The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice - Hardcover

Jones, Max

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192804839 ISBN 13: 9780192804839

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Scott's last Antarctic expedition is one of the great adventure stories of the twentieth century. On 1 November 1911, a British team set out on the gruelling 800-mile journey across the coldest and highest continent on earth to the South Pole. Five men battled through unimaginably harsh conditions only to find the Norwegian flag planted at the Pole just weeks before. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, and Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek, starved and frozen to death, only eleven miles from a supply camp. In November 1912, a rescue party discovered their last letters and diaries, which told a story of bravery, hardship, and self-sacrifice that shocked the world. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions and preoccupations of an imperial age. He also shows how heroes are made and manipulated, through a close examination of the unprecedented outpouring of public grief at the news of the death of Scott and his companions. Max Jones uses fascinating new evidence and previously unseen illustrations to take us back to this remarkable moment in modern history to tell for the first time, the full story of The Last Great Quest.

About this title

Review:

"A meticulous examination...weaving record, anecdote and example with great skill, with some remarkable conclusions" -- Duncan Spencer, Washington Times

"a fascinating and wide-ranging study" -- Anthony Sattin, The Sunday Times

"a mesmerising and superbly researched book" -- Beryl Bainbridge, The Spectator

"valuable and fascinating..." -- Robert Carver, Times Literary Supplement

"well written...likely to appeal to a wide audience" -- Publishing News

A fascinating and wide-ranging study. -- Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times, October 26, 2003

A meticulous examination...weaving record, anecdote and example with great skill, and with remarkable conclusions. -- Duncan Spencer, Washington Times, October 10, 2003

A meticulous examination...weaving record, anecdote and example with great skill, with some remarkable conclusions. -- Duncan Spencer, Washington Times, October 10, 2003

Well written...likely to appeal to a wide audience. -- Maris Ross, Publishing News, August 15, 2003

Well-written...likely to appeal to a wide audience. -- Maris Ross, Publishing News, August 15, 2003

About the Author:

Max Jones is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Manchester . He has published various articles on Scott, and was the "talking head" for A&E's documentary on Shackelton.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0192804839
• ISBN 13: 9780192804839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368