as a penal colony and of the struggles over penal reform. Perhaps most fascinating, and Hughes never fails to communicate his own sense of fascination, is the microcosm Australia offers as a society founded from wholecloth and how it evolved into a complex society. I read this book right after reading Son of the Morning Star (another superb book) and was very much struck between the parallels between how Americans who settled the West viewed and treated Native Americans and the Australian settlers' views of the aborigines whom they slowly but surely displaced. The wonderful stories would stand on their own even if ineptly told, but they really come alive with Hughes' writing style, which would be the pride of any novelist...Bravo!

A blunt, fascinating and amazingly well-done work of history, October 5, 1999
Fatal Shore is a rare achievement in history writing: truly fascinating history by a wonderful writer. As a Time magazine writer and art critic, Robert Hughes obviously knows his way around the English language and shows it by crafting readable, entertaining history. But the book's true strength lies in Hughes' -- who is Australian -- brutally honest assessment of his country's fascinating founding. Hughes' voice makes the reader feel like he is getting Australia's story from the famously blunt lips of an Aussie over a few beers in an outback tavern. And why not? Good history SHOULD be brutally honest, not watered down with political correctness or the dry touch of an academic. Particularly strong are sections in which Hughes tears down the fiction -- created by Australians as an defensive reflex against their less-than-proud background -- which says the country's first convict citizens were mostly unjustly convicted and primarily political prisoners. The book is peppered throughout with gritty anecdotes and based on solid and extensive research. I had no idea Australia's founding was this interesting. Hughes shows us what an incredible tale it really was.

A response to the idea of "Culture Cringe.", May 13, 1998
Sham history is still history. I've read reviews of this fine piece of scholarship, including some presented on this very page, which attempt to undermine its validity by claiming that much of its content is anecdotal; based on folk tales and hearsay. I can only respond by noting that this fact adds to the color and elegance of the text. Few historical theses can claim to be both scholarly and entertaining. This one is. It reads like a novel. It instructs like a textbook. Its arguments are convincing and substantive. Its stories are humorous and horrifying. My only disappointment, which is actually only indirectly related to the book, came from the text of Mr. Hughes' statement to the faculty of the University of Melbourne upon his receiving an honorary Doctor of Letters. He apologized for his lack of formal education. No apologies are necessary.

Devil's Island On A Continental Scale, July 19, 2003
This is one monumental and fascinating work, equivalent to a university course in the history of Australia's founding. It is at once easy to read and hard to get through. It took me two full weeks of reading 2 hours a day to finish it, due to the wealth of detail in each chapter. I found myself going over some paragraphs twice to pull it all in. Hughes also has a vocabulary that is of the highest order, so he kept me busy looking up quite a few unfamiliar words. I definitely increased my word power (ha). A good thing, always. It is also not laid out in a strict chronological order; rather, the chapters run over one another in their time periods because of the weaving of the overarching story of the transportation system and its genesis and oversight from England into the narrative. There were also distinct differences between Australia and Van Diemen's Land, and further subsets involving those prisons where repeat offenders were sent -- most notably, Norfolk Island.

I had only a vague idea of Botany Bay and the convict history of Australia before I read this book. Apparently, so did many Australians until quite recently as they sought to bury their hellish past and the stigma they associated with it by simply blotting it out of existence. Hughes cuts right to the core of this by exposing it all for what it really was -- brutal, savage, unjust and sad in the extreme. He does not look upon this with anything but a keen eye and evenhanded, masterful grasp of all of the factors that were in play. While certainly most of the convicts could hardly be judged guilty of anything more than the pettiest offense in our modern eyes - if any offense at all - there were indeed those who were hardened criminals. None, however, particularly the women and children, were worthy of the sadistic brutality heaped upon them by those in charge, some of who were clearly evil to the core.

For anyone who wants to really understand the truth of the convict history of the land down under, this book is absolutely essential reading. For anyone who wants to be immersed in the depths of human misery and suffering, and ultimately be inspired by what these poor souls endured to build the nation of Australia, this book is required reading.

The best history of convict Australia you will ever read, August 14, 2000
I am an Australian. I am also descended from a convict.

I knew very little about the convict experience in Australia apart from the story of the First Fleet which arrived in Sydney in 1788.

I have been to Tasmania and visited Port Arthur, the remnants of the convict prison. It is a ghostly, sad place, very reminiscient of European concentration camps.

Often convicts were sent to Australia for doing nothing but stealing a piece of bread. Robert Hughes' absorbing book is a poignant testimonial to their story. You will find no better book about early Australian convict history than this one.

"The Fatal Shore" must not be missed, February 14, 2001
You could not write fiction that is as entertaining as Robert Hughes' excellent research on the founding and colonization of Australia. This is one of the best historical pieces written regarding British social evolution in the 1700's ~ from the vantage point of being entertaining, usefully informative, and engaging. Excellent commentary on why "transportation" happened as it did, and why Australia became the destination ~ the reasons are social, cultural, as well as political. And fun facts abound ~ the British Colonies in America preceded Australia as the British destination for transported convicts (albeit in a different model), Norfolk Island had immense and surprising strategic value for all world navies because of two critical resources, the perception of Australia in the 1700's was far from glowing for many reasons, etc. If a history book can be a page-turner, this is the one that proves the rule.

A compelling and literate history of the early years of Australia, August 29, 2005
As an Australian it has taken me way to long to get around to reading this book. Now that I have finished it I have a much better understanding of the founding of my country.

As most Australians, school had taught me the basic of the founding of Australia as as a penal colony, where England shipped its "criminal class" to prevent the contamination of ordinary society. What I lacked was an understanding of how desperate the early years of the Australian Colonies truly were. What Hughes paints is the tale of a society being built by the almost slave labour of the convicts, ruled by an often tyrannical military, under constant threat of starvation, with an economy was based on the control of the only means of escape from daily reality - rum. It is important and relevant history.

I notice one reviewer complaining about Hughes historical facts? I found Hughes research to be extensive and exceedingly well documented. And how does the history presented in any way prevent Australia from becoming a happy and successful country? In many ways I suspect that the early inequity experienced by many of our colonists was key to the development of many of those qualities which we hold to be Australian such as mateship and the concept of a fair go.

exaggerated emphasis on blood, April 26, 2008
There's no doubt that the lash and hangman's rope played an important role in early New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). About 1830, the death rate by execution was about 1 per 1000 of the European population of NSW (30 per year out of 30,000). The first criminal trial in Australia led to a sentence of 150 lashes for being drunk and abusive. Thus began the operation of law in Australia, only a fortnight after the colony commenced. But a few months later, in Cable v Sinclair, two young convicts successfully sued the master of a first fleet ship because their luggage had gone missing on the voyage. English law would not have allowed attainted convicts to sue, let alone hold property. One of those convicts, Henry Kable, went on to a career as constable, jailer and merchant, even if his finances did crash spectacularly. This was a new land with a new approach to law and egalitarianism.
Hughes emphasises blood and the lash, glorying in it. He tells a great story, like an airport novel. But he doesn't tell us anything about the ordinary social and commercial life which began so quickly after the first colony began in 1788. He tells only half the story, and as a result, academic historians ignore his work. There are many much better histories of convict Australia than this. Try Grace Karskens, The Rocks, for a start.
Some of the men and women of early NSW were dishonest, gaining what they could when they could. That applied to officers as well as convicts. But they had relationships (often without marriage) and children, developed trade, lived their lives as well as they could. The surprise is that the place was so successful, not that it was so bloody. And of course the most significant blood lost was that of the indigenous people, a story not unique to Australia. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Worst Journey in the World recounts Robert Falcon Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Apsley Cherry-Garrard—the youngest member of Scott’s team and one of three men to make and survive the notorious Winter Journey—draws on his firsthand experiences as well as the diaries of his compatriots to create a stirring and detailed account of Scott’s legendary expedition. Cherry himself would be among the search party that discovered the corpses of Scott and his men, who had long since perished from starvation and brutal cold. It is through Cherry’s insightful narrative and keen descriptions that Scott and the other members of the expedition are fully memorialized. ... Read more

Reviews

Thrilling and tragic, January 22, 2008
Apsley Cherry-Garrard was only 24 when he set out on Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova expedition. He was the youngest member of the group and, for my money, the best qualified for the later task of writing the complete story. Why? The Worst Journey in the World is an awe-inspiring adventure, told in such a way that you feel the young man's wide-eyed wonder as your own.

Very few novels have gripped and excited me as this book has, and far fewer nonfiction works. Cherry--as his friends called him--writes with a vigor and attention to detail and drama usually reserved for thrillers. The blizzards, storms at sea, killer whale attacks, sub-zero temperatures, and exhausting struggles with sled dogs, ponies, and yawning crevasses are vividly depicted. By the end of the book, you almost feel as though you've been on the journey with him. The "you are there" phenomenon is something I encounter very seldom in a book. This book actually managed to make me cold.

The Worst Journey in the World is not solely devoted to the adventure and the final tragedy of finding Scott and his men frozen to death. Cherry takes time out to comment on the scientific significance of their work in Antarctica, of the need for exploration regardless of immediate results, and, in conclusion, of why Scott's return from the Pole ended so bitterly. These sections of the work put the adventure into perspective, so that not only do you experience the good and bad times with the expedition, you learn what ideals drove them and what was at stake with every piece of bad luck.

The book isn't perfect, of course. Some of the scientific information Cherry relates is, of course, now outdated. The book starts off rather slowly, and the reader must pick up and remember the names of the other expeditionary members on their own--Cherry does not list or describe the others in detail until somewhere near the middle of the book.

That said, The Worst Journey in the World is still an outstanding nonfiction adventure. Once I started this book I could read nothing else. Anyone with an interest in the Antarctic, history, or exploration in general will find this book fascinating.

Highly recommended.

An Adventure book Inside a History Book, April 6, 2006
In 1911-1912 the author as a young man was part of the ill fated
Robert Falcon Scott British Expedition to be the "first" at the South Pole. The larger history of that effort's limited success and the stories of the lives lost is a well told as historical fact. Within the book lies the Chapter about the author's effort with two other companions to travel in a winter journey for the purpose of observing Emperor penguins in their nesting rookeries. This is the coldest journey "on record" with howling winds at -70 degrees f under total darkness climbing between open crevasses that were endlessly deep to retrieve a few unhatched eggs for scientific research. Once you've read this author's rendition of that "worst journey" no other adventure travelog can compare. Good reading and most unforgettable.

In this case, Worst Journey is no conceit, May 3, 2008
It's been more than ten years since I read Cherry-Garrard's account of Scott's journey to Antarctica, but I can still feel the lung-searing cold and hear the hellish, monstrous wind coming out of the center of the continent into which the journey was headed. I have never read of anything more terrible than this expedition including Shackleton's truncated Antarctic nightmare and Lewis and Clark's astonishing and dangerous overland haul from St. Louis to the Pacific.

This particular expedition was one terrible misadventure after another almost from the very start when there is a storm at sea right out of the gate as the ship carrying everyone and everything from Tierra del Fuego is swamped and so much food, materiel, and livestock are lost overboard. From there the bad luck never seems to stop. The very fact that these men continued on under circumstances that would have discouraged and then defeated most human beings is almost past credibility. In particular I remember the constant breaking down of the diesel-engined snow cats, the terrible fate of the Asian ponies, the leopard seals, and the long dark impossible trip that Garrard and one other member of the expedition take in the dead of the Antarctic winter to the Emperor Penguin breeding grounds to retrieve a few precious eggs for science. In winter. In the dark. Wearing 1911 woolen clothes, eating preseved 1911 food, and using 1911 (non-)technology. It took 1911 men to do it. I cannot imagine anyone from our time doing this with that equipment. At times I simply had to stop reading and wonder just how much more hardship human beings could stand. I've never felt so physically uncomfortable, so drained and so worried (as a mere reader!) as I was ploughing through this book which was a feat (the writing of it) in itself.

This is a story about a long-vanished era where grit and determination were measured on a different scale from what we see today. An absolute must for any lover of true adventure. It truly was the worst journey in the world against which any subsequent mission of its kind - including extra-terrestrial - must be judged.

One of the Best!, December 27, 2006
This book is the author's account of his own journey to find the Emperor penguins nesting grounds in the Antarctic winter, set into the context of Scott's final journey to the South Pole.

As should any really good book, it opened doors to new learning, as it informed about a subject about which I previously knew little, with interest level to match.

What struck me most is reading about unusual Antarctic ice melt conditons nearly 100 years ago, when human-induced 'global warming' could not have been an issue, at least so far as vehicle (and aircraft) pollution is concerned. I could be wrong, of course, but I began to see a bigger picture. That global warming is real and that polluting is bad are givens; that we can do much about the former is likely a conceit.

Also fascinating were the accounts of the nature of killer whales: Prior to this, I had assumed all killer whales were the loveable scamps shown in marine theme parks. Now? I give them a wide berth.

Apsley-Garrard's high regard for his fellow explorers and his gift for description make this book a joy to read. I only wish the editor/publisher had included (preferably inside the front or back cover) a proper map or graphic listing the place names mentioned in the text. The reader has to keep guessing, flipping or seeking out another map source to follow the journeys.

National Geographic ranks this book first on its list of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time. Also, see the DVD March of the Penguins, for the excellent 53-minute film on the making of the movie. This will give some idea of current challenges on a Winter Journey.

Information about editions, January 6, 2009
`The Worst Journey in the World` (1922) is often cited as a masterpiece of travel literature. It is number one on National Geographic's list of 100 all time best travel literature, and is the first title in the prestigious Picador Travel Classics series. A. Alvarez has praised its "perfect prose: lucid, vivid, bone-simple, and full of feeling." The expedition was literary from the start and the "good modern fiction" the party brought along included Thackery, Charlotte Bronte, Bulwer-Lytton and Dickens. The poetry packed to the pole on the final fateful journey was Browning and Tennyson. Authors who stirred discussions included Shaw and Wells. Authors who were friends with members of the expedition included Galsworthy and Barrie. Robert Louis Stevenson is often mentioned. Each of the chapters of the book begins with poetry fragment from Shakespeare, Browning, Huxley, etc.. even the structure of the book is literary, re-telling the same events from different perspectives, building up to the climatic discovery of the fate of Scott. Cherry himself often delights with brilliant insightful views on travel, man, the meaning of life. This is Travel "Literature" with a capital L.

Apsley Cherry-Garrad ("Cherry") was the wealthy heir of two estates who joined Scott's team as an assistant zoologist at the age of 24. He was educated at Oxford in Classics and modern history. In the tradition of the British amateur explorer he took on multiple roles, ultimately becoming the expeditions historian. He wrote Journey using the diaries of the team in the years after WWI while recovering from an illness.

From their base camp at McMurdo Sound the three-year expedition made a number of trips composed of different groups. The trip to the pole by Scott is the most famous, but there were others. The title of the book, "Worst Journey", actually refers to a 67-mile 5-week trip by three members, including Cherry, in what at the time was twice as long as any previous Antarctic journey on the open ice. It only composes about 1/8th of the books length but is probably the most remarkable. They survived -70 degree temperatures and hurricane storms with primitive gear made from leather and canvas while man-hauling multi-hundred pound sleds and living on 4000 calories or less per day of nearly vitamin-free biscuits and pemmican (considered "adequate" at the time, today twice that is usual for explorers). Cherry interlaces his narrative with allusions to Dante, The Pilgrims Progress and Walt Whitman all the while maintaining that plucky cheery Edwardian foolhardiness that would run aground in the trenches of WWI. Cherry's teeth shattered from the cold, killing the nerves.

The retelling of Scott's trip to the Pole is equally gripping, and "horrific", also living up to the books title. In later years Cherry suffered from survivors guilt and wrote `Postscript to the Worst Journey in the World` (1948) in which he severely reproaches himself for not doing more to save Scott and the party. Cherry died in 1959.

EDITIONS: Only some editions contain this Postscript. The Penguin edition does not. Officially it was re-printed in the 1951 edition, and maybe in the 1994 Picador Travel Classics edition with an Introduction by Paul Theroux (Update: probably not. See comments to this review below). It should also be noted the 1951 edition was "corrected by the author" so it probably contains other changes - these changes I think might be reflected in the Picador edition (although not sure), but for sure not in the Penguin edition which is based on the 1922 text, as most are since it is now in the public domain.

Stark and stunning, November 17, 2009
Having enjoyed books on the subject of Shackleton's attempt at the South Pole, a friend suggested I check out this book concerning Scott's journey. The irony of these two stories is that Shackleton's trip (detailed very well in the book Endurance) was a failure in all regards except for the fact that he brought home every man in his group alive, whereas Scott's journey was successful at reaching the pole but then suffered multiple casualties.
The Worst Journey in the World is an amazing read, but very difficult at times. It's assumed that the reader knows a decent bit about polar expeditions as you are dumped into terminology and basic maneuvers with no explanation. I had very little knowledge of such things and found myself looking up words fairly often and rereading passages to understand what "hoosh" was or what the point of depoting supplies is. The result is that I learned a lot and eventually came to read this book on it's terms, which was highly enjoyable. However a quick crash course on polar exploration in the early 20th century wouldn't have been the worst idea before starting this read.
With all of that out of the way I have nothing left but praise. Making heavy use of the actual journals and diaries of the explorers this book gives the reader a delicious sense of immediacy. The title trip, for example, in which a three man team makes a journey in the dead of the antarctic winter to retrieve some penguin eggs for study, is one of the more gripping accounts I have ever read anywhere. Likewise, the final words and notes from Scott himself, recovered after his death, as he attempts to stumble and slog his way back from the pole during a freak blizzard are heartbreaking.
I highly recommend this book but am also compelled to give warning that it can get a bit technical at times and requires some outside knowledge for decent comprehension.

An unforgettable journey, July 11, 2009
The story of an unforgettable journey. This book has details of the journeys undertaken in 1910-1912 by the men of this polar expedition. Their courage and "never give up" attitude are a testament of the type of men they were. Reading the account of their adventures from the diaries of several different men gives a more complete perspective than the diary of one man could give. Definitely an exciting book. Leaves you in awe of what they achieved with no more than they had almost 100 years ago. They were true explorers.

Antarctic Thriller, June 10, 2009
An adventure story just doesn't get any better than this, and what adds to the readers pleasure is that it is all true. I was fortunate enough to read this while on an Antarctic cruise. The descriptions of Antarctica and the conditions faced by this expedition are terrific. This book is about character, endurance, hope, tragedy, and ultimately, wonder and awe !

Not As Good As I Hoped, May 10, 2010
I bought this with three other adventure books awhile back. This one was consistently ranked on the top of non-fiction adventure books.

There is no doubt that the Winter Journey that the author went on with 2 others is indeed the Worst Journey in the World. However, in my opinion, I had several issues with the book that I didn't expect based on all the great reviews:

1. I found much of it boring. Many pages are dedicated to the travel on the boat and observations of animals. I understand that this was pioneering scientific work, but not what I was expecting in a adventure book. Roughly half the book is not about adventure, but scientific observations.
2. I found much of it hard to read. This was either due to specific exploration terms or maybe British words that I am not familiar with, but I had a hard time following along. There were several trips made in preparation of the Polar Journey to establish camps for the trip to and from the pole. I didn't find the author clear on which ones were being established and why. I was left wondering what just happened and why.
3. The key aspects were clear: The Winter Journey (Worst Journey in the World), the Polar Journey, and the Search Journey. This was the best part of the book. As I mentioned, this was less than half the book. However, in this part, I found the writing to be poor. I guess it's because it is more of a compilation of journals, then it is a book written by an author. Sadly, I think many of the stories were far worse in reality than the author is capable of portraying due to a lack of being a skilled author.

In all, it was undoubtedly a true tale of two horrible journeys (Winter and Polar). My complaints are in the remaining 300+ pages. This is a scientific book that would prepare you if you were to make the same trip they did. It would be very beneficial in telling you what you should take and what mistakes they made. However, reading this book today, I am not interested in this. I was looking for an adventure book. 200 of the 560 pages mostly delivered on this.

So far, Into Thin Air, is my favorite non-fiction adventure book. It has the advantage of the first person's account being that of an author who knows how to descriptively tell what happened.

-77F with gale force winds..., January 4, 2010
This should not be one's first read of Antarctic journeys but is a 'must read' in the broader collective of work of explorations before modern technology and clothing, media hype, and corporate sponsorship. The book is extremely well-written in a journal style. I'm not sure that the tremendous effort of man-hauling sledges, crevasse crossings and rescues, and facing -77F and gale force winds is sufficiently descriptive. Scott perished but 11 miles from supplies of oil and food and that perhaps best notes him in Antarctic exploration. His somewhat obvious poor choices in the use of motor sledges(for hauling) and ponies (for hauling and food)are underplayed because of the journal style. The early descriptions of killer whales navigating and busting through sea ice in an attempt to eat them, their ponies, and their dogs is noteworthy. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

The Rise and Fall of a Japanese Stronghold Part I!, May 23, 2010
Second only to Truk in notoriety, the Japanese base at Rabaul, New Britain played a pivotal role in the fighting in the Southwest Pacific in World War II. It was a well-fortified stronghold in its own right bristling with hundreds of AAA guns, scores of fighters and bombers and possessing a fine harbor. Just as importantly, it served as a conduit funneling various Japanese air, land and sea units southward to Guadalcanal and other areas. Fresh from his marvelous LARK FORCE book, noted military historian Bruce Gamble recounts the creation and evolution of Rabaul as a major Japanese base and the ever-increasing Allied air efforts to derail that developmeht.

Captured by the Japanese in early 1942, Rabaul was swiftly developed, eventually boasting of a number of airfields that could hold hundreds of IJN/IJAAF warbirds. Its Simpson Harbor was developed and was soon crowded with dozens of merchantmen and warships. Gamble skilfully interweaves the growth of Rabaul with other military developments in the SWPA in the early war years to underscore Rabaul's steadily growing importance to the Japanese war effort. For instance, aircraft from Rabaul pounded various Allied targets including Port Moresby, Guadalcanal (following its capture in August 1942) and American carrier units in the Coral Sea. Shipping from Simpson Harbor transported troops and equipment to various islands to establish and develop bases including airfields and so on.

As shown in FORTRESS RABAUL, the American response to Rabaul's growth took the form of air attacks. Initially the attacks were feeble and ineffectual. Following George Kenney's arrival to the SWPA, the Americans began a very slow but steady build-up of air units that, in time, would mount devastating attacks on Rabaul. By the close of Gamble's book, Kenney's 5th Air Force was becoming a more effective force, in part because of growing aircraft numbers but also because of effective tactics like skip-bombing. The post-April 1943 air attacks that later left Rabaul withering on the vine would seem to be the subject of Gamble's next book; here's hoping!

In summary, Gamble does an excellent job of utilizing Japanese and American records, reports and reminiscences to create an all-encompassing view of Rabaul's crucial role in the Pacific war. He easily shifts between high-level American or Japanese conferences to in-the-cockpit descriptions of bombing hops and air combats. He also practices some myth-busting and record-correcting in recounting who-did-what-when. All in all, FORTRESS RABAUL is great history...and a great read. Highly recommended.

Excellant with a reservation, May 10, 2010
Review of:

Fortress Rabaul, The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943
by Bruce Gamble

The Allied effort again the island of New Britain, specifically, Rabaul, was a long and bloody chapter in the war against Japan. Aside from some official, generalized histories, or books written with some specific focus, there has not been a detailed study of the American, Australian and New Zealand effort in this campaign. This book changes that.

The author is just known for his superb history of Greg Boyington and the "Black Sheep" Marine squadron in two previous books. In these, he told a masterfully researched and apocryphal narrative telling it like it was, both good and bad. This book is no different. The best part is his integration of Japanese stories and records, comparing both sides' claims and reality--most eye opening. He does not spare McArthur, Kenny, or the Japanese commanders with their errors and shortsightedness, especially Kenny. The effort of both sides was tremendous and much rode on who won what and dominated the skies over the area.

However, there is disappointment. Even though the title says so, it is a great disappointment that the story ends with the killing of Adm. Yamamoto in April 1943. While he does not say so, it is as if the author considers the story over. However, there were great air battles in the Fall of 1943 and well into 1944 as the Allies worked to reduce Rabaul to impotence as well as take the main Japanese naval base, Truk, out of the picture. Perhaps there is a second volume?

Aside from that disappointment, the book is very well done and worth a read.

Mr. Gamble does an excellent job telling the story!, June 11, 2010
Bruce Gamble's "Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942 - April 1943" is a magnificent and important work on this often neglected part of World War II. Mr. Gamble has paid the price in research. The accounts he collected from participants in the campaign, the US and Australian archives, and the official records of the US, Australian, and Japanese clarify and punctuate the events.

You experience Rabaul and New Britain through his graphic description of the topography and weather. You get a clear understand of the volcanic origins of the Rabaul and the impact the volcanoes and volcanic activity to include earthquakes have on the land and inhabitants.

Mr. Gamble does an excellent job telling the story. I read the book in one week while on vacation. I found it that compelling and entertaining. The author does an exceptional job telling the story. I was floored by the account of the bombing of the Komaki Maru. "The Komaki Maru shuddered under the impact of the two hits, which ignited the cargo of aviation fuel. 'A few seconds later,' recalled an Australian eyewitness, 'the ship was an inferno and the roar of the flames almost drowned out the screams of the Japanese trapped aboard.'

The narrative reads with all the vigor and imagery of a novel. The chapter Medal of Honor: Lieutenant Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare reads like a Hollywood action movie. We learn the story of the man whose name graces O'Hare Airport in Chicago. We see how his action saved the USS Lexington and won him his nations highest military honor, the Medal of Honor. We learn the story of how he interposed his fighter between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers. We see how without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machine gun and cannon fire. We find out that by his gallant and courageous action, his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition that he shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. As a result of his gallant action--one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation--he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage.

Other Medal of Honor stories like that of Harl Pease, Jr are include. The book is excellent. It is a must read for any military or aviation history buff. It would make a great addition to any community or university library.

A nice book on a little known subject, July 18, 2010
A fascination of mine for some time has been the air war in the South West Pacific; the Japanese having overwhelming force, the Allies holding on by a thread, and then watching both sides stumble forward; got to love it. In this case, Mr. Gamble tackles the capture of Rabaul by the Japanese and the early Allied air missions against it (thru the Battle of the Bismarck Sea). Because of the impact of New Guinea and the Solomon's to Rabaul, Mr. Gamble also describes the air war over New Guinea and the Solomon's.

In reading this book two books were immediately brought to mind, Fire In The Sky: The Air War In The South Pacific(Eric M. Bergerud) and Into the Dragon's Jaws/the Fifth Air Force over Rabaul, 1943(by Lex McAulay). Fire in the Sky is my gold standard for the air war in the South Pacific and Into the Dragon's deals with the later raids on Rabaul. Fortress Rabaul is a good description of what happened in the early part of the war to Rabaul but doesn't rise to the level Fire in the Sky did. While Mr. Gamble does a good job presenting his story of the air war over Rabaul, I wasn't totally a part of it. Parts of his work were very nicely done (his section on the capture of Rabaul and the actions of the USS Lexington around Rabaul and in the Coral Sea) while others went from complete works to nicely done (I'm sorry, I was underwhelmed with the attention paid to the war in New Guinea. No attention was paid to Milne Bay or Buna, both of which contributed to the air war over Rabaul. His description of the Battle of the Bismarck Sea was only ok). This is complicated by not talking about the Japanese restructuring their forces so that their Army Air Force was responsible for New Guinea and the Navy had New Britain. This became very important during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea). Descriptions are usually very good, accuracy aligns with other sources in general (more on that later). The pictures are nice and there's a nice map of the Rabaul area. With all of this in mind, I'm calling this one a 4 star book that's good for the war at Rabaul but weaker as you go away from Rabaul. Having said that, I'll be looking forward to Mr. Gamble's next work to see how it compares to Into the Dragon's Jaws.

Banging your head against the wall of Rabaul, August 4, 2010
Fortress Rabaul by Bruce Gamble is an extensive history of one of the main Japanese Pacific strong points during World War II. For every plan they made, the Americans had to take Rabaul into account, like a little sliver that constantly calls attention to itself until it's removed (if the sliver were actually so fortified that it could destroy any tweezers you tried to use to remove it). If the Australians knew what Rabaul would become for the Japanese, would they have let it go so easily? As strapped as they were at the beginning of the war, they might have. Gamble considers all of this in an excellent overview of the war in the Southwest Pacific.

Gamble starts the book with a brief history of Rabaul and the island of New Britain, on which it resides. Rabaul makes a perfect harbour: it has many deepwater anchorages and a ring of mountains around it that makes it very hard to bomb by air. It also sits on top of a seismic time bomb, with constant little earthquakes and volcanoes that occasionally spill out ash and flame. The Australians occupied it after World War I, but it was one of the first islands assaulted by the Japanese after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The practically token Australian force holding the island was overrun almost immediately, and the Japanese started building what would become one of the best-known (and most feared) fortresses in all of the Pacific. The Australians, and then the Americans, tried to bomb it into submission, attempting to keep it from inhibiting Allied operations in the Southwest Pacific, but were never truly successful. Gamble details all of this thoroughly, with raid after raid conducted both at Rabaul and from Rabaul as both sides tried to destroy the air capability of the other.

It does get a bit monotonous at times, all of the constant back and forth, with Gamble including the number of bombers involved in the attacks (and how many didn't take part because of mechanical failure) and the usually inflated results. He continually highlights these inflated claims, often stating the claimed losses and then, using records from the other side, telling us the actual damage done.

However, just when things start to get too boring, some twist happens, whether it's a new bombing technique or some other events that end up changing the dynamic of the entire situation. At times, Gamble breaks it up by talking about the Australian prisoners on New Britain and how horribly they were treated. Or he'll talk about the constant tension between American admirals and generals as they debate the best ways to neutralize Rabaul (the reader can tell that Gamble has no time for General MacArthur, for example). We get an angle on some of the most famous Pacific battles (Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal) from a different standpoint as we see how Rabaul affected them.

While reading about the constant air strikes back and forth might get tedious after a while in other books, Gamble never lets that happen in Fortress Rabaul. His interesting prose style will keep you reading despite the relative sameness of the action. He relates some choice detail for both the events as well as the personalities behind them. Having access to the Japanese military archives greatly helps; he is able to give both sides of the story as well as confirm the truth behind some of the more outlandish claims of damage.

Gamble ends the book with an extremely detailed account of the death of Admiral Yamamoto, the most acclaimed Japanese naval war leader of all time. Having broken the Japanese codes, the Americans knew to the minute where he was going to be as he made the trip to inspect some of the Japanese defenses in the Southwest Pacific. Gamble also discusses the controversy that has surrounded the attack even to this day. Just who shot down Yamamoto's plane? Who gets credit for basically beheading the Japanese military machine? That battle still rages.

One of the few faults with Fortress Rabaul is the "notes" system. Once again, my least favorite notes system is utilized - each note just quotes a sentence fragment from the chapter and then tells you the source for that information. This requires the reader to constantly be checking the notes section to see if there is anything there. At the very least, there should be a superscript number in the main body of text so that the reader knows there's a note attached. Whenever I see this note system, I basically ignore them all. I may glance at it occasionally, but it takes me out of my reading rhythm.

That's the only real fault I can think of with this book. Otherwise, it's an excellent history of a little-discussed aspect of World War II, at least in the "public" history book genre. While Rabaul is often mentioned in other books, it's always done so in relation to the subject matter of that particular book. This is the first time I've ever read a book that's actually about Rabaul. An interesting history indeed. I can't wait for Gamble's follow-up.

Originally published on Curled Up With a Good Book. � David Roy, 2010

Editorial Review

America’s first frontier was not the West; it was the sea—and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his bestselling In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen—the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842. On a scale that dwarfed the journey of Lewis and Clark, six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean—and ended up naming the newly discovered continent of Antarctica, collecting what would become the basis of the Smithsonian Institution, and much more. ... Read more

Reviews

Rescued from His Own Obscurity, January 7, 2004
You have heard of Lewis and Clark, but you probably never heard of the US South Seas Exploring Expedition of 1838. If its leader, US Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, had had his way, the Ex. Ex., as it was known, would still have been sung internationally for the inarguably tremendous contributions it made to geography, biology, and simple adventure. In addition, it started the still-lasting partnership between the US government and the sciences that, say, does the exploring upon Mars. Wilkes, to a large extent, made the expedition successful, and also defeated himself by preventing it from being universally celebrated. _Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, The U. S. Exploring Expedition 1838 - 1842_ (Viking) by Nathaniel Philbrick tells an amazing adventure yarn of real explorers, and real human flaws that by turns endangered and enabled the exploration efforts.

There were unprecedented logistical tasks in assembling the expedition, which at its start consisted of six ships and 346 men (including nine scientists). Senior officers had trouble putting the expedition together, and the Navy gave the task to the forty-year-old Lieutenant Wilkes. Philbrick writes, "Wilkes was a great man. But he was also vain, impulsive, and often cruel." He took offense easily, and would not be placated by offenders. He remained aloof from his officers. When things went wrong, he was quick to assume that his men had been incompetent or malevolent. Philbrick concludes that a more self-confident and capable leader probably would not have brought the expedition greater success, although it could have brought greater on-board contentment and post-expedition fame. With his enormous flaws, Wilkes was resilient and resourceful, and the list of accomplishments chalked up by the expedition is long. For instance, they brought back forty tons of biological and anthropological specimens, many of which became the foundation for the collections displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. But upon his return, Wilkes was court-martialed for his many real abuses, and some that were not real, such as a charge that he falsified surveying sightings. While he got off lightly, and became recognized as a naval hero in the Civil War, and even an Admiral, he is not the recognized hero that, say, Scott or Shackleton is.

His flaws brought on his obscurity, which Philbrick's engaging volume will at least partially correct. There are literary theorists who say that Wilkes was the model for Ahab, and Melville did indeed know of the expedition and its outcome. A closer literary fit, because of his distrust of his subordinates, would be Captain Queeg of _The Caine Mutiny_. Philbrick, in _In the Heart of the Sea_, previously made exciting the tale of the doomed whaleship _Essex_, and there is plenty of nautical excitement in his story of this expedition as well. There is less of a tale of men against nature here, though, and more of the conflict of commander against officers, and of a man against himself.

Excellent, November 25, 2003
This author writes very well and captivates you from the first pages. The history of this voyage is fascinating and was unknown to me. That, combined with the well drawn characters make for a very interesting and enjoyable read. This author manages to write a historical story that keeps you interested without having to "invent" dialogue or enhance the characters to make them more interesting.

I read this author's In the Heart of the Sea (Excellent!), and became interested in the seafaring genre and can also recommend Batavia's Graveyard (riveting) and the Pirate Hunter.

Riveting Adventure, November 17, 2005
This book was a very enjoyable read to me, and would likely be so for anyone interested in the age of exploration, nautical adventure, or travels to exotic lands. It tells the complete story of a four year long expedition launched by the U.S. Navy to basically complete the map of the Pacific, primarily told from the point of view of the young officers, most experiencing their first major responsibility and command.

The book is comprehensive and chronological, starting with the intial concepts of the exploratory expedition which were cooked up by some very whacky people, including one who thought that at the south pole there would be a giant cave entrance to the middle of the earth! The tale then progresses in a manner that mirrors the nation's rise in scientific, technological, and military prowess. The exploratory expedition was itself intended to announce to the world that the U.S. could master the domain of the European powers of the day, specifically the naval power, expansionism, and spirit of discovery enshrined in the voyages of exploration to the last ends of the Earth. The voyage itself spurred the nation to develop the scientific and naval capabilities that helped to solidify the national character.

The voyage was headed by a strong willed, intelligent, but ultimately paranoid and cruel martinet. The contrast between his fortitude to keep the expedition moving forward and his capricious capacity for punishment, as told by the junior officers who had to walk the line between following orders and preventing desertion and mutiny among the ranks, was very interesting and well expressed by the author. This was the backdrop for a years long voyage that was at times both gruelling and exhilirating.

The voyage left the Eastern coast of the United States, followed the coast down South America, and spent a huge amount of time in the Pacific, making the first land sighting of Antarctica (beating rival British and French expeditions by mere hours), surveying endless strings of islands particularly around Fiji and Samoa, visiting Australia, Hawaii, and the Pacific Northwest. After stops in Japan and the Far East the trip was capstoned by a circumnavigation of the world back to the East coast via the Indian Ocean and Africa. The actuality of going straight from the extreme cold and desolation of Antarctica to the heat, humidity, and foreign, warlike cultures of Fiji must have been quite an experience.

After four years of reeling under the boot of their commander the expedition ended in political turmoil as a vitroilic and lengthy court martial ensued. Unfortunately this court martial left the nation with a bad taste in its mouth, which probably explains why the exploratory expedition, despite its significant scientific and navigational successes, remains an unfortunately poorly known chapter in U.S. history. Hopefully this very readable book will start to correct this oversight.

Highly recommended!

A Glory of a book!, December 31, 2003
I am really at a loss on how to convey Philbrick's epic story and accomplishment to you. Unlike his last book, In the Heart of the Sea (which is a tremendous favorite of mine) which was an adventure story of survival Mr. Philbrick's SEA OF GLORY is a major contribution to U. S. History. How is it possible, that I had not heard of this expedition, it's results, it's contribution to the Smithsonian and science. Philbrick's answer is to blame its strange leader, Lieutenant Charles Wilkes. Yet the telling puts lots of blame on politics and personality as they impact history. But the great thing is, that although many may have been aware of this expedition, Mr. Philbrick has brought it alive for the general reader, and I suspect to the lesson plans of many U. S. History classes. Having just read OVER THE EDGE OF THE WORLD about Magellan's voyage three hundred years earlier I found it a great prequel to the story of the Wilke's expedition that circumnavigated the world and accomplished some amazing things. One of Philbrick's real accomplishments is the personalization of the voyage, told through the one of the Expeditions officers, William Reynolds who at first idolizes his commander only to form a "hate" that even colors his own judgement and ability to fairly assess the Exhibitions results. This personal story makes this narrative more compelling and entertaining. I highly recommend Sea of Glory.

Around the world with the Ex. Ex. and a Jerk, December 30, 2005
What native-born American hasn't heard of the Lewis and Clark Expedition? (Well, OK, the quality of public education being what it is, there are, perhaps, contemporary high school graduates that haven't a clue. But, you get my point.) However, I'd never heard of the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, even after a primary and secondary education in private schools and fifty-six years of reading and general awareness.

During the four years the intrepid Ex. Ex. naval squadron was at sea sailing 87,000 miles, it surveyed 1500 miles of the Antarctic coast, 280 Pacific islands (including all of the Fiji Group), Puget Sound, 800 miles of the Oregon coast, the Columbia River from its mouth to the vicinity of Portland, and San Francisco Bay. Almost as asides, it also scaled Mauna Loa to its summit and surveyed the overland route from Oregon to San Francisco. During its circumnavigation of the globe, the Ex. Ex. suffered the disappearance or shipwreck of two vessels and the deaths of a couple dozen men.

Like his other narrative IN THE HEART OF THE SEA: THE TRAGEDY OF THE WHALESHIP ESSEX, this volume by Nathaniel Philbrick is a splendid, immensely readable book. It covers the genesis and 10-year preparation for the Ex. Ex., the odyssey itself, and its aftermath, with special emphasis on the leadership skills, or lack thereof, of its turbulent, troubled, and remarkable commander, Lieutenant Charles Wilkes. Contrary to other otherwise excellent works of popular history, SEA OF GLORY also includes maps and three sections of perfectly apropos illustrations; kudos to the author for including them.

What was a monumental achievement was ultimately overshadowed by America's preoccupation with its western territories and the controversy, including court-martial, surrounding the martinet Wilkes, truly a Jerk with a capital "J" if there ever was one.

SEA OF GLORY was a major revelation about a largely forgotten event in United States history. I'm glad I took the time to read it, and heartily recommend it as an instructive and entertaining volume.

Brilliant work by Philbrick, March 5, 2004
It was a review of this book in the National Geographic Adventure magazine which first caught my eye, and prompted me to purchase Philbrick's excellent narrative of the US Exploring Expedition. The Expedition sailed from Norfolk, USA, carrying the scientific and exploratory hopes of the United States on a trip to South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Asia that encompasses nearly 5 years. Over 500 men, in 6 ships left in 1838, to return in 1842, much reduced in number, but with enough scientific specimens (over 4000) to form a large portion of the Smithsonian collection. Commanded by Lieutenant Wilkes, the story of the US Ex. Ex has largely been forgotten, but Philbrick has produced a book which hopefully will bring to the forefront the achievements of the US Ex. Ex and its' men.

"Sea of Glory" is truly a spectacular rendition of events, as Philbrick portrays the deterioration of the relationship between Commander and his men, while journeying through some of most inhospitable seas in the world. Wilkes comes across as a near megalomaniac and odious character (almost immediately after beginning the expedition, he promoted himself Captain!), belittling the achievements of his underlings and inflating his own. It is a miracle that he was succeeded in bringing the expedition home largely unscathed. Nor does the story end there. The final chapters reveal the trials and tribulations of Wilkes (and other members of the expedition) as he realizes that he may be held accountable for his actions. Upon return of the expedition, there were no fewer than 5 court martials involving Wilkes and officers of the vessels comprising the expedition, largely petty incidents raised by Wilkes as revenge for perceived slights by the officers.

Philbrick writes extremely well, in a very fluid and easy manner, and it takes little effort to read. Large portions of the book are based upon the journal of Midshipman Reynolds, once an ardent admirer of his commander but by the conclusion of the expedition despising him. Philbrick superbly brings this out, contrasting parts of the journal from early on in the voyage to sections of the journal written much later, the journal's author much jaded and embittered by the actions of his commander. But Philbrick does not focus only on Wilkes; the achievements of the expedition are also discussed, and the sometimes incredibly imposing situations the expedition faces, such as the attack by natives on the expedition in the Fiji Islands which resulted in the death of Wilkes' nephew. A book of this type benefits from having illustrations and maps, and on neither account does it fail. There are a number of maps produced in the book, although I have to say the main map (in the preface), which traces the voyage of the expedition throughout the 5 years it spent abroad, is a little hard to follow due to the back and forth nature of parts of the expedition, and also when the expedition split up for short periods of time. There are two sections of very nice illustrations which show the main characters involved and some events that occurred.

"Sea of Glory" is a true story that ranks alongside the best of adventure books, and I cannot recommend this book highly enough. A worthy addition to the library.

An Excellent History of a Forgotten Expedition, April 6, 2007
There have been many books written on various scientific expeditions, including journals by Darwin, Wallace, and Von Humboldt, as well as historical accounts of the voyages by these scientists, and of those by Cook and many others. During the 18th and 19th Centuries (and into the 20th Century in the Arctic and Antarctic especially) there was a rage for exploration of our home planet, sometimes verging on mania and (as the current author states) eclipsing the space exploration craze after the launching of Sputnik in 1957.

Nathaniel Philbrick has added a very worthy account to those already published in his "Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U. S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842." The shear magnitude of the American "Ex. Ex." (as it was usually called) and the general lack of planing from the standpoint of staff boggles the mind. In many ways a tragic mistake was made in settling on Lieutenant Charles Wilkes as the leader the squadron of six ships on a voyage to Antarctica, the Pacific and the Pacific Northwest of North America. Once the decision was made (after a number of more qualified men dropped out) the mistake was compounded in giving the egotistical, but insecure, young officer no real authority. That he then proceeded to make himself first a Captain and then a Commodore, while erratically alienating his own officers should come as no great surprise. Still, as one of the scientists involved (the mineralogist James Dwight Dana) said many years after the end of the voyage, there would have probably been no better result had the expedition been properly staffed and Wilkes made a subordinate or even not involved. The officers of the U. S. Navy then had relatively little talent and less drive to have succeeded as well as the near maniacal Wilkes. And his biggest successes - charting around 1500 miles of the Antarctic coast (proving that the great southern continent existed) and also surveying accurately a large number of Pacific Islands and the coast of the Pacific Northwest - stand as a monument of accomplishment, despite Wilkes many flaws.

This is simply history at its best! The number of narrow escapes as well as the losses of men and ships make for a remarkable tale of adventure rivaling any I have read before. I literally could not put down this book until I finished it. If anyone is interested in the exploration of our planet this book is a must!

Obscure history, Fascinating reading, November 13, 2005
Sea of Glory tells the story of the United States' Exploring Expedition (US Ex. Ex. for short) of 1838-1842. This expedition charted, surveyed, and studied much of Antarctica, the South Pacific islands (especially Fiji), and the Columbia River at a time when little, if anything, was known about such places. In fact, the US Ex. Ex. can really be credited with the discovery of Antarctica as a continent since prior to this voyage only the long Antarctic Penninsula was known--which by itself would not be considered a continent. Furthermore, the scientific specimens this voyage collected became the basis for the Smithsonian Institute.

I have long contended that very often the more obscure and unknown a historical event is the more interesting it becomes. This book is a perfect example. Even though I am a bit of a US history buff, I had never even heard of this expedition until a friend recommended this book to me. No one I have talked to since had ever heard of it either. But the story is fascinating. Reading this book was a thrilling adventure in itself.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of this story is the unfolding of the reasons why such a noteworthy and eventful expedition became such a minor footnote in our nation's history. This is the story of the expedition's under-qualified yet devoted and driven, ego-maniacal yet paranoid leader -- Charles Wilkes.

A great read for anyone interested in adventure and history.

Fascinating, though a bit brief in some places, March 25, 2005
This is a wonderful book, slightly flawed in some places, but very readable nonetheless. The author has decided to concentrate on the "Ex. Ex.", the United States Navy Exploring Expedition, which travelled the seven seas between 1838-42. While the expedition collected a wealth of scientific specimens, discovered Antarctica (at least sort of) and surveyed many of the islands in the Pacific, it was overshadowed by the personality of its leader, a quirky, moody, unstable figure known as Charles Wilkes. Wilkes is perhaps better known for the Trent incident, where he commanded a ship that took two Confederate commissioners off of a British Mail Packet in early 1862. The incident almost sparked a British intervention which would have probably proven disasterous to the United States. Apparently, when Wilkes led the Ex. Ex., his unstable personality and impulsive temperment were very obvious, and the author makes a good case that he never should have been allowed near a Naval vessel again.

Wilkes sailed from New York in 1838 with six ships, and called at Rio de Janero, Tierra del Fuego, various islands in the South Pacific, New Zealand, Sydney Australia, Hawaii, Antarctica, and the coast of Oregon before returning to the states via the Indian Ocean and Cape Horn. He was the first to survey the Antarctic coast (for more than a century it was doubted he had sighted it, but more recent surveys prove his veracity) and drew charts of several hundred islands in the Pacific. The scientists he brought with him returned with thousands of plants, animals, rocks, corals, and other samples that they studied for years. The author credits this with starting the study of science in the United States, and making the study of these various things into a professional pursuit.

In addition, however, Wilkes was a strange personality. Much of the book is concerned with the strange antics he went through while commanding the squadron. He wasn't the first choice to lead the expedition, but every senior officer in the Navy turned it down before Wilkes was selected. Since he was only a lieutenant and lieutenants usually command small ships rather than squadrons, Wilkes asked for an acting promotion. When he didn't get it, he assumed he would and promoted himself to captain, then declared that he was a Commodore and flew the pennant of one for the remainder of the voyage. This was just the start of his strangeness. He was a poor sailor and seaman, but a very skilled navigator and especially surveyor. As a result, several times in the voyage his seamanship almost resulted in the sinking of his ship. He always responded by doing his best to undermine and humiliate whoever resulted in the ship being saved, as if to emphasize that he wasn't grateful to them, or perhaps in jealousy of their greater skill.

This goes on for several hundred pages. The author's mercifully brief when it comes to the Courts Martial that followed the return of the expedition's vessels, and only briefly recounts the lives of the principals after the expedition, but the Ex. Ex. itself receives a good deal of treatment, and proves to be very interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in exploration.

Missing History Recovered, November 22, 2004
This book is outstanding. How can such a piece of history go missing? Through these pages, Philbrook has provided us with an important nautical accomplishment. You will be taken around the world with a crew that is under the command of a most peculiar character. You will travel to various islands in the Atlantic and Pacific, the Antarctic (my personal favorite), South America, visit North America of a time past, and, perhaps most interestingly, you will travel in the minds of those who embarked on this journey. You will return from this journey with the realization that its discoveries are still within your own reach. Really. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Part adventure story, part philosophical essay, this extraordinary book takes Bruce Chatwin into the heart of Australia on a search for the source and meaning of man's restless nature. ... Read more

Reviews

do it, February 11, 2000
Dying of AIDS and with Salman Rushdie, Bruce Chatwin made a lightning visit to Australia. The Songlines is the fascinating result of this terminal search for meaning.

The good points are that Chatwin's considerable intellect and narrative capacities weave a story based on year's travel experience. The bad point is that he knew almost nothing about his subject and as such has written an Englishman's compassionate contemporary account of the colonies.

I live and work on a remote aboriginal community near the areas Chatwin visited. Traditional Aborignal law is an amazingly complex oral culture so rich in history and symbolism that I have profound doubts about any whitefella ever properly understanding it, let alone a visiting foreigner desperately looking for something.

This is a great book, but don't think by reading it you will get a terrifically accurate profile of what being an aborigine is, whatever that means. They are not, as Chatwin seems to deduce, another group of nomadic noble savages more fulfilled than the more sedentary post-agriculture communitites.

Amazing and important, January 7, 2003
This is a difficult book to describe: it masquerades as a Theroux style travelogue, but is anything but. I love Paul Theroux, but this totally transcends his travel writing. Chatwin starts out describing a trip to the Australian Outback. It starts out pretty conventional, in beautiful descriptive prose...but before too long you realize you are actually reading Chatwin's brilliant ruminations about the human race as a species, where we came from, and where we are going. The book is NOT really about the Aborigines, though they provide a number of terrific characters, and I suspect someone who really wanted to know more about the actual Songlines could be disappointed by this book. He very clearly sets up his own views against those of many important and popular thinkers. To sum it up, he makes a case that humans are not really an aggressive species at heart, and that evolution has not really programmed the human to fight for power but to defend the tribe. Not every will agree with this, but he makes a wonderful case and the book is beautiful and crystalline and should be read by everyone.

Much more than a travel book, March 26, 2000
William James said that to "learn the secrets of any science, we go to expert specialists, even though they may be eccentric persons, and not to commonplace pupils." It seems, Bruce Chatwin used the same method to shed light on what for him was the question of questions: the nature of human restlessness.

The Songlines consists of the stories of the eccentric experts in the science of restlessness Chatwin met in Western Australia, and notebook entries ranging from Blaise Pascal's philosophical reflections to a meeting with Konrad Lorenz in Austria. Chatwin had originally intended to use these notebook entries for a book on nomads. He gave up the project but the entries reveal the man and his quest.

In a way, The Songlines is Chatwin's own songline: a track which tells of what he found on his wanderings, and what he considered worth singing.

Anthropological "pensees" leave you wanting more story, March 27, 1999
This book starts out with a kind of nice, floating narrative about a meandering trip through Australia's outback. You get a candid look at Aborigines and their land rights movement in a way that's not at all preachy but rather funny. Unfortunately, just as I was starting to care about where the characters were going and what would happen to them, Chatwin treats us to page after page of "pensees," his own and others', on the subjects of nomadism and other topics in cultural and physical anthropology. I was an anthropology major, so I enjoyed many of his ideas, but found some of his main premises to be preposterous... For example, pastoral peoples are notoriously anything but pastoral, being extremely xenophobic and violent as a rule. Chatwin seems to be trying to convince us that the Aboriginals are peaceful and sweet because they roam around a lot... well, maybe. But I don't know that I needed fifteen pages of one-paragraph "thoughts" to state the point. Honestly, I couldn't help skipping pages to get back to the narrative. I understand where Chatwin was coming from with his "pensees" format, but Pascal he is not. Still, if you want a little food for thought, you might enjoy it. If you're looking for a narrative, forget it. Unlike the aborigines, whose travels have purpose and wonderful stories, Chatwin's narrative just kind of ambles around in the dust.

A desperate last shot at meaning by a fellow who cared, February 7, 2001
To really understand this book, of course, you have to understand that Chatwin knew he was dying of AIDS when he wrote it. Hence, (I think) the notes (which have raised so many pros and cons and head-scratchings among reviewers) tacked on at the end. He, sadly, was sinking fast and needed something to round out the book. The book, then, is not so much about the aborigines (which, as one reviewer has noted, it would be better to check out an Anthropolgy text on) as it is about the ailing Chatwin.-But who was Chatwin? I think he was primarily a) an erudite hyper-aesthete (He started out working for museums); and b) an unflagging disciple of Heraclitus, the pre-Socratic philosopher whose most famous dictum was "Everything is fire." In other words, everything is in constant change. Everything is on the move. Everything is being consumed and reborn. Whether it looks that way or not. As the poet Delmore Schwartz put it, "Time is the school in which we learn, that Time is the fire in which we burn."-This is why,I think the aborigines grabbed hold of his imagination at the end of his life, "Aboriginals,in general, had the idea that all "goods" were potentialy malign and would work against their possessors unless they were forever in motion." And, like Heraclitus, he inveighs against the members of his own race, "The whites were forever changing the world to fit their doubtful vision of the future."-But what was Chatwin's vision of the future? What did he expect to find out there in his dying days?-I think he gives the answer on page 293, the penultimate page of the book, where he writes, "...the mystics believe the ideal man shall walk himself to a 'right death.' He who has arrived 'goes back.' In Aboriginal Australia, there are specific rules for 'going back' or, rather, for singing your way to where you belong: to your 'conception site', to the place where your tjuringa is stored. Only then can you become-or re-become-the Ancestor. The concept is quite similar to Heraclitus's mysterious dictum,'Mortals and immortals, alive in their death, dead in each other's life."---I'm not at all sure exactly what this passage means. But the basic idea, I think, is that you keep moving down your songline or metaphysical groove or whatever until you die where you belong and thus rebegin a ghostly cycle of reincarnation. Chatwin's tone in quoting the Aboriginal beliefs and Heraclitus give us no clue as to how much of this he actually believed...But we do know from his life that he was always walking, always searching up to the very end.-Reading the book with this knowledge lends to it (despite the jumble it is that caused my four star review) an almost heroic quality.-So read it and be inspired!

Solvitur ambulando, July 30, 2005
Nominally a book recounting the time Chatwin spent with the Australian Aboriginal tribes of Alice Springs, The Songlines in reality weaves together travel writing, history, and literary quotations to become a larger project about nomadism and evolution. It is as though what he found in Australia startled him into crystalizing a lifetime worth of disparate thoughts. More than classic travel writing or essay form, The Songlines captures the struggle to put this overarching thesis into words.

The struggle of the Aborigines to preserve their traditional form of worship against disinterest, hostility and monied patronization is one of the central contemporary aspects of the book. Additionally, Chatwin draws from sources as disparate as Konrad Lorenz, religious myth, and Herman Melville to construct his arguments.

I found Songlines largely successful. As someone who once walked from Holland to Spain I have a soft spot for discourse about the philosophy of walking. I also greatly admire Chatwin as a writer, so did not have any expectations that this would be a "normal" travel book. I strongly suspect that the method he uses (journal fragments and quotations interspersed throughout) may not work for many readers and it ultimately might have been stronger had he found a more integrated narrative form.

In short, this should be a very strong read if you are interested in the ideas at the center of the work. If you have read this far in the review it probably goes without saying that this is not the book for a typical travel essay about life in the Australian bush. Look elsewhere if that is what you are trying to find. I find it an excellent addition to the Chatwin body of work-- a body of work that is far too small as a result of his untimely death in 1989.

English guy checks out native Australians, September 2, 2000
Bruce, an English guy, heads into the Australian outback to check out aborigines, as part of his life-long interest in nomadic cultures. Part of the book is travel writing - the wacko Australian situations and characters he meets are fully described - part the history/psychology/philosophy of nomadic living and human aggression, and part a poetic description of Aboriginal culture.

The link between a human sedentary existance and human aggression has long been described; Bruce presents sedentary living as an unnatural state, and the nomadic lifestyle as cleaner, more beautiful and better. It's very convincing while you're reading it, and certainly deeply interesting. It's certainly a refreshing counterpoint to thinking about all those land-related wars and situations (Israel, for example), to all the nastiness of European colonization in America, Africa, and Australia, and it has a certain intuitive appeal - land belongs to everyone!

I'm not certain how accurate Bruce's description of Aboriginal culture is, but I don't think it really matters. This is not a carefully constructed sociological or anthropological analysis, but rather a lyrical, and fairly romantic, description of nomadic life and a way of thinking. Most importantly, I think, the message is: the ways the Aboriginies think and relate to the land are powerful and beautiful and so different to what we're used to that it's very difficult for Westerners to appreciate them immediately.

I strongly recommend this book, because it outlines a way of thinking about the human condition that is nice, and that lingers in your mind for a long time.

A poetic primer on Australian aborigines, February 10, 2000
When I first migrated to Australia in 1983, I immediately started asking questions about the country's indigenous aborigines. For me, it was simple curiosity. New Zealand, where I'd come from, had imperfect race relations, but Maori dances, hakas, and creation stories were taught from primary level at every school. Like many "Pakeha" (white) New Zealanders, I had a part-Maori partner - whom I later married. In Perth, however, no-one I spoke to, including white journalists with whom I worked, could tell me what the "Dreamtime" spoken about in aboriginal culture meant. Their demeanour suggested the very questions displayed a lack of taste.

Strange then, that it should have been a Briton who gave me my first insights - to have the boldness both to outline and celebrate the unique richness of Aboriginal cosmology, and to put it in the context of the great nomadic traditions of human life. This is beautifully written, wry and teasing; it respects aboriginality, but shows a lightness of touch rare in this particularly fraught field.

Arguments have been made against this book on anthropological grounds, and on the grounds that no non-aboriginal person should presume to write about such matters. There may be merit in these points of view; I am simply grateful that Chatwin turned his brilliance to this subject. I find this book as illuminating and as life-affirming now, as when I first read it many years ago.

Other books I can recommend, although more prosaic in style, are Geoffrey Blainey's "The Triumph of the Nomads", Henry Reynolds' "Frontier" and "Why Weren't We Told" and the official reports into the so-called "Stolen Generation" and the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

There is still a way to go.

Swansong, January 5, 2004
'One man's impassioned song' is how the Sunday Telegraph describes this rare jewel of a book and a more apt description of it couldn't be found. It is truly one man's, one great artist's swansong to eternity and like all great works it has something to say to all of us.

Billed as a 'travel book,' Bruce Chatwin's 'Songlines' is that in name only. Following in the steps of other literateurs who were also originally pigeonholed as mere travel writers ie. Conrad, Greene, etc...Chatwin magically transforms a place, the Australian outback, and a people, the 'aboriginals,' into the characters of a majestic cosmic play. In truth, Songlines is really an accessible and persuasive treatise on the nature of man, hiding under the guise of a travel book.

Chatwin's thesis is simple: that human beings are migratory--'nomadic' is his catchy phrase--in their most natural (read here, best) state. To support this thesis, Chatwin follows the ancestral songlines of the Australian aboriginals who believe the world and all its creations were sung into existence by their semi-divine 'ancestors.' To reaffirm their identity, their place in this world and the 'world' itself, today's Aboriginals retrace the routes their ancestors walked across the continent, re-singing everything back into life. In mapping out this moving creation myth, Chatwin enlists the help of aboriginal 'expert,' Arkady, erudite son of Ukrainian exiles. With vibrant color, humor and sun-drenched clarity, Chatwin recounts their memorable encounters with the sometimes freakish, always original, denizens of the Australian outback.

To support his claim of man as migratory animal, Chatwin interrupts these gem-like anecdotes with a vast array of historical and anthropological aphorisms, facts and commentary. While their placement sometimes appears rather arbitrary, these tidbits spice up the whole and provide a pleasant balance to the stories that surround them.

Songlines is hard to put down as the effortless, pristine style carries the reader along on a voyage all its own. Nicholas Shakespeare wasn't far off the mark in crowning Chatwin as the 'greatest stylist writing in England today.' Even if you don't buy the idea the book is selling, the writing itself is enough to recommend it. Especially for writer wannabes. Every sentence is a cut and polished gem. Terse, tight and clean, all the fat has been cut off, leaving the choicest morsels. And what morsels! Not only does Chatwin say it exquisitely, he also has something to say. That's not just fine writing, that's art.

And if the writing isn't enough, the seeds of thought that Songlines plants are tough stuff and unlikely to blow away all that easily. Chatwin makes a strong case that when humans decided to 'settle' down---to civilize themselves---they actually caused more evil than good. Settling down meant holding onto things and marking out borders of possession. And because our natural restlessness became inihibited, we learned to covet more things and wider boundaries. Not only that, but by settling down we lost something profoundly important to our physical and spiritual makeup: our connection with the earth itself and with its other inhabitants, who, unlike us, seem content to take only what they need and then move on.

Songlines' greatest message is that life itself is a journey. Therefore, we should live it as one, constantly moving, constantly growing to the next level of existence, learning to let go of that which was never 'ours' to possess.

Those who are looking for such a journey into the human condition won't regret picking up Songlines!

Chatwin's Novel Blends Anthropology and Philosophy, May 20, 2005
Chatwin's Songlines investigates the essence of humanity's interactions and impulses in a accessible, storytelling prose. Chatwin has no difficulty in using the roots of the Aborigine culture as a stage to incorporate his far reaching notes and theories on the human species' instinctual needs. The concept that humans act with primordal instincts establishes the foundation for Chatwin's thesis that the interactions and social structures of nomadic or less civilized societies can indicate the needs people have for movement, defensive social agreements (companionship)for survival, and self recognition through knowledge of one's surroundings.
Chatwin builds upon his discriptions of the Aboriginal culture with memoirs from his other interactions with different cultures to develop a universal message about the human condition. He further punctuates his message with anecdotes and notes that can be a slight nuisance to read while attempting to finish the story, but add fascinating background information and perspective from many of Chatwin's most influential sources.
The Songlines is aproximately 300 pages, but is such a stimulating read it can be finished in only two or three sittings and easily within a week. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Two centuries after James Cook's epic voyages of discovery, Tony Horwitz takes readers on a wild ride across hemispheres and centuries to recapture the Captain's adventures and explore his embattled legacy in today's Pacific. Horwitz, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and author of Confederates in the Attic, works as a sailor aboard a replica of Cook's ship, meets island kings and beauty queens, and carouses the South Seas with a hilarious and disgraceful travel companion, an Aussie named Roger. He also creates a brilliant portrait of Cook: an impoverished farmboy who became the greatest navigator in British history and forever changed the lands he touched. Poignant, probing, antic, and exhilarating, Blue Latitudes brings to life a man who helped create the global village we inhabit today. ... Read more

Reviews

A sympathetic, multicultural, Capt. Cook., September 23, 2002
Horwitz, who is a veteran in the travelogue/history genre, sets about to rescue Cook's threatened reputation from those who view him as the first "conquistordor" of the Pacific isles he alledgedly "discovered" in his three epic 18th century voyages. Horwitz, while giving ample voice to those inhabitants of these lands who look upon Cook as an unmitigated disaster for their peoples and cultures, and admitting the toxic influence of those Westerners who descended upon the Pacific in Cook's wake, potrays a much more liberal-minded explorer who appreciated the peoples and cultures he met and mingled with, more of an enlightenment figure than we have previously supposed. Indeed, Horwitz argues that one of the reasons that Cook is not celebrated or memorialized in Britain as lavishly as Nelson and Wellington, is that he was not a military hero, was more explorer than conqueror.
Horwitz pays Cook his due, pointing out the sheer difficulty and hardship of his navigations, and meanders around the Pacific in his steps, talking to all sorts of characters that he meets along the way, both about Cook, the past, and the present state of Pacific affairs. And for comic relief he brings along, quite by accident he tells us but one can't imagine making the trip without him, his Falstaffian pal Roger, with a bottle in both hands,and a jaundiced eye and bawdy quip when things threaten to get too serious. Fans of Horwitz, Cook, travel writing, or a yen for the Pacific isles will not be disappointed.

"Hardly Even Comprehensible", October 25, 2002
For various reasons, there continues to be substantial interest in great explorers such as Earnest Shackleton, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, Robert Falcon Scott, and James Cook. This the first of two books about Cook which I recently read and thoroughly enjoyed. (The other is Vanessa Collingridge's Captain Cook: A Legacy Under Fire.) They discuss a common subject but from different perspectives. I highly recommend both. According to Horwitz, Cook set out on various voyages (1768-1789) uncertain of eventual destinations and traveled more than 200,000 miles while dependent (by today's standards) on crude, indeed primitive navigation instruments but sustained by his superior seamanship skills. Of special interest to me is the fact that Horwitz traced many of the same voyages to Bora Bora, Australia, Savage Island, Tonga, Alaska, and Hawaii. He shares his own reactions to what these areas have become, most in sharp contrast to the "pure state of Nature" as Cook once described it. Horwitz's extensive research suggests that many of those whom Cook encountered correctly suspected (and feared) that their lives and communities would never be the same after Cook's "discovery" of them. Beyond the wealth of information this book provides, it is that rare achievement among works of nonfiction: a page-turner.

Horwitz, Out of the "Attic", October 2, 2002
Tony Horwitz had a tough task in following up his massively successful "Confederate in the Attic." Give him credit, "Blue Latitudes" certainly is no quickie effort to cash in on Horwitz's now-famous name. Instead, the author travelled tens of thousands of miles researching the legacy of Captain James Cook, arguably the greatest of all European explorers. Like "Attic" the book is part history, part travelogue and part social commentary. Horwitz includes mnay more historical information this time out, most likely because far fewer readers are intimately familiar with Cook's voyages than the Civil War.

Horwitz starts his journey by sailing on a replica of Cook's first ship Endurance to get a feel for 18th Century shipboard life. He then spends most of the remaining time traipsing around the Pacific with his Australian friend Roger, who provides the same kind of narrative counterpoint as Robert Lee Hodge did in "Attic." Horwitz documents the changes that have occurred in Oceania because of Cook's "discoveries" and interviews numerous islanders to find out how they feel about Cook's legacy. The results are often surprising and enlighteneing.

Having said all of that, "Blue Latitudes" is not a classic on the order of "Attic." The narrative is a lengthy at nearly 450 pages and is sluggish at times. Companion Roger is not nearly as interesting a character as was Hodge and the moments of uproarious humor that made "Attic" so entertaining are mostly missing this time out. Nevertheless, "Blue Latitudes" is still a well-written and worthwhile read for those with an interest in the subject matter.

Looking for an easy-going but comprehensive chronicle of Cook's journeys?, March 13, 2006
During a round-the-world trip, I travelled to Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Bora Bora and Easter Island. I came across lots of places visited by Captain Cook or otherwise connected with him, as well as plenty of monuments with snippets of information about his journeys. I was interested to learn more, but at the same time wanted to avoid academic histories. This book was recommended by my guidebook, and it was perfect. Tony Horwitz combines a chronicle of Cook's journeys in the Pacific with his own experiences of modern-day travel in some of the same regions. It's light-hearted and entertaining, as well as being interesting and informative. It's travel literature, not a literary classic, but it's perfect if you're after an easy-going but comprehensive description of Cook's journeys. Definitely recommended.

An entertaining sampling of Cook for the non-historian, October 29, 2002
Tony Horwitz spends a year and a half visiting many of the places Captain Cook visited from 1768 - 1779. The book culminates with Cook's violent death in modern day Hawaii.

The book alternates back and forth between Cook's 18th century experience and Mr. Horwitz's modern day travels. Horwitz does an excellent job of interpreting the various sources available and giving an account that the historical layperson can relate to. Key characters include the author, Cook, the colorful Joseph Banks (the Endevour's Botanist) and Horowitz's even more colorful traveling companion Roger Williamson. Horwitz paints a picture of Cook as an austere, yet fair man-seemingly driven to the edges of the earth. As driven as Cook is to explore the world, Banks is driven to explore the anatomies of females from different Polynesian cultures. Roger is mainly content to explore the bottle and make wisecracks about Horwitz's adventure. If you think Blue Latitudes sounds like a dry historical piece, you're sorely mistaken. Any potential dryness is quickly quenched by Horwitz's wit, Banks's "botanizing" and Roger's boozing.

Much to my wife's amusement I found myself laughing out loud many times while reading Blue Latitudes. Despite that, I found myself strangely moved after reading the account of Cook's death. While the consequences of Cook's voyages are complex, you cannot help but feel a great admiration for this man who started with so little yet went so far. Great book, highly recommended.

Follow Cook & History to Exotic Places with a Social Update, November 28, 2002
Horwitz takes a historians appreciation for Cook into an opportunity to travel and see the sights that Cook saw in the Pacific traveling first on a replica of the Endeavor, Cooks first Pacific ship, then by small boat, plane, ferry and on land by car and by foot. Horwitz provides a historical telling of Cook utilizing his actual logs, diaries of shipmates, and noted biographers. Horwitz tells the story of Cooks travels and historical events as he traverses the globe to the sites that Cook visited in three separate Pacific voyages. The best part of the book are his telling of what Cook saw and did at each site but also Horwitzs critical analysis of these exotic places as they appear today in contrast to 225 years ago. Horwitz asks natives today what they know about Cook and he gets an updated perspective from the populations unique to each place. In addition, Horwitz tries to walk and stand in the same places that Cook did. In this way, you get a great feel for what Cook went through in his travels starting with Horwitzs week long stay on the Endeavor replica as a crew member that worked hours and assignments similar to the original crew. Although, the Endeavor featured modern and safer bathrooms and kitchens, the grueling work requirements, hours, lack of sleep, storms and sleeping in hammocks wedged between other mates of various sizes gave the reader an appreciation for what Cooks sailors went through on 2  3 year voyages.

Horwitzs description is somewhat startling and amusing as he quotes an individual stating that the best thing about Tahiti are the post cards. His humorous and hard drinking Aussie companion describes that main city in Tahiti as being built by unemployable architects. The poorly constructed building, the extreme heat, black sand (there is no white sand), insects and the care free or careless lifestyle of the Tahitians does not sound attractive. In addition, many of the Polynesian natives know little of Cook or think of him not as an explorer but as an exploiter of the lands. A man that brought violence, disease and western culture that destroyed the lifestyle of the lands. The New Zealand natives think of Cook in the same way that the American Indian Movement of the 1970s feel about Columbus today. Horwitz adds balance by telling of Cooks modern approach to keep his sailors healthy, quarantine the sick away from island women (a challenge in any day) and his attempts to peacefully co-exist with natives. Horwitz tells some delightful tales of his experiences in these exotic places such as Cook Town where Cook was beached after striking the Great barrier Reef (tough way to discover something) and joins the hard and early drinking residents in a re-enactment of their first landing. But he also tells of the plight of the Aborigines, their lack of need for material things and their virtual eradication by early settlers. He tells of the Island Tonga and its split society between Royalty and affluent and the balance of the natives that have little exercise of a true democracy. He also visits the Island of Niue, which was called Savage Island by Cook due to an aggressive meeting with the natives. Niue mysteriously earns income through a nefarious company licensing providing the government income and a tax shelter for the company. In addition, Niue has a 900 number connection as an income producer and a short lived medical college that has no students and a questionable lone member faculty.

Even if someone is unfamiliar with Cook, you will grew to appreciate the individual who rose from very modest means to a celebrated British Naval captain and navigator and explorer of the Pacific. By the time Horwitz tracks Cook on his third voyage to the Pacific particular his travels to Alaska and the windy and cold Aleutians
and then Hawaii, you cannot help but have developed respect for this brave and straitlaced traveler. Although you know early on of Cooks death in Hawaii, Horwitz visits the island last appropriately in the same locations as Cook and he weaves the story of his death while telling of the development of the Island and its people. At the end, it seems that Cooks elementary method of using force to recapture a stolen boat under estimated the response of the natives which may have been aggravated by his physical failings on his third trying voyage in a very short time with a boat that was disabled prematurely. This is the ultimate travelogue, visiting history with a social respective of the people and places with humor and with an Aussie who adds fun with a blunt perspective.

"Ambition leads me as far as I think possible for man to go", October 26, 2002
In three epic journeys, from 1768 to his death in Hawaii in 1779, Captain James Cook charted most of the south Pacific, the coast of Alaska, and parts of Antarctica, claiming much of it in the name of the king. Despite the fact that he covered 200,000 miles, "explored more of the earth's surface than anyone in history," and redrew the map of the world, Cook remains a relatively obscure historical figure, even in his native land, and is the subject of legend, much of it fanciful, in the places he charted. In celebrating Cook's achievements, analyzing the man and his values, and evaluating his influence, Horwitz attempts to put Cook's discoveries into their rightful perspective.

Accompanied by Roger Williamson, an Aussie free spirit dedicated to wine, women, and fun, author Horwitz travels to those places "discovered" by Captain Cook, describing Cook's reception by indigenous cultures, and observing the cultures as they exist today--in virtually all cases, despoiled by contact with the "civilized" world. Tahiti, Bora Bora, New Zealand, Australia, Tonga, the Aleutian Islands, and Hawaii, before and after western contact, are presented in detail, using Capt. Cook's own journals, the journals of naturalist Joseph Banks (who accompanied him on his important first voyage), drawings by Cook's artists, and the research of Cook biographer John Beaglehole to establish the pre-contact cultures. Horwitz's personal observations, interviews with local inhabitants, and on-site research assess the lasting effects.

Cook becomes accessible as a personality because of his friendship with Banks, who often served as his sounding board, and, it appears, loosened him up a bit. Naturally expansive and enthusiastic, and uninhibited by responsibilities and the sense of morality which seemed to dominate Cook, Banks serves as a foil to Cook. While Cook conscientiously records the contours of islands, Banks is far more interested in getting to know the local residents. Horwitz's friend Williamson, on the trip primarily for fun, not scholarship, serves the same purpose in Horwitz's book, creating humorous diversions both for Horwitz and the reader and spicing up Horwitz's serious research.

Fascinating as a biography of the complex Capt. Cook, as a lively record of the age of exploration, as a modern adventure to "romantic" south Pacific islands, and as research on cultural anthropology, this is an exhilarating and fast-paced narrative, one which will reward careful reading and cause the reader to examine the dubious results of "civilization." Horwitz obviously enjoyed his research, and the reader will, too, however vicariously. Mary Whipple

Fun and informative, December 7, 2002
This book is a truly an easy, fun read. Not a biography of Captain Cook, it is a compelling hybrid of two genres: travelogue and history. It's informative and interesting, while managing to maintain a light touch and breezy style. Not unline Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods" in its mix of humor and serious observation. One other similarity is the presence of the quirky friend. The quirky, hard-drinking, church-avoiding Roger provides comic relief and genuine insights which occasionally escape Horwitz.

My main complaint with the book was that I wish Horwitz was a photographer as well as journalist; I wanted to see the places that he visited.

Good travel book, November 5, 2002
This is NOT a biography of Captain Cook, as some reviewers seem to regret. Rather it is something altogether more interesting: a juxtaposition of a modern travelogue and a mini-life of the mariner. The synthesis works well. Horwitz's biting sense of humor is every bit in evidence here as in "Confederates in the Attic," only the landscape is much larger. There are also no pictures because the author wants you to rely on his words to paint the scene; he accomplishes that end very well. I recommend this book to any lover of travel or seafaring literature.

A Perfect Traveling Companion or Armchair Traveling Book, February 11, 2006
I came across Tony Horwitz's BLUE LATITUDES in preparing for a trip to New Zealand and the "West Island" (Australia). Having enjoyed Horwitz's CONFEDERATES IN THE ATTIC, I was delighted to take this book along for the long flights ahead. Like CONFEDERATES, BLUE LATITUDES is structured as a modern-day dialogue with history: between Horwitz's historical narratives of Cook's amazing 18th-century journeys are interspersed Horwitz's own adventures on Cook's trail, usually accompanied by his Australian friend, Roger.

The well delivered, brief historical narratives give the reader new to Cook's travels a wonderful synopsis of the explorer's journeys, his crews' hardships, and their "first contacts" with the peoples of the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as their encounters with the peoples of the North American northern Pacific rim, some of whom were already dealing with the Russians.

(If the adventures seem vaguely familiar, it may be because you have seen the space-opera equivalent in STAR TREK. In reading this book, you'll understand why it was that Captain Kirk accompanied landing parties--shouldn't the captain stay with his ship and his men?--and why the anonymous "Red Shirt" was usually killed upon arrival.)

A recurring theme throughout the book is how Cook's travels wrought change--invariably for the worse--upon all the places he and his crews visited, bringing disease and initiating the breakdown of traditional societies. But Horwitz also casts a favorable light on Cook's bravery, his outstanding achievements in navigation, and his spirit of exploration. Horwitz really tries, even if ultimately it alludes him, to understand Cook as a person: his personality, his motivations, his outlook on life. In the end, it is Cook's zeal for exploration that drives Horwitz's admiration. Horwitz believes this spirit of exploration has already captured the imagination of his own child; he hopes, and I hope, that that spirit will live to give rise to new voyages of discovery on earth and in space.

If there is anything that detracts from one's enjoyment, it's just the reality that so many of these Pacific locations, which have long stirred romantic reveries for Westerners, have been despoiled of much of their beauty and traditional ways of life. Horwitz doesn't stir up much interest in the reader to visit many of these places, at least the small Pacific islands. It's hard to say if there isn't something Horwitz overlooked there. Too, I had wished that Horwitz had made his way to Antarctica; I would have enjoyed his reflections on life in a scientific station. The consolation prize was that his droll friend Roger did get there and had an adventure of his own. I'll leave that amusing tidbit for you to discover. ... Read more

Editorial Review

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition. ... Read more

Reviews

What really happened, April 3, 2000
I recently read "Scott's Last Expedition", the edited version of his diaries from his South Pole expedition. This left me interested but unfulfilled: I wanted to learn more about Amundsen and the context for both expeditions, and to get more analysis of the bald facts as related in Scott's diaries. So I turned to Huntford's "The Last Place on Earth".

I was not disappointed. Huntford narrates the entire lives of both Amundsen and Scott, with edifying discursions on Nansen, Shackleton, and other Polar explorers. Huntford knows Norwegian and thus was able to consult primary sources for Amundsen's expedition directly; he provides many excerpts from the letters and diaries of both British and Norwegian expedition members. He also reveals some of the omissions in the edited version of Scott's diaries.

As a minor quibble, Huntford only rarely gives full dates, so that I found myself frequently having to page back a considerable way to remind myself which year or even which month it was. An appendixed chronology would have been immeasurably helpful.

As other reviewers have noted, the author is highly critical of Scott -- occasionally unfairly so, as when he notes that Scott's first depot journey brought "a ton of supplies not quite to 80 degrees South" where Amundsen's party had "moved three tons another two degrees of latitude closer to the Pole", omitting to mention that Amundsen started about a degree farther south than Scott. But from the evidence Huntford adduces, even without his interpretations, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Scott was criminally unprepared, negligent, and generally incompetent. It is not as though he had no information about what he would be facing -- his previous expedition encountered nearly all the same problems, but he seems not to have learned anything from it. Huntford shows how Scott's diaries and their careful editing combine to portray Scott in a much more favorable light than he deserves -- a case of the loser writing the history books.

Huntford also reveals what might charitably be called "traditional" attitudes toward women. For example, speaking of Kathleen Bruce, Scott's future wife, Huntford says, "She was a predatory female; more predatory than usual, that is." Fortunately, since nearly all the principal figures in the book are male, this only surfaces occasionally, as when Huntford describes Amundsen as having "an almost feminine sensitivity for the undertones and cross-currents on which a leader has to play".

Despite its flaws, "The Last Place on Earth" should be among the first books you read on Polar exploration, or true-life adventure in general. Once the race for the Pole was on, I found it as hard to put down as any fictional thriller.

The Race for the South Pole, August 8, 2004
This book works at several levels. First, it is a thrilling adventure story. Second, it is a wonderful management study in planning, goal setting and organization. Third, it is a classic debunker, undermining the aura (at least in the English speaking world) surrounding Robert Scott and his tragic assault on the South Pole.

Scott and Roald Amundsen engaged in a great struggle to reach "The last place on earth," the South Pole. Each had been to polar regions before, each had become national and even international celebrities due to their trekking. Each was aware of the other party's presence on the Antarctic Continent during the same months of 1911-1912 as they raced to be the first men to stand at the bottom of the world.

Scott and Amundsen were two different breeds. Scott was a helpless romantic. Even after bitter experience and near tragedy in previous expeditions, he refused to learn from Eskimos, Norwegians or others who were battling around the turn of the century to achieve various cold weather firsts (first to the north pole, first to traverse the Northwest Passage -- which went to Amundsen -- first to cross Greenland, etc.) Thus, Scott relied on British pluck and manliness instead of skis, dogs, deer and seal suits and a properly suited diet.

Amundsen was a consummate student on the other hand. He possessed not only the gift of great vision and the ego necessary to pursue it, but also the humility to know that his trip did not have to feature every facet made anew, but should be the culmination of what others had learned when surviving and moving over the planet's most forbidding environment. Thus, Amundsen took dogs to Antarctica, wore clothing he observed the Eskimos using during his journey through the Northwest Passage, relied on skis for human transportation and dieted in a way observed to prevent scurvy.

Amundsen also worked at his project. Starting years before his trek, he organized the people, finances, equipment (much specialty made and field tested in Norway's northern regions) and talked, talked, talked to those whose experiences had something to teach them. Contrast this disciplined approach to organization and logistics with Scott's haphazard throwing together of men, equipment and �lan and the outcome of the race is preordained to the reader before it has begun.

(the contrast between the two approaches is such a stark lesson on planning and organization that I suspect this book will show up in business school reading lists if it has not already).

Amundsen's journey to the South Pole was uneventful compared to Scott. Conditions were harsh, temperatures low, blizzards raged, but the Norwegian's party averaged a workman like 15 or so miles a day with dogs, skis and proper provisions. Scott, on the other hand, was not sure of his starting date, did not map out nor account for food consumed during the trip and relied on man-hauling his sleds the 1400 miles round trip to the Poles and his main camp. With the same weather and conditions, Scott and his polar attack team wound up dead after what their diaries reveal was a miserable existence on the Polar Ice Cap (they did reach the Pole, expiring on the way home).

The only area in which Scott excelled over Amundsen was in romantic writing. Scott's published works on his earlier journey to Antarctica are apparently a moving and heroic read. Amundsen was about as workmanlike a writer as he was a captain. For this and other reasons lain out by the author (in his mind much having to do with a decaying empire's need for heroes performing heroic deeds -- even heroic dying) Scott is remembered much the way Pickett's Charge is -- a glorious and manly statement of such heroics that it has made the underlying (and preventable) disaster a footnote to the story.

This is a riveting book that I found hard to put down. Although the author probably takes a few too many turns at whacking Scott when his shortcomings are evident (we get the point), he has succeeded in writing a first rate thrilling adventure, historic debunking and interesting management study.

Riveting but blatantly biased, March 9, 2003
"The Last Place on Earth" (formerly published as "Scott and Amundsen") is Roland Huntford's version of what he calls "the last great voyage of terrestrial discovery" -- the race to be the first person to reach the South Pole in the early 20th century. Huntford weaves a gripping tale of how Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott planned their separate expeditions, laid in supplies, navigated and finally reached the holy grail of 90� South. Amundsen beat Scott to the Pole by a month and returned home to a hero's welcome. Scott and his team, on the other hand, died on the way back from the Pole, and their bodies were discovered months later. It's quite a tale, and Huntford tells it in such a way as to keep the reader engrossed and riveted. Unfortunately, he cannot keep his admiration for Amundsen or his contempt for Scott concealed or even low-key.

In every page, Amundsen is presented as a polar genius, who soaked up knowledge and used it to guarantee (as much as possible) a safe journey to the Pole and back. He develops his own rations and spends endless time fine-tuning his equipment. He uses a pattern of Eskimo clothing to keep warm and dry. He depends on seal meat to ward off scurvy, and brings along far more food and fuel than he actually needs. Generally, he knows exactly what he's doing.

In stark contrast, Scott is depicted as a world-class buffoon, who acheived his station in life through connections rather than talent. Every action he takes is shot through with disaster, from the way he designed his sledges to the rations he took. And let's not even talk about his attempt at going to the Pole with ponies instead of sledge dogs. According to Huntford, he can't do anything right, and he pays for it with his life and the lives of the four men he took to the Pole with him. (His depiction of Scott resulted in Scott's son angrily and publicly disowning the book, once he saw what the author had done to his father's reputation.)

"The Last Place on Earth" is a story of adventure and foolhardiness, life and death in the cold, snowy wastes of Antarctica. The reader, however, is urged to keep the author's bias in mind.

an absolute must-read, January 22, 2001
There are many reasons to read this book. For one, it is very well written. It is equally well-researched, and although it talks about events that happened 90 years ago, every modern explorer or wanna-be explorer should read it. Huntford's book "The last Place on Earth" brilliantly reveals the true story of the race to the South Pole between Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott. In terms of Scott it is a myth-shattering account that tells the time-less story of arrogance, unpreparedness in the face of danger and lack of respect for the forces of nature that ultimately lead to inevitable desaster and failure. And if anybody thinks that this theme is outdated, please read the stories of the recent tragedies on Everest. Huntford analyzes very carefully the fundamentally different approaches that went into the preparation and execution of both expeditions and lead to the so different outcomes: success and safe return for the Norwegians, death and suffering for the British. Huntford finds the roots for Scott's arrogant and at the same time helpless approach in Edwardian society. He also shows us the very different situation that Amundsen was coming from. In spite of the large amount of detail presented, the book reads very, very well, almost like an adventure novel. Huntford has been criticized for his sharp bashing of Scott and his myth, but after reading the details and doing some further research on both expeditions I have to say that it was time that Amundsen got the full respect he deserved and the truth about Scott, the "hero" was told.

Wonderfully written, fascinating tale, January 12, 2000
This is an all points beautiful book, well written, well researched, a distinct pleasure to read for its prose style and its information alike.

While Huntford has been criticized for partizanism -- as if it were possible to be passionately interested in anything, and not develop some degree of bias -- his fair and reasoned description of events presents all the information any reasonable reader might need to identify for themselves instances in which a point of interpretation might be contested.

But it would be a sorry mistake to dismiss this book as a polemic. There is no better source for information on Scott's career, Amundsen's life and exploration, or the polar bids of either man available in English today. Mr. Huntford's research and presentation are remarkable. This is a wonderful book and great fun to read, and you will be the richer for the time you spend with the people who populate its pages. My greatest regret on completing the book was that there were not another five chapters for me to read yet (and fortunately for me there are the author's biographies of Shackleton and Nansen to be had).

Truly one of the cornerstones of the modern literature of Antarctic exploration!

Axes enough, please..., December 6, 2000
To those that felt a hatchet job was done to Robert Falcon Scott by this book, I would have to take issue. Huntford takes a hatchet to the attitudes of Victorian/Edwardian England. He points out that Shackelton (a man Huntford admires) had the self-same faults. Fortunately for Shackelton, he was more of a leader, and certainly cooler under pressure than Scott.

I think Huntford is also reacting to the lionization of Scott. For many years, Scott WAS the discoverer of the South Pole to British schoolchildren. The fact that a Norwegian had gotten there first came as something of a shock to Alistair Cooke (certainly an educated man), who hosted the televised version of The Last Place on Earth on Masterpiece Theatre. As Huntford points out, Scott's wife Kathleen and her friend, Sir James Barrie (of Peter Pan fame) had a significant hand in the editing of his diaries, so as to give the impression that Scott was more of an heroic figure.

And as for man-hauling being a vindicated technique over dogsled; only when you're being re-supplied by airdrop (something Scott didn't have the luxury of). I have to laugh at the modern explorers who compare their radio-monitored, airplane resupplied, superlightweight modern technology treks as being "in the footsteps of" Nansen, or Shackelton, or Amundsen, or even Scott. Those men were harder than iron.

The book smashes through the beautiful language of Scott's diaries, and sees into the dry language of Amundsen's. It is an excellent piece of non-fiction, and an adventure tale, and a great pair of biographies. I highly recommend it.

There are so many reasons to read this book., August 1, 2000
In brief, the book is a facinating journey in and of itself. It is incredibly detailed and well researched. The richness of texture of the events and peoples lives surrounding antarctic exploration is nearly overwhelming. The writing is surprisingly fluid, and sustains the flow of the story without losing detail. The actual maps contained in the book were somewhat lacking, and left me wanting a bit more. The story, however, is so well told I could litterally feel myself at the pole itself! The story so absorbed my mind that it filled my dreams night after night.

The Last Place on Earth, the telling of the story of Scott and Amundsen, is both a sharp study in contrast between to styles of leadership, and a compelling drama of the lives of two men who had the eyes of the world upon them. A fantastic read end to end!

Huntford takes some chances at times speculating at the motives of these explorers, as well as some liberty with the thoughts and feelings of the people surrounding the expeditions. The supositions he makes, however, he makes strong arguments for, relying on notations from diaries and letters of key players. With quotes, facts, dates, and some intuition Huntford tells a gripping and convincing tale. I admire Huntford for the way he analyzes the characters: without being manipulative, he gives a forceful accounting of the main players and their motives.

On style I feel Huntford was magnificent. With the telling of history stories can often become dull and slow, bogged down in names, dates, and places. Huntfords account is fluid and dynamic, interweaving the personal stories with the plain logistics an accurate accounting demands.

If there is one caveat I would add, and this is a small one, it is that at times I got the sense that Huntford had more than a little emnity towards Scott. It would be hard not to learn all that was involved in the journey to the South Pole and not feel some contempt for Scott, but Huntford seems to feel it deeper. I actually wondered at times if he had been a person who had idolized Scott for some time, but then felt betrayed when he learned the truth. This does not, however, detract from the story at all.

To me this is as good as reading gets. This is as close as you can get to real life human drama without being there. Not a fantasy, but a powerful reproduction of actual events. A rare opportunity to be touched by the lives of two famous explorers and the men who knew them. A chance to live and die with men who held center stage as the world watched. It really is an opportunity that should not be missed.

A riveting read but questionable, February 8, 2002
The gripping tale of the 'race' to the South Pole from 1910-1912 is told with a deft hand at narrative by Roland Huntford. It is one of those biographical pieces (It also serves as a bio on Scott and Amundsen) which makes you almost believe that you are there with these men.
In saying this however (And I stress that I am a Shackleton person and don't rate Scott much) I question how exact it is in that there is so much debunking of Scott that Huntford seems to just stop short of accusing him of murder (I am also amazed that Sir Peter Scott did not sue Huntford when the book first came out, it says much about the man)with regards to Oates walking to his death. I do agree that Amundsen was a brilliant tactician at Polar exploration and Scott was an arrogant incompetent, but Amundsen was also a bit of a glory-seeking oppurtunist and Scott did have some decent remarkable talents, telling a good story for one, that would have been best suited in areas other than Polar exploration. If the RGS, Markham, Scott etc.. had a dangerous fault it was that they allowed emotions pervade areas where sentimentality was destructive.

Analysis and excitement blend to form a fascinating story., October 14, 1999
This book is a fascinating combination of detailed analysis of the two men, Scott and Amundsen and the wildly different tactics used to reach the Southernmost point on Earth. Although certain sections of the book drag with perhaps too much in-depth analysis (such as a detailed discussion of Amundsen's housekeeper's influence on his life) it moves along well overall.

The final days of Scott's party are laid out in a plain and factual way, but the terror that must have crept over them when they finally realized that there was no way they could reach their main base alive comes through remarkably well. You begin to feel the deep chill of the Antarctic wind and the crushing disappointment when a food depot is missed.

In contrast, the absolute ease of Amundsen's journey is shocking. His men used dogs to pull their sledges to the pole and then killed the weaker dogs on the return trip to feed the remaining team. Detailed planning for the journey, including learning to live in high latitudes from the experts, the Inuit, led to his success. Their skis carried them upwards of 20 miles per day with ease, despite the harsh environment. The team literally had a holiday while "boxing" the pole with flags during the several days used to confirm their position and ensure their place in history.

The pictures reproduced in the book do a good job of filling in the stark images the text roughs out for the reader. The amount of research required to produce this book is simply overwhelming and it should be considered the definitive text on this last great geographic race.

Take with a pinch of salt, August 25, 2000
Huntsford's book may be impressive in terms of the amount of material he has assembled, but, as other reviewers have pointed out, there is such an obvious anti-Scott bias that it is sometimes hard to take his analysis at face value. It left me wondering what the motives for his conclusions were: surely the object of historical biography is (as far as possible) a dispassionate presentation of the facts. Huntsford certainly cannot be accused of that. Huntford seems to start from the position that Scott was an incomptent fool, and assembles the evidence to support that view. There can be no doubt that Scott was a flawed leader, but the aims of his expedition were very different from those of Amundsen and so direct comparison of the two expeditions will always be problematic. Scott's expedition was ostensibly scientific; Amundsen wanted purely to reach the south Pole first (after initially claiming to be heading for the Arctic - he waited until Scott was far South before announcing his real intention). Further, the claims of some of your reviewers that Scott refused to use dogs and skis is plain wrong.

Ultimately Huntsford's account is a valuable contribution to the literature surrounding these two contrasting voyages to the Antarctic, but is too single-minded in its pursuit of Scott's reputation. If readers want to know why Scott's men would largely follow him unquestioningly to the ends of the Earth, read Apsley Cherry-Garrard's wonderfully written and moving account of his own travails on Scott's expedition, The Worst Journey In The World. If I had to choose whose opinion to take most seriously regarding Scott - that of Huntsford, or that of a man who spent two years in the Antarctic with Scott, through thick and mostly thin, I have to take Cherry-Garrard's. Read both and make up your own mind. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The classic minute-by-minute account of the sinking of the Titanic, in a 50th anniversary edition with a new introduction by Nathaniel Philbrick

First published in 1955, A Night to Remember remains a completely riveting account of the Titanic's fatal collision and the behavior of the passengers and crew, both noble and ignominious. Some sacrificed their lives, while others fought like animals for their own survival. Wives beseeched husbands to join them in lifeboats; gentlemen went taut-lipped to their deaths in full evening dress; and hundreds of steerage passengers, trapped below decks, sought help in vain.

Available for the first time in trade paperback and with a new introduction for the 50th anniversary edition by Nathaniel Phil-brick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Sea of Glory, Walter Lord's classic minute-by-minute re-creation is as vivid now as it was upon first publication fifty years ago. From the initial distress flares to the struggles of those left adrift for hours in freezing waters, this semicentennial edition brings that moonlit night in 1912 to life for a new generation of readers.
... Read more

Reviews

An absorbing read..., July 29, 2000
Dear Amazon.com Readers,

With a passenger list in the back, detailing those who survived and those who didn't, "A Night to Remember," is a harrowing account of the Titanic's ill-fated journey from Europe to the United States.

The book really tells of the people who spent fortunes to get aboard the Titanic, the most luxurious cruiseliner of the time. I really don't think that this book can be compared to the movie "Titanic." They are both such different stories, that saying one is like the other is missing the point.

"A Night to Remember is much more than Hollywook hype. It is really more of a personal account of what happened aboard the ship, and the horrors of the sinking and of the rescues (most people died, only a few survived). I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the saga of the Titanic. This book is based solidly on fact, which is one reason I like it so much. I remember reading this several years ago, and being kept up at night as a result.

way better than the movie, June 14, 2000
I must be the only person who read this book years before the movie came out. As a child, this was one of my very favorite books that I have since reread many times. Lord captures everything: the social mores, the lavish banquets, the characters (the captain!), the conditions on the rest of the ship, and the tragedy of it all. The movie leaves nothing to the imagination, but this account is truly superb. If you never got a chance to read it, don't delay. You'll learn almost everything about the tragedy from a master story teller. The scenes right before they strike the iceburg are incredible, as are every scene of the evacuation. Finally, it's clear why no one wanted to leave the security of the ship. The worst tragedy of all was that many of the lifeboats were lowered with hardly anyone on them because they were afraid to leave the ship. Many more lives could have been saved.

A Riveting Classic, March 18, 1998
I first read Walter Lord's "A Night to Remember" in the summer of 1968 as part of my required reading list for freshman year of high school. I was so fascinated by the account that I read it at least three times that summer and early fall. It brought to chilling life one of the greatest maritime disasters in history. As I read the dog-eared, yellowing, crinkled-paper copy of the paperback (its purchase price was sixty-cents back then) once again last year as a "mature" 42 year old, Mr. Lord's brilliant account of the tragedy still held my attention. His vivid, detailed, yet smooth flowing narrative brought back the excitement as felt as a young teenager, in a way that few books have. I recently viewed the movie "Titanic" with my fourteen year old daughter. The movie was thoroughly enjoyable, but there were some aspects of the book (such as the spectre of a rescue ship only a few precious miles away)that could have added to the drama. The book is worth reading both as literature as well as history.

You ARE there..., January 17, 2000
If James Cameron's film Titanic made you feel you were there by watching it, (and I'm sure plenty of people feel that way but don't want to admit it since it's unfashionable right now), Walter Lord's book makes you feel the same way by reading about it. Minute by minute, detail by detail, with survivior accounts making it all the more real, we hear the story, the familiar details and plenty of ones we never heard before. Gripping with every turn of the page, your pulse races as you ache to find out what will happen next, though in the back of your head you already know. Walter Lord is a great historian and a great storyteller, and these skills are what make this book invaluable to any Titanic buff or anyone who likes a good story, or just anyone in general.

A Book to Remember, September 19, 2004
No matter how many times you revisit it, A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, the granddaddy of all Titanic books, remains as fresh a read today as it did fifty years ago. Walter Lord is still universally regarded as "the man who knows everything about the Titanic" and this fast-paced, detail-laden, and dramatically visualized book is the reason why and the product of that reason.

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER transports you to the decks of the Titanic that cold April night so convincingly that you are left with an eerie chill-between-your-shoulder blades feeling as the great ship goes down.

You share the early complacency of the passengers on the 'unsinkable' ship. Your sense of impending doom grows as the bows disappear below the glassy Atlantic. You grit your teeth at the obtuseness of the crew of the Californian---why, oh why, didn't they question those white rockets?---and you share in the breathless trauma of those on shore as the story unfolds.

Sure, since the discovery of the wreck many questions have been answered (and a few more posed). Some of Lord's information is dated (the ship did in fact break in half, for example). There have been other 'Titanic' books, and they explore almost every aspect of the disaster in meticulous detail; even Lord's follow-up The Night Lives On: The Untold Stories & Secrets Behind the Sinking of the Unsinkable Ship-Titanic falls into this category. But no one has ever told the story of the RMS Titanic any better, and it's likely they never will.

Classic Book - Though Now Dated, November 21, 2005
This is a classic book on the sinking of the Titanic and the first book I ever read on the subject. It should be understood before reading this book that our collective understanding of the Titanic disaster has moved on since the time A Night to Remember was first published in 1956. For example upon discovering the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic in 1985 it was clear that the Titanic had indeed broken in half and rested upon the sea bed in two halves. As anybody who has seen the 1958 film "A Night To Remember" will realise this book presents the ship as sinking whole, which was not the case. But this is not to say that this book does not have a lot of outstanding information to impart to the interested reader. The book considers the Titanic from the time in 1907 when she was conceived, the building of the Titanic, the maiden voyage and the sinking and finally the subsequent investigations and recriminations. Particularly thought provoking is the full listing of the passengers at the back of the book including those who survived along with those who perished. What I found particularly shocking was the listing of Third Class Passengers, with its very low numbers of survivors. Walter Lord's book is very easy to read, though the subject matter is somewhat more difficult to digest, due to the overwhelming nature of the Titanic tragedy.

Bare Bones Account, August 15, 2000
Walter Lord is one of the best historical authors of the 20th Century. His storytelling talent shows through in his classic account of the sinking of the Titanic. The book's only flaw is its brevity. The narrative portion is only 135 pages in small paperback form and starts just as the ship is about to hit the iceberg. There is no background story to give the reader perspective of the ship's construction or of the passengers whose stories it follows. Also lacking is much detail about the aftermath of the sinking. The actual sinking is retold in riveting first person accounts that detail those fatal final moments and all of their tragedies and ironies. In fact, Lord's account was good enough to make me want to seek out a more complete history of the disaster.

An Absolute Classic, March 7, 2005
An example of a great writer telling more with less. Walter Lord took volumns of interviews with Titanic survivors and boiled them down to the dramatic essence that is this book. Tightly written with a fast pace that manages to build suspense despite knowing the ultimate fate of the ship.

There are so many who write the "disaster" book now, but 50 years after its first publication, this book still sets the mark for the genre.

A Night to Remember, January 8, 2001
Publishing for the first time in 1955, Walter Lord's novel remains unsurpassed in accuracy and excitement. To fulfill his purpose, Lord interviewed the few Titanic survivors in effort to create the most precise and vivid picture of what happened out in the Atlantic on that moonlit night in 1912. This book allows readers to step on board the luxury liner with an explosion of the emotions the passengers felt that night they knew there was no where to go but into the freezing icy water of the ocean. Devoid of Hollywood glamour, Lord tells exactly what happened when it happened as told by those who were actually there. With chapters brilliantly titled with heart-wrenching words of the passengers, Lord is able to describe in complete detail the events as they occurred minute-by-minute from the point of view of different passengers. Some passengers stayed in bed despite the jolt of the iceberg, some continued to drink and smoke in the lounges, and some went up on deck to investigate while others played a game of soccer with chunks of ice. By his exceptional use of lead-ins and transitions, Lord's novel flows in a remarkable manner. Descriptions are depicted in such intense detail that any reader can taste the gourmet meals of the first class, see the excessively adorned quarters, hear the chilling silence, and feel the pain of the frigid water.

Tragedy At Sea, March 11, 2004
This is the story of the "unsinkable" Titanic. She was four city blocks long, with the latest, most ingenious safety devices, a French "sidewalk cafe", private promenade decks-but only twenty lifeboats for the 2,207 passengers and crew on board.

Gliding through a calm sea, disdainful of all obstacles, the Titanic brushed an iceberg. Two hours and forty minutes later, she upended and sank. Only 705 survivors were picked up from her half-filled boats. And she had been called "the ship that God Himself couldn't sink."

A Night to Remember is a minute-by-minute account of her fatal collision with an iceberg and how the resulting tragedy brought out the best and worst in human nature. Some gave their lives for others, some fought for survival. Wives beseeched husbands to join them in the boats; gentlemen went taut-lipped to their deaths in full evening dress; hundreds of steerage passengers, trapped below decks, sought help in vain.

If you've seen the movie by James Cameron, this book is highly recommended to get the real story. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Following an Australian government edict in 1931, black aboriginal children and children of mixed marriages were gathered up and taken to settlements to be institutionally assimilated. In Rabbit-Proof Fence, award-wining author Doris Pilkington traces the story of her mother, Molly, one of three young girls uprooted from their community in Southwestern Australia and taken to the Moore River Native Settlement. There, Molly and her relatives Gracie and Daisy were forbidden to speak their native language, forced to abandon their heritage, and taught to be culturally white. After regular stays in solitary confinement, the three girls planned and executed a daring escape from the grim camp. ... Read more

Reviews

The longest walk, January 29, 2004
It's an insult to Doris Pilkington and to the children's endeavour alike to race through this book. Still, circumstances dictated [the film was waiting] and the deed was done. Which merely led to a re-read. This real-life story of three young girls escaping from the looming slavery of a Christian mission to return home is another entry on the balance sheet of imperialism. With immense forces arrayed against them, the three evaded all pursuit, even expert Aborigine trackers, to cross half a continent to rejoin their families. The distance covered was likely the longest walk in Australian history.

The roots of this story lie in the opening chapters which recount the actions of European visitors and settlers against the indigenous Australian population. Women were raped, murdered or abandoned. Men were killed, imprisoned, led into slavery as they watched their traditional lands overrun by cattle, sheep or grain. The ease with which firearms overcame spears added to the European's attitude of "superiority". By the time of Molly Craig's capture, killing had been mostly abandoned in favour of "assimilation" - a mild word for indentured servitude. Molly, recognised the fallacy of being forced into an unwanted life. She took steps to avoid this fate - many steps, as it turned out. Enough to hide from pursuers, do some elusive backtracking and arrive at home. At least 1800 km of mostly barefoot walking.

There were adventures enough along the way, and some ironies. Although alerted to their escape, the wives of white selectors fed, clothed and sheltered them briefly. Then dobbed them in to the police after the trio had again gone bush. The girls lived on donated food, captured rabbits, birds' eggs or whatever else the bush provided. Each contributed as best they could. It was enough. Seven weeks after their escape, two of the three were reunited with family. Yet, nine years later, Molly Craig, this time carrying her infant daughter, had to repeat her incredible performance.

To those complaining the book is too brief, one can only ask: "What would you add?". This is an Aborigine tale told in an Aborigine manner. It doesn't examine the lives and motivations of such people as A. O. Neville or Const. Rigg. It doesn't delve into the psychological foundations of Molly or Gracie or even Mrs Flanagan. The book presents the tale as it occurred without ostentation or enhancement. There are numerous works on the conquest of Australia and its "White Only" policy and its implications. This story, stark and simple, stands on its own merits. Don't read it too quickly. There is too much to learn. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

Quick Great Read, June 11, 2003
If you are interested in what happens to native or aboriginal peoples when whites try to incorporate them into a white culturally based society, READ THIS BOOK! The book is 10x better than the movie...full of real details. Even though this story was told orally from a vantage point of 60+ years, it is backed up with articles, poice reports,etc. Very credible and tragic story.

An amazing story, March 15, 2006
Rabbit-Proof Fence is the story of 3 young part-Aboriginal girls in Australia, the oldest only fifteen years of age. Historically, "half-caste children", (half-Aboriginal and half-Caucasian) were considered wards of the Australian government and were, therefore, forcibly removed from their families and taken to settlment schools that were little more than jails. The purpose of these schools was to prepare these Aboriginal children for their role in white society as domestics and farmworkers. This book is a true story of 3 girls who escaped from the Moore River Settlement school. Their story is nothing less than amazing. The description of the "weevily porridge" that they were served for breakfast at the school, or the sheets that were only issued when the big inspectors were coming to visit and the other hardships they faced should sadden and anger every reader. Unfortunately, there are many similarities between their story and the treatment of Native Americans in this country. It is a must read!

I wish this were longer, August 9, 2003
What a great 300 page story packed into 100 pages. This is one of those stories that everyone should read, but sadly the delivery of the walk home is so straightforward. I wanted to know more about what the three girls went through, I wanted to really be able to see into them a little more. That said, western readers love characters. They do. It's a trait of being brought up on those books we all read in high school. This book does subvert expectations about character being central rather than journey or community. Indeed, journey and community are paramount to this story. But I still would have loved 200 more pages. So many places left me wanting for more landscape, more discussion of language, more description of the people. Just more. Read it, but know that there's a whole other story underneath this one as well.

...and the movie is great, too, May 10, 2003
A different kind of coming-of-age story, set in Australia. And the kids are three aborininal girls (remember that at one time the Austrailans considered the aboriginal people to be animals, or at least sub-human) who trek across sere and wild landscapes to return to their home.
Then realize that this is a true story, told by the daughter of one of the three girls who, along with maybe thousands of other children, were separated from their families by government edict, forced to 'live as white.' It was a misguided effort at assimilation, masquerading as well-intentioned but in reality was a formal effort to erase an entire culture.
Rabbit-Proof Fence is an inspiring story of survival, defiance, resiliance, and ultimately of love.

Enthralling, April 3, 2005
I was enthralled by this story. It is also educational.

Having seen the movie, I just had to read the book to get the details--and I might add, the real truth about the details. For example, in the book it is Gracie and Daisy, not Molly, who first approach a house for food. (I don't know why this is changed in the movie.) I thought this was wise on Molly's part, since younger children are often times better received by strangers.

If you don't have a lot of time to read, you might appreciate the brevity of this book. The "Glossary of Mardujara Words" is helpful, especially since some non-English words appear in the book more than once.

RUN, GIRLS, RUN..., August 9, 2009
I first saw the Miramax movie starring Kenneth Branagh, which was based upon this book. I was intrigued enough by the film to read this book. I was not disappointed. This book is certainly a testament to the human spirit. It also reveals the harsh, paternalistic and racist policies that the Australian government imposed upon its Aboriginal population.

In 1931, the Australian government issued an edict that mandated that all Aboriginal and part Aboriginal children were to be forcibly removed from their homes and taken to special settlements where they were to be assimilated. There, while living in inhumane and degrading conditions, they would be taught to be culturally white, would be mandated to speak English only, and would be trained to be domestic help or laborers in white households.

The author tells the reader the story of three young girls, Mollie, Gracie, and Daisy, who had Aboriginal mothers and White fathers. Ranging in age from nine to fifteen years old, the three girls were forcibly removed from their loving families and taken to a special settlement. The girls rebelled against this system, and, homesick, escaped from such a settlement. They left with iterally just the clothes on their back. Their only guide home would be a rabbit-proof fence that stretched for over a thousand miles across Australia.

The girls Aboriginal heritage and survival skills would come in handy throughout their nearly nine week long trek across Australia, as they were forced to subsist on the land and the occasional kindness from strangers. They had to endure thirst, hunger, and danger, while avoiding being caught along the way by professional trackers, police on the lookout for them, and white settlers that were unsympathetic to their situation.

This story is a most personal one for the author, as one of the girls, Molly, is the author's mother. Told in a straightforward, factual manner, it is an incredible story that is an indictment of the Australian government's racist policies against its Aboriginal people and its imperialistic self-proclaimed superiority over them.

If you saw the movie..., July 7, 2003
If you saw "Rabbit Proof Fence" and want to learn more about the lives of its characters, this ISN'T the book for you. We read it for my book club, and it was generally considered to be a disappointment. Even at a slim length (130 pages) it took some effort to finish. The author -- the daughter of one of the girls depicted in the movie-- spends the first fifty pages telling tales of Western Australia's colonization by the British. The detail, while reasonably interesting, eclipses the story of the girls. Their lives and the journey they took from the Moore Settlement school back to their home, is told sparingly, with little insight into what the girls went through. How about an adult's perspective on what they'd been through as girls? A more detailed update on their lives? You will get more detail from seeing the movie, which makes this book largely irrelevant.

Sad truth, October 18, 2008
I read this book after a trip to Australia and after seeing the movie. Don't know what to say about it other then it left me speechless. Is there a country anywhere in the world that hasn't treated it's indigenous people horribly at some point? Rabbit Proof Fence is a pretty amazing story of human spirit. I would suggest reading the book first then seeing the movie.

Impressiv and captivating, February 18, 2004
Rabbit-Proof Fence is the most fantastic film we ever watched at school.We think that the film is even better than the book because you are touched by the landscape and the music of the Australian continent. Actually you cannot opress tears! So we are convinced the book must have the same qualiity. Enjoy reading and do not forget watching the film!
Thank you. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A harrowing portrait of a largely forgotten campaign that pushed one battalion to the limits of human suffering.

Despite their lack of jungle training, the 32nd Division’s “Ghost Mountain Boys” were assigned the most grueling mission of the entire Pacific campaign in World War II: to march over the 10,000-foot Owen Stanley Mountains to protect the right flank of the Australian army during the battle for New Guinea. Reminiscent of the classics like Band of Brothers and The Things They Carried, The Ghost Mountain Boys is part war diary, part extreme-adventure tale, and—through letters, journals, and interviews—part biography of a group of men who fought to survive in an environment every bit as fierce as the enemy they faced. Theirs is one of the great untold stories of the war.

“Superb.”
—Chicago Sun-Times

“Campbell started out with history, but in the end he has written a tale of survival and courage of near-mythic proportions.”
—America in WWII magazine

“In this compelling and sprightly written account, Campbell shines a long-overdue light on the equally deserving heroes of the Red Arrow Division.”
—Military.com ... Read more

Reviews

A compelling story of a little known battle fought in the jungles of New Guinea during WWII, October 8, 2007
James Campbell does an outstanding job of telling a heartbreaking story of loss and survival on the island of New Guinea during WW II. It is a very personal story of the men of the 32nd Infantry Divisions' Ghost Mountain Boys who were assigned the mission impossible -- to march 130 miles over the Owen Stanley Mountains -- and then, after being ravaged by malaria, dysentery, festoring sores and exhausted beyond belief, they were ordered to launch an assault on the Japanese position in Buna. It's a story that begins with the letters of the regimental surgeon, Major Simon Warmenhoven to his wife and ends with the defeat of the Japanese army at the expense of 9,688 US casualties from nearly eleven thousand troops.
I would highly recommend this well-documented account of a little known battle to WW II buffs, and to those who enjoy reading personal stories of survival against incredible odds.

At last, the New Guinea Story of the 32nd Infantry Division, November 2, 2007
In "The Ghost Mountain Boys," James Campbell tells, at last, the WWII story about the heroes of the 32nd infantry Division, whose near impossible feats in New Guinea were overshadowed by the better known battle ground at Guadalcanal.

Through countless interviews with veterans and /or their families, research in military history of both American and Japanese troops, extensive resource reading, as well as having taken the arduous trek himself, James Campbell has written a compassionate, compelling, book that will surely be considered a must for WWII historians.

I read this book because of a personal interest in the 32nd Infantry Division, and it was my first time to ever read a detailed account about a military feat. The author has made this narrative read like a rich, exciting novel in which history comes alive. Not only was it an enjoyable read but also it was great to discuss it with my husband, a great history buff, who liked the book as much as I.

The best book I read in 2007, January 6, 2008
I would not normally have read The Ghost Mountain Boys, but the book's subject intrigued me because a relative served in New Guinea in World War II. He returned safely, and then lived and died an alcoholic. Now I can understand the probable reason why. Author James Campbell is a superb historian and tells a fascinating, complex story with clarity and compassion. His research for the book was meticulous and personal. Even if, like me, you don't typically like books about war, give this one a try. I will be very surprised if this book does not win major awards for books published in 2007.

It doesn't get much better than this., October 27, 2007
This is an outstanding book about a remarkable story. It is well researched, thoroughly documented and hard to put down. The author actually walked the Ghost Mountain track from the Port Moresby side of New Guinea to Buna and captures the "voice" of the soldiers of the 32nd Division. After reading the book, I sent a gift copy to a friend who fought with the 127th Infantry at Buna. In his words: "...the trails, villages etc. that I had walked came back just like it was yesterday. I have read about 150 books on the pacific war and this is by far the best on I have ever read! It describes so well the real problems of the Infantry man--not the combat--being wounded etc., but the trying to survive the bugs, leeches, even crocodiles, on a daily basis--getting shot was a blessing!!"

Jungle War on a Shoestring!, April 4, 2008
This book is an easy read. I recommend it to anyone interested in how America's citizen soldiers fought in World War II. The book's style is similar to many of Stephen Ambroses works such as Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest or Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.
This book follows the story of the 32 Infantry, the Red Arrow Division in Early World War II. The Red Arrow Division was composed of National Guard units from Michigan and Wisconsin and fleshed out with draftees. The unit was nationalized in 1941, before the beginning of the war and trained in Louisiana. The first section of the book focuses on these early days of the division.
The Red Arrow was originally slated to fight in Europe but with rapid advance of the Japanese, the Red Arrow was sent to protect Australia. Soon after the division completed construction of its training base, units were sent to help Australian troops in New Guinea. Several units marched over the Owen Stanley Mountains racing the Japanese back to their bases near Buna on the northern coast. Coastal shipping transported other units to the area. The account of the air attack on these ships as they tried to land supplies was gripping. None of the troops were trained or prepared for the tropical jungles and harsh conditions they faced. Niether was the United States prepared to supply troop in this environment. The troops were malnourished and soon suffered from tropical diseases such as malaria and dysentery. Trapped at the end of a long supply line before the industrial strength of the United States was brought to bear, this small band fought a battle in the jungle similar to trench warfare in World War 1.
This book focuses on the personal experiences of the front line troops in their struggle against the environment and enemy. Excerpts from Japanese diaries show that both sides suffered terribly from the conditions, which neither side was prepared for. Distant commanders demanded immediate action and that the attacks be pressed forward regardless of losses. I am amazed that the sick emaciated troops were able to walk let alone fight. I wished for more maps. Three maps at the beginning of the book meant that I was constantly turning back to the front to see if the location was on the map and where it was. The campaign in the Southwestern Pacific is almost ignored by the public who remember the Marine landings in the Central Pacific and the great carrier battles that destroyed the Japanese Navy.
I drive home from work every day on the Red Arrow Highway. When I moved here, I asked about the name and was told that it was named for a famous unit in World War I made up of local boys. Someone else told me that the Red Arrow was in combat longer than any other unit in WW II. I don't think of them the same way as I did before I read this book.

WONERFUL BOOK, October 25, 2007
This book means so much to me cause my dad (Robert Hartman)was part of the subject matter and helped Mr Campbell with his book. We had always heard stories from my dad about his experiences in WWII but never knew all the details until this book came out. This is such a tribute to all the men and women too that suffered in New Guinea and Buna but that were heros ALL. Thanks to everyone who helped make this book so good!!!!

Finally the story is told, November 7, 2007
As the daughter of "G" Company's medic (James Mull), I anxiously waited for my copy of the book. I was not disappointed. My father never talked much of his war years and now I have an understanding why. What those men were subjected to and accomplished is astonishing. It is time the men of the 32nd Red Arrow Division are given the honor they deserve. I am giving my father a copy of the book and hope that he will add his own memories to it, so his story can be shared with his grandchildren.
I would highly recommend this book to everyone. This is a story that needed to be told.

The battle of the egos, March 3, 2008
This would have been a difficult battle for green troops to fight even if they had been well led. Unfortunately they weren't. First we find the ultimate ego maniac, McArthur, would never soiled his trouser legs by visiting the front, but he threatened his commanders to fight and die if they didn't win. Then we find the behind the scenes scuffling of generals who, like school boys pushing to be first in line, wanted their units to get the glory but they themselves did no fighting and didn't expose themselves to the hardships the troops endured. Of course they all wrote their biographies after the war, most of which would make science fiction look respectable. But the heros were those who fought and died under the most unimaginable conditions in this first great battle of retaking the Pacific from the Japanese.

This battle need never to have been fought. With a more abler senior commander than McArthur, the Japanese could have been quarantined and starved into defeat. But that doesn't get headlines, and headlines were more important to McArthur than the lives of simple soldiers who just wanted to make it through the day.

unkown story, November 3, 2007
The Ghost Mountain Boys

A highly readable account of a little known World War II campaign. The 32nd National Guard Division from Michigan and Wisconsin fought the longest continuous action campaign under some of the most brutal conditions of any experienced during the war. James Campbell has written a fast moving (unlike the battle) tale of the men who participated in this action. He has managed to put a very human face on a very inhuman experience.
I found myself living the events alongside the men involved. My visceral reactions reminded me of how I reacted to "Into Thin Air" the brilliant Mt. Everest Advnture. There has recently been a spate of World War II books, movies, and, of course, Ken Burns brilliant PBS series, but for me, Campbell covers new ground concerning an unbelievably grueling fight that took place in the impenetrable mountains and jungles of New Guinea, an area of the world that is still a relative unknown mystery to most of us. The fact that Campbell followed the tracks of these men over the Owen Stanley Mountains adds amazing first person detail the the retelling of the story of their trek. Campbell's use of first person remembrances as but together through interviews, correspondence, and military archives brought me completely into this gripping story. Although he does not shy away from point out the errors made by our side, from Mac Arthur on down, I came away from this book with nothing but respect for and awe of those who where involved.
Ted. IL

The Ghost Mountain Boys, November 29, 2007
I am a retired teacher specializing in military history. This is truly a compelling account of the forgotten land battle in the Pacific that until now has received virtually zero coverage in any history book of World War II. The subtitle tells it all; "Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea--The Forgotten War of the South Pacific." It just goes to show you that unless the media or Hollywood are interested, these equally significant battles just never seem to gain notice and are forgotten or in this case ignored until author James Campbell did some digging to find a gem of a story. As a student and true lover of history, I was greatly impressed by the unprecedented documentation of Mr. Campbell. There are numerous instances throughout the book where a skeptic may say that the author may have gotten a little carried away with the "war stories" related by the soldiers involved. In every instance, the author provides full documentation with multiple sources that would make even the most demanding college professor happy. I would recommend that the readers of this book read a chapter and then immediately go to the back of the book to read the author notes on that chapter. Then read another chapter and go back to read the notes on that chapter. The notes are as impressive as the text and this technique does not really interupt the flow of the book. To the contrary, it enhances the experience.

Campbell tells the story of the Ghost Mountain Boys in a somber and sensitive manner without the artificial guts and glory of a typical macho-man pulp fiction narative. This is award winning literature. I highly recommend this for the serious reader and for all classroom history classes grades 11 through grad school.

Mark
Twin Lake, Michigan ... Read more

Editorial Review

In 1912, six months after Robert Falcon Scott and four of his men came to grief in Antarctica, a thirty-two-year-old Russian navigator named Valerian Albanov embarked on an expedition that would prove even more disastrous. In search of new Arctic hunting grounds, Albanov's ship, the Saint Anna, was frozen fast in the pack ice of the treacherous Kara Sea-a misfortune grievously compounded by an incompetent commander, the absence of crucial nautical charts, insufficient fuel, and inadequate provisions that left the crew weak and debilitated by scurvy.

For nearly a year and a half, the twenty-five men and one woman aboard the Saint Anna endured terrible hardships and danger as the icebound ship drifted helplessly north. Convinced that the Saint Anna would never free herself from the ice, Albanov and thirteen crewmen left the ship in January 1914, hauling makeshift sledges and kayaks behind them across the frozen sea, hoping to reach the distant coast of Franz Josef Land. With only a shockingly inaccurate map to guide him, Albanov led his men on a 235-mile journey of continuous peril, enduring blizzards, disintegrating ice floes, attacks by polar bears and walrus, starvation, sickness, snowblindness, and mutiny. That any of the team survived is a wonder. That Albanov kept a diary of his ninety-day ordeal-a story that Jon Krakauer calls an "astounding, utterly compelling book," and David Roberts calls "as lean and taut as a good thriller"-is nearly miraculous.

First published in Russia in 1917, Albanov's narrative is here translated intoEnglish for the first time. Haunting, suspenseful, and told with gripping detail, In the Land of White Death can now rightfully take its place among the classic writings of Nansen, Scott, Cherry-Garrard, and Shackleton.
... Read more

Reviews

A quick read, good addition to that polar expedition library, October 31, 2000
This is a worthwhile read if you enjoy harrowing stories of near-death polar adventures. It's amazing that Albanov survived. His book is a combination of excerpts from his detailed diary and elaborations he added after the fact, supplemented by an informational preface from the publisher who recently discovered his almost-forgotten manuscript.

If you have already read "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing, this book isn't quite as good, but it is an interesting contrast. (If you haven't, put Endurance on your must-read list!) The challenges faced were similar, though not quite as extended in Albanov's case.

This story starts in much the same way as the Endurance - a ship trapped in pack ice (though in this case in the Arctic). But this is where the story diverges. The biggest difference that you learn up-front is that only two people survived (compared to the whole crew on the Endurance!)

Albanov is the navigator but does not get along with the captain. As a result, after two winters (!) enduring their relationship and the worsening conditions, he asks for permission to build a kayak and sledge from scrap and set out on his own in search of land. Much to his disappointment, however, half the crew (even many of the weaker ones) ask to accompany him.

Their destination is "Cape Flora" about 120 miles away across pack ice. According to a polar explorer's diary from decades ago, Cape Flora once had a shelter and supplies. But they really don't even know if it still exists and exactly how to get there. And if it is still there - what then? But Albanov is able to focus on the immediate goal and not worry about the what if's.

Interestingly, the crew was not a group of explorers anticipating adventure, but opportunists looking to make money in the walrus-hunting trade. This could have contributed to their low survival rate. Albanov complains about his companions a lot - their laziness, stupidity. But from Albanov's first hand account, the reader can infer that he was a loner. I couldn't help but wonder whether a leader like Shackleton could have brought out the best in the group and had a higher chance of surviving.

Anyway, it is truly amazing that Albanov and one of his companions survive all the crazy challenges they are delt - snowblidness, hunger, cold, scurvy, lack of maps, drifting pack ice, angry walruses, almost drowning, and so on.

This is a short book, and a good page-turner. Although it's not as good as Endurance, it's still a good read.

Exciting man vs. nature thriller, November 1, 2000
Perfect for fans of INTO THIN AIR, KNOCKDOWN, or similar titles that set humans against pitiless nature--and here nature does some serious damage against the humans. Albanov clearly conveys the confusion and bouts of hopelessness that made his life-or-death trip across uncharted ice such a challenge. Albanov's details about using home-made sledges and kayaks to travel over the cracked ice, his small group's constant search for food, and the difficulties in keeping a group constantly moving toward an unseen goal make this a mesmerizing tale. Readers of Jack London will find this adventure a treat, too.

Great Russian Entry in Polar Literature, December 5, 2000
First, I would like to thank Jon Krakauer and David Roberts for their efforts in bringing this lost treasure to English-speaking readers.

Much of what is read about polar exploration is about American, or English, or Scandinavian exploits. The Russian Classic, In the Land of White Death (the title is the English translation of the title of the French version published in 1928), will make a great addition to any library on Arctic and Antarctic exploration.

Valerian Albanov is the Navigator on the Saint Anna which leaves Alexandrivsk (now Murmansk) in 1912 to traverse the Northeast Passage (something only accomplished once before at the time) on a hunting trip that was supposed to end in Valdivostok. But, a late start finds the Saint Anna frozen in the ice pack early that winter in the Kara Sea. After wintering 1913 stuck in the ice that is dragging them every northward, Albanov believes that the best chance of survival is for the crew to split in two - half to remain on the Saint Anna with her captain Greogiy Brusilov and wait the eventual (hopeful) passage of the ship into the Western Hemisphere to be freed near Greenland, while the other half - thirteen - follows Albanov on a trek across the ice pack southward towards Franz Josef Land, the archiplelago that was Fridtjof Nansen's Farthest North.

Albanov's account begins with his team's departure from the Saint Anna. The early part of the book is told in a narrative that Albanov wrote after the trek then quickly switches to his journal entries which are written with great clarity. Albanov's adventure brings them face-to-face with the harshest of dangers including being separated from the rest of his team on ice flows, constant attacks by Walruses (not always unprovoked), and treking with poorly made sledges that were built from scrap materials removed from the Saint Anna.

Albanov's writing style brings the reader into the adventure and when they trek for 15 hours southward some days only to find that the ice flow has taken them farther north than when they started, you feel their anguish.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<

A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

No stopping to smell the flowers on this hike, January 17, 2001
Navigating the Barents Sea north of Russia and Siberia can be a dodgy proposition. Nevertheless, in August 1912 the Russian ship "Saint Anna", with 25 men and one female nurse aboard, set sail from Murmansk for Vladivostok (7,000 miles distant via the Northeast Passage), with the expressed purpose of discovering new Arctic hunting grounds. By mid-October, the vessel was trapped in the ice, and, for the next 18 months, drifted helplessly northwards. In April of 1914, ten of the crew and the ship's navigator, Valerian Albanov, despairing of the vessel's eventual release, voluntarily left their shipmates in an attempt, with kayaks and sledges, to reach the Franz Josef island group somewhere to their south. IN THE LAND OF WHITE DEATH, subsequently written by Albanov, is based on his diary of the 3-month, 235-mile odyssey over the ice pack, frigid water and deserted island shores to reach Cape Flora on Northbrook Island, from which point he anticipated rescue.

There are many points of similarity between this book and ENDURANCE: SHACKLETON'S INCREDIBLE VOYAGE, by Alfred Lansing, which describes the same sort of gritty survival journey achieved by Sir Ernest Shackleton and his 27 men after their ship, "Endurance" was trapped and crushed by Antarctic ice in 1915 during an abortive attempt to reach the South Pole. Notwithstanding the facts that Shackleton was a more charismatic leader, that Shackleton's men were of better mettle, and that their journey to safety was over a longer distance, the Albanov narrative remains a gripping, tautly told account of men against the elements. One of its chief attractions, for those with short attention spans or too many books to read, is its brevity --190 pages in small-format hardcover. Sadly, there is no photo section (as is included in ENDURANCE).

One might wonder why this tale took so long to be noticed by the reading public as opposed to various accounts of the Shackleton ordeal. Perhaps it's because it first had to be translated from Russian, or because Albanov, unlike Shackleton, died in obscurity, or because Shackleton was already a figure of some fame by 1915. Or because all of the Endurance's crew came back alive, while the Saint Anna's crew, well ... In any case, WHITE DEATH is a little gem of a book, and I unreservedly recommend it.

Facinating account of artic survival, June 25, 2001
Albanov was a Russian navigator. In 1912 he set sail as second in command of the Saint Anna in the hopes of reaching Vladivostok across the Northeast Passage. His ship was locked in the pack ice in the Kara Sea and drifting northward. After 18 months locked in the ice, with supplies incapable of supporting everyone another winter, he asked for permission to build a kayak and sled to seek land to the south. Others decided to join him, encouraged by the Captain, who with the small remainder of the crew, hope to be spit out of the ice in the Atlantic many months later. They were never found.

Thirteen started the perilous journey and two survived. The remainder on the Saint Anna are perhaps still locked in an icy death above the artic circle.

The book was written in Russian and later translated to French. Only recently was in translated into English after a copy was found in the Harvard library, unread for 68 years.

Albanov's diary, the basis for this later book, describes the ordeal, the wildlife encountered, the snow blindness, and the fatigue that lead to the deaths of many of the men.

I found the book to be a quick read. I was unable to put it down until I finished it.

Strongly recommended.

Conrad B Senior

A book that defines vividly the words - courage and tenacity, September 22, 2001
Ninety years after the daring hostile and torrid trek of desperation, this `tour de force' of arctic literature was found hidden away in the library of a major university. Now, made available in English for the first time, this is a gripping story of Russian navigator Valerian Albanov. A man among men who establishes, or at least reinforces, the definition for the words: courageous, tenacious and dedicated.

Albanov's story does not read like the personal diary that it is; rather `Land of White Death' is the gripping compelling writing of a journey through a world that so foreign and hostile that it vaporizes hope of the most valiant men replacing hope with the despairing darkness of the frigid arctic nights.

He and a group of ill prepared and poorly equipped men left the warmth and perceived safety of their stranded ship to journey without a map into the frozen arctic. Only two emerged 3 months later. This is their tale. Strongly Recommended

Exciting true life adventure, October 3, 2004
I've always been fascinated about Arctic & Antartic exploration, and try to read any books about it that I can find. This first-person work by a Russian officer on an ill-fated Arctic journey from 1912 to 1914 is certainly a very exciting one, even though the author tends to be laconic at times about his exploits. He tells the story of his ship becoming icelocked, and then of his trek, with several other companions, across the trackless wastes of the Arctic to look for a safe haven on distant land. It's quite compelling, and makes for very gripping reading. The paperback edition of this work contains additional material gleaned from the diary of one of the author's companions on this treacherous journey, and it sheds some additional light on what happened, and especially on the mysterious two men who abandoned the party during the trip, and left them in a very precarious position. It's a book well worth reading for anyone interested in the Arctic, or indeed for anyone who can admire the lengths to which the human spirit and body will push itself in order to survive under the most exteme of conditions.

A true account of survival in the Siberian Arctic, March 11, 2004
The Russian exploration vessel, the Saint Anna, set sail in 1912 to search for hunting grounds in the North Polar region. Within a few months, the crew of 33 had become icebound and spent the next year and a half trapped in the ice, drifting farther and farther North. In 1914, the navigator, Valerian Albanov, decided to risk a trek across the ice with the hope of reaching Franz Josef Land. 13 crewmen set off across the ice, with the remaining 20 choosing to stay on board the ship. Of the 13 crewmen, only two survived.

"In the Land of White Death" is the true account of the trek, as written by Valerian Albanov. Starting with the few days before leaving, he writes a remarkable story of survival in severely cold conditions, with supplies diminishing and morale quickly ebbing. It is very detailed with its discriptions not only of the terrain, but of the crew and their physical and mental states throughout the journey.

Translator David Roberts also includes in his epilogue some of the text from the other survivor of the journey, crewman Alexander Konrad. His take on certain events sheds a whole new lights on certain aspects of their voyage across the ice.

This is a remarkable book, both for its story of survival and its glimpse into human nature. One of the best non-fiction books that I've read.

A riveting account of tragedy, perseverance and courage..., May 23, 2001
Albanov's recounting of his perilous journey across the barren ice fields of the Arctic Ocean is riveting. After his ship is hopelessly locked in Arctic ice for nearly 18 months, he decides to strike out for land - whatever the consequenses... The adventure, drama, and real-life dangers Albanov and his team encounter make for truly compelling reading. Albanov's struggles above the 80th parallel put our daily routines into perspective... I recommend White Death highly - it is well written, concise, and above all, a true story. This book does live up to its billing as a great addition to the literature and lore of Arctic exploration...

In the Land of White Death, February 21, 2001
This pearl of a book, so eloquently written, is exactly what makes non-fiction adventure so compelling. You simply cannot believe what you are reading or that the human spirit can overcome such despair. Is it possible to relate to this incredible story in an age where we complain of parking too far from the mall entrance on a cold day? The synopsis is recounted in every review but the essence is captured when Albanov nearly drowns in the icy stormy sea. When most men lose the will to fight death, Albanov resists with every ounce in his body. "Who will ever know how we died? No one! The idea that no one would ever know how we fought against these indomitable elements, and that our end would remain a mystery forever, was an unspeakable torture to me." The irony is that the Russian and translated French diary itself was almost lost in obscurity. The size of this little treasure, which easily fits in the palm of your hand, certainly belies the strength of the story within. It is highly recommended. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Southeast Asia and Oceania are global epicenters of economic growth, and Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines in particular have each enjoyed building booms that include modern houses designed by some of the world's most talented architects.And though these countries feature rich variations in culture, language, and in some cases climate, their contemporary residential architectures share many similar characteristics. Sometimes these are crisp residential designs rendered in the most modern forms, while in other cases architects draw on local cultural or vernacular building materials, such as stone or wood, to create houses that, while still undeniably modern, are very much of their place. But the most ambitious and innovative of these projects all maintain a strong design sensibility that transcends geographic borders. Pacific Modern is a spectacularly illustrated tour of the most exciting examples of residential architecture in these regions. Among the architects whose work is presented are Glenn Murcutt, Sean Godsell, Burley Katon Halliday, Engelen Moore, Kerry Hill, and Fearon Hay. ... Read more

Reviews

Great Inspirations, February 6, 2007
We purchased this book as a reference for clients building new homes. We are based in Australia and have seen these photos before...our clients hadn't so it was still very useful. Clear and with floorplans shows how space and light work well.

Mies plus water equals serenity, January 31, 2010
Nice overview of what the rest of the world, aside from Malibu and Martha's Vineyard, calls a room with a, Pacific, view.

Pacific Modern, March 9, 2007
It is a great collection of modern architecture, it is wonderful to see such examples throught the world. Since I know the author personally, I love to see how his second book is even better than the first. ... Read more

Editorial Review

You've watched him battle the odds on History's Ice Road Truckers.Now read Hugh "The Polar Bear" Roland's own storm-by-storm account of surviving and conquering the infamous ice roads of the Arctic. Join Hugh in the front seat of his truck as he shares his most chilling, adrenaline-fueled tales of the world's most dangerous job.

Every year, a fleet of truckers travels beyond the northern equatorial line to the Arctic Circle, battling subzero temperatures and perilous conditions. Though treacherous, it is a region heavily endowed with natural resources. Locating this abundance of natural gas, conflict-free diamonds, and gold is relatively easy; extracting and transporting these goods is another matter entirely. The elite truckers chosen to deliver materials vital to these efforts spend two months traveling distances greater than Western Europe on naturally formed roads of ice that is only sixteen inches thick.

It is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.

For more than twenty years, Hugh Rowland has survived the ice roads like none other. Each year when the temperature plummets, Rowland leaves his family in Vancouver, Canada, to drive 1,900 miles to Yellowknife, where he will begin his odyssey. Facing the threat of perilous avalanches, hundred-foot cliffs, and the ever-present danger of cracking through the ice, Hugh must push himself to the limit. The payoff is sweet, but Rowland isn't in it just for the money; he is driven by the camaraderie, the call to adventure, and the chance to battle the odds year after year.

From the first snowstorm to the final thaw, On Thin Ice traces the history of ice road trucking, chronicles Rowland's preparation for the trek, and follows him through his perilous journey along the infamous ice roads. Take a ride with Rowland as he recounts tales of epic breakdowns and breathtaking heroism that are just a daily part of the job. In this classic battle of man and machine versus cruelest nature, only the strong will survive to see their payday, their families, and the chance to do it all over again . . . on thin ice.

WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER . . .

"You've never experienced winter until you've lived through one in the far north. It starts in October and doesn't let up until mid-April. The temperatures drop to minus 70, with winds blowing 60 miles an hour. At that temperature, you throw a pot of boiling water or coffee into the air and it will instantly vaporize and turn into snow. It's cold as hell, but it's also full of riches: silver, gold, uranium, diamonds, and oil worth tens of billions of dollars. Locating these treasures in the frozen tundra is the easy part. Getting them out of the ground and bringing them from the frozen wasteland to civilization is a lot tougher. That's my job."
--From Ice Road Truckers ... Read more

Reviews

Brings Back Memories -, June 11, 2010
Loved the book - brought back memories of my own much more limited truck-driving experiences with whiteouts, wolves, cold temperatures, Yellowknife NWT, and below-zero temperatures. On the other hand, I've never driven a truck over lake ice, and after reading Rowland's book, have no intention of doing so. I'm CHICKEN! Also haven't done on-road repairs, 18-speeds (only 13), and driving 1,900 miles in a day. (My record is only 900.) On the other hand, I've also been fortunate enough to experience incredible scenery traveling the Alaskan and Dalton highways. Was particularly interesting to learn how they build and maintain ice roads over water. Great reading! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Historian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking, horrifying, and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery-who created the most liberated society of their time.

Agnes McMillan and Janet Houston were convicted for shoplifting. Bridget Mulligan stole a bucket of milk; Widow Ludlow Tedder, eleven spoons. For their crimes, they would be sent not to jail, but to ships teeming with other female convicts. Tin tickets, stamped with numbers, were hung around the women's necks, and the ships set out to carry them to their new home: Van Diemen's Land, later known as Tasmania, part of the British Empire's crown jewel, Australia. Men outnumbered women nine to one there, and few "proper" citizens were interested in emigrating. The deportation of thousands of petty criminals-the vast majority nonviolent first offenders-provided a convenient solution for the government.

Crossing Shark-infested waters, some died in shipwrecks during the four-month journey, or succumbed to infections and were sent to a watery grave. Others were impregnated against their will by their captors. They arrived as nothing more than property. But incredibly, as the years passed, they managed not only to endure their privation and pain but to thrive on their own terms, breaking the chains of bondage, and forging a society that treated women as equals and led the world in women's rights.

The Tin Ticket takes us to the dawn of the nineteenth century and into the lives of Agnes McMillan, whose defiance and resilience carried her to a far more dramatic rebellion; Agnes's best friend Janet Houston, who rescued her from the Glasgow wynds and was also transported to Van Diemen's Land; Ludlow Tedder, forced to choose just one of her four children to accompany her to the other side of the world; Bridget Mulligan, who gave birth to a line of powerful women stretching to the present day.It also tells the tale of Elizabeth Gurney Fry, a Quaker reformer who touched all their lives. Ultimately, it is the story of women discarded by their homeland and forgotten by history-who, by sheer force of will, become the heart and soul of a new nation. ... Read more

Reviews

A fascinating, emotionally powerful, and informative account of the convict maids of Australia, October 7, 2010
Before reading this book, I knew little about Australia's convict past. I had a vague notion that a lot of criminals from England and Ireland travelled to Australia to settle the area under British rule... ergo, the rowdy, "cowboy" spirit of the Australian people. I had no idea that, between the mid 1700's though the mid 1800's, convicts were forcibly exiled to Australia for crimes as minor pilfering stockings or a loaf of bread... or that women and children were among those torn from family and friends and shipped to an untamed land on the other side of the world. Though their sentences ranged from 7 to 10 years (during which they were indentured servants under rigorous government rule), few had the means to return home once they earned their freedom. Thus, in most cases, their exile lasted a lifetime.

What makes Ms. Swiss's book truly remarkable is that, woven into the layers of fascinating, meticulously-researched facts about this dark chapter in history, are the personal stories of 3 women who had the grit, heart, and determination to survive the 4-month voyage across the seas, as well as their long sentences in Australia. Two were street urchins from Glasgow who stole here and there to get by; they were barely out of childhood when they were sentenced and shipped to a government-run female factory in Tasmania. The third was a widow and mother of 4 who stole some spoons and a bread basket after falling on hard times. Their stories are as engrossing; their characters are fully realized. I found that I could not put the book down... I had to learn what was in store for them as they struggled to survive their ordeals and forge their way to freedom.

I came away from the book all the wiser about the true circumstances of the convict maids... and very grateful for the opportunity to get to know the courageous, spirited women who, despite being dealt a cruel hand in life, managed to live productive, happy lives in their new homeland.

Spellbinding Saga, October 5, 2010
I love this book! Great writing, draws you in from the first page. I really enjoyed the incredible detail woven into the story of these remarkable survivors and was completely transported by this epic and spellbinding saga. Kudos to Swiss, whose extensive research brings sharp focus and vivid color to this long-suppressed and shocking piece of history. A wonderful and inspirational journey to a fascinating time and place, told in a fluid and riveting style. Totally engrossing, at points heartbreaking to the point of tears, at others I found myself laughing out loud. A thoroughly satisfying read. Highly recommended!

Bridget's Review, November 10, 2010
Touching, engaging and overwhelming are the first three words that come to mind when trying to explain my feelings on this book. It's a remarkable true story that will have you crying and later on jumping for joy. The Tin Ticket taught me a lot about what it means to be a woman and also, how you have to fight for yourself because if you don't, no one else will. It's amazing and should be added to the reading lists at high school's everywhere. Five stars!

'More Sinned Against than Sinning': The Tin Ticket provides a voice for female convicts punished with exile to Australia, December 7, 2010
Too often the historical contributions and achievements of women have been overlooked, or at best given 'token' status in textbooks. Deborah Swiss has done something incredible with The Tin Ticket. Here she uncovers the stories of four women who were victimized by the British crown, and transported to Van Dieman's land for crimes bred by abject poverty, in order to assist in the 'taming' of her Majesty's colonial outliers between 1788 and 1868. Amazingly, these women, despite the desperation of their forced circumstances, managed to not only survive, but thrive, and Deborah Swiss traces their contributions down to their great-great-great-etc. grandchildren. The Tin Ticket is meticulously researched and lushly written; it's a necessary addition to historical canon, and a great tribute to the founding mothers of Australia.

Highly Recommended, November 24, 2010
This is an incredible book. I was amazed at the details found on the women's lives that this book focuses on. I was shocked at the journey these women had to go through as they were just trying to survive and were punished for it. I am still thinking about this book weeks after I finished it and thats how I know that this is one of the most important pieces I have ever read.

Outstanding and engrossing, December 8, 2010
This is an extremely well researched, well written, and thought provoking narrative. One shudders at the conditions that prevailed in women's prisons during the time frame of this story and also makes one marvel that anyone could be strong enough to withstand the ordeal of first being imprisoned and then shipped off to a country halfway across the world to continue that prison sentence. Tales of several specific women propel the reader through an engaging and unusual look at a slice of history that has largely been neglected. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Priceless, May 5, 2010
Just got the book on publication date (4th May, 2010). I coudn't wait to get my eyes on it, being a student of Antarctic's Heroic era.

I was not dissapointed. Great, powerful work. There are many priceless pictures, never before printed or published for the general public. One set of photographs shows the Scott polar party at the south pole. No words can describe the horror of those photographs. Scott appears more defeated and beat than on the classic South Pole shot where Birdie Bower pulled the string.

Two pictures are particularly disturbing. One shows Uncle Bill Wilson in a very odd manner, surely he is not doing what he appears to be doing. Another shows Titus Oates in the process of dissapearing...Another pictures the same Oates, sitting on the cold snow, utterly defeated, beat, lost, suffering beyond imagining and hopeless.

One other picture shows Amundsen, Shackelton and Robert Peary in New-York, posing for posterity around a globe.

Two IMMORTALS GIANTS and a brutal, immoral and remorseless faker.

For the pictures alone, this book is pure gold.

That book is an absolute must for everybody interested in Antarctica exploration.

A treasure.

Objective observation of Scott and Amundsens antarctic explorations, September 18, 2010
I have beeb reading various books of polar explorations since childhood. Having recently read South Pole by Amundsen, and The Worst Journey in the World by Cherry-Garrard, I was quite impressed by the objective view this author projected. It is very difficult to imagine what circumstances both explolers had to contend with as well as securing the financing of exploration, it is hard to transcend today's environment and go back to 1910-1912. The photos included provided a view of how cumbersome some of the instruments, wears were compared to today's technology. It was a wonderfully written account of both explorations. I am partial to Amundsen's approach, planning, very thorough and comprehensive, and I am sure that contributed to his winning the competition and more importantly, bringing every member back to the safety of civilizations in the end. Well documente book.

Great concise book on this subject., July 20, 2010
I really enjoyed this illustrated history of the race. This is a compelling read and the numerous photos makes this a coffee table book as well. If you're going to own a single book on the topic, this is it.

Catch the exhibit at AMNH in NYC if you can. The exhibit travels at the beginning of next year. ... Read more

Editorial Review

From the shelter of a protective family, to the lessons of tragedy and independence, this is an indelible portrait of aharsh and beautiful country and the inspiring story of a remarkable woman's life. ... Read more

Reviews

Inspiring and beautifully written, May 12, 2000
This story deeply touched me. I wish I'd read it when I was in my 20's. The descriptions of the Australian outback and its history are beautifully written. But more importantly this is the story of a young girl's development of strength, intellectual curiosity, courage and individuality. Her puzzlement and subsequent outrage at the gender discrimination she was subject to struck a nerve for me. I particularly recommend this book to college age women, but it surely would be an inspiration to anyone.

Seeking Coorain, November 29, 2001
Prior to reading this book, I had no interest in travelling to Australia. By the time I had finished the first chapter, my interest was a burning desire. Conway's prose style is descriptive to the point of painting vivid pictures while not being verbose or tiring. My husband and I sought to experience the "outback" west of Coorain. What a memorable stay - on a sheep station where the sheep shearer's cottages were used as guest houses. We've given copies of the book to at least 20 friends over the years as house guest gifts, Christmas and birthday presents. Local book clubs have feasted on its powerful story of what it was like for a woman to grow up in Australia in the middle of the last century.

Australia and America - are their histories similiar?, July 13, 2000
Jill Ker Conway is an excellent, focused, academic writer, now President of Smith College in USA. She grew up in the orange dust of the Australia bush with no children as playmates, yet remembers a wonderful childhood with an especial concern for her mother's life. She writes this book as a successful adult, reconstructing the steps that got her through the University of Sydney's very demanding late-1950's history department. At that time, university studies were open to women, but the focus was on males, both living and dead white men. It was British colonial history that was taught, and most educated people picked up an inferiority complex about being Australian. Near the end of the book she writes about how she shook herself loose of this view, became proud and fond of the outback, and finally accepted that she was a city person. NEar the end she lands a history-teaching position at the U. of Sydney�while enrolled in a Master's level program there, and it all closes tantalyzingly with a successful bid for a position at Harvard in USA. I've noticed often as a tourguide that British, Canadian and Australian women on my buses are very well-read and discuss books as a matter of fact, as something that one should know. They speak in a crisp and exact way�with reasoned opinions. This writer falls in that category, well at the forefront of course. She knows herself, her own mind, and knows injustice and sexism when she experiences it herself. Her widening eyes begin to grasp that Europeans have simply grabbed the land of the aborigines. As a historian, she starts to want to know their view. To me, as an American, it is a slippery slope. There is only one logical conclusion: that all the land should be given back. Since this cannot be done, and Asians are beginning to flood into Australia as well since the 1960's, then the best strategy of the whites, if guilt they do feel over this landgrab, is to donate of their own accord time, help, money, food, clothing or training to their own poor. Academics around the world are concerned with the rights of "native peoples", but to turn back the clock is impossible. The interlopers are here. I greatly look forward to hie'ing my white yet hairy flesh over to the library and looking for the sequel to her life story and changing views. May she come to some peace about her ancestors' plopping down on the abo's!

Editorial Review

The enthralling and often harrowing history of the adventurers who searched for the Northwest Passage, the holy grail of nineteenth-century British exploration.

After the triumphant end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, the British took it upon themselves to complete something they had been trying to do since the sixteenth century: find the fabled Northwest Passage, a shortcut to the Orient via a sea route over northern Canada. For the next thirty-five years the British Admiralty sent out expedition after expedition to probe the ice-bound waters of the Canadian Arctic in search of a route, and then, after 1845, to find Sir John Franklin, the Royal Navy hero who led the last of these Admiralty expeditions and vanished into the maze of channels, sounds, and icy seas with two ships and 128 officers and men.

In The Man Who Ate His Boots, Anthony Brandt tells the whole story of the search for the Northwest Passage, from its beginnings early in the age of exploration through its development into a British national obsession to the final sordid, terrible descent into scurvy, starvation, and cannibalism. Sir John Franklin is the focus of the book but it covers all the major expeditions and a number of fascinating characters, including Franklin’s extraordinary wife, Lady Jane, in vivid detail. The Man Who Ate His Boots is a rich and engaging work of narrative history that captures the glory and the folly of this ultimately tragic enterprise. ... Read more

Reviews

A page-turning great read, March 8, 2010
A riveting read of the 19th century search for the Northwest Passage from Europe to the East, written with grace and mordant wit. After their defeat of Napoleon, the Brits thought they were invincible, even in the face of one failed expedition after another. They were British, right? Failure was not an option, and so into the frozen unknown they pushed in their quest for mastery of the world, urged on by one man who wielded great power in the Admiralty, John Barrow. Trouble is, until recently the Northwest Passage did not exist. Next trouble? They could not be bothered to learn from the people who lived there, the Inuits. They were savages, right? And listen to the whaling captains who were not "gentlemen?" Nah.

In the pursuit of glory, the men lost fingers, toes, tongues, and ultimately their lives. This is a gripping story of the folly of the British Admiralty, full of interesting characters, particularly Sir John Franklin, the man who ate his boots, and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin, ice galore, starvation, cold, and probable cannibalism. Highly recommended for history/exploration/sea story buffs.

Arctic Adventure, March 29, 2010

An exciting and captivating read!!, April 26, 2010

DETAILED RESEARCH & FASCINATING STORY, April 20, 2010

Great read!, April 18, 2010

Asolutely Ingrossing, April 15, 2010

A great adventure, April 14, 2010

Was it a Tragic Quest for the Northwest Passage, or a Foolhardy One?, May 28, 2010

A rambling, unfocused account, but well-written and exciting, May 27, 2010

A tough read, but a good one!, May 19, 2010