Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #960803 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Synopsis
This is the biography of Captain Oates who w ill always be remembered as a hero, as the man who walked wi llingly to death so that his comrades might have a better ch ance of survival on the expedition to the South Pole led by Captain Scott. '

Customer Reviews

Captain Oates, hunting, shooting and fishing hero
A very thorough account of the short life of Captain Oates, leaving this reader with a sense that the force of circumstances as much as personal heroism drove him to his death in an Antarctic blizzard. Sue Limb depicts Oates as a conservative-thinking landowner, tending to be contemptuous of science, culture and women, but highly knowledgeable about horses, an area of expertise which made him a much valued (and hard-working) member of Scott's expedition. Unreflective and not overly tolerant,with a fascination for physical challenge, he was a popular member of Scott's team. Sue Limb's unsentimental and well-researched biography leaves the reader with a sense of the waste of Oates' life, and the pathos and even ambiguity of his death.

The perfect biography.
Whilst many people will know something of Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912, few are able to name any other members of his team except, of course, for Captain Oates. It was the injured Oates who deliberately walked to his death during a blizzard in the hope that his fellow team members would survive. As he left that tent on what can only be described as the worst possible night, he uttered words which have since become immortalised; "I am just going outside and may be some time." With the moment recorded in Scott's own diary, Oates had placed himself firmly into the world's history books. Other than knowing his name, however, even fewer people will know anything at all, about this man - other than the fact he was a captain in the British army. This book provides a complete explanation of that life.

Described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "A fascinating character study of a quintessential British hero" this book is everything a biography should be. Perhaps it is the incidental information - such as the revelation that two "very" prominent and heroic figures from the Victorian era (Kitchener and Gordon!) both had a preference for boys or the infinite detail surrounding the central figure, his family, friends and colleagues. For many, however, it will be the simple truism that this book is well written and a darned good read with the added intrigue that we all know from the outset how the life of the central character finally came to an end. Whatever aspect hits your own requirements for a good book, the way in which that detail is portrayed is both gripping and fascinating thus providing one of the finest biographies I have ever read.

Co-author Sue Limb is an established writer who has retained an interest in Scott for many years. Her fellow author is Patrick Cordingley who came to prominence in the UK as a senior British officer during the Gulf War of 1990. Not all of those senior commanders acquitted themselves as well as he at that particular time and, speaking as a retired officer myself, I am not alone in being surprised he did not attain much higher office. Having been commissioned into Oates' old regiment, however, Patrick Cordingley provides an insight which might otherwise have been missed.

This is a work which describes Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates in fine detail from before his birth to after his death. It is a book in which we learn of his privileged, albeit somewhat sickly, formative years, his disrupted schooling, the early death of his father, his struggle to get into the army and of his first action during the Boer War during which his thigh was shattered and he was Mentioned in Despatches - leaving many to believe he should have received the VC! We also learn of his mother's continuing patronage, his letters home, service in Egypt and India - where he contracted smallpox, his quiet, almost withdrawn demeanour and so much more. We also learn of his expertise with horses. In fact, the reader becomes so engrossed with this man's life that the very first mention of Antarctica comes as something of a surprise when he mentions his application in a letter to his Mother.

This is a perfect biography which provides enjoyment of those elements of the overall story which are recognised by the reader and equal fascination for those aspects which were not previously known. Whilst every reader will come to this work in the full, knowledge of how the subject eventually died, it is not the same as knowing the ending to, say, a work of fiction before reading the book. Lawrence Oates' heroic death is only part of this story and these two authors have told that story in excellent fashion.

NM

The perfect biography.
Whilst many people will know something of Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912, few are able to name any other members of his team except, of course, for Captain Oates. It was the injured Oates who deliberately walked to his death during a blizzard in the hope that his fellow team members would survive. As he left that tent on what can only be described as the worst possible night, he uttered words which have since become immortalised; "I am just going outside and may be some time." With the moment recorded in Scott's own diary, Oates had placed himself firmly into the world's history books. Other than knowing his name, however, even fewer people will know anything at all, about this man - other than the fact he was a captain in the British army. This book provides a complete explanation of that life.

Described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "A fascinating character study of a quintessential British hero" this book is everything a biography should be. Perhaps it is the incidental information - such as the revelation that two "very" prominent and heroic figures from the Victorian era (Kitchener and Gordon!) both had a preference for boys or the infinite detail surrounding the central figure, his family, friends and colleagues. For many, however, it will be the simple truism that this book is well written and a darned good read with the added intrigue that we all know from the outset how the life of the central character finally came to an end. Whatever aspect hits your own requirements for a good book, the way in which that detail is portrayed is both gripping and fascinating thus providing one of the finest biographies I have ever read.

Co-author Sue Limb is an established writer who has retained an interest in Scott for many years. Her fellow author is Patrick Cordingley who came to prominence in the UK as a senior British officer during the Gulf War of 1990. Not all of those senior commanders acquitted themselves as well as he at that particular time and, speaking as a retired officer myself, I am not alone in being surprised he did not attain much higher office. Having been commissioned into Oates' old regiment, however, Patrick Cordingley provides an insight which might otherwise have been missed.

This is a work which describes Captain Lawrence Edward Grace Oates in fine detail from before his birth to after his death. It is a book in which we learn of his privileged, albeit somewhat sickly, formative years, his disrupted schooling, the early death of his father, his struggle to get into the army and of his first action during the Boer War during which his thigh was shattered and he was Mentioned in Despatches - leaving many to believe he should have received the VC! We also learn of his mother's continuing patronage, his letters home, service in Egypt and India - where he contracted smallpox, his quiet, almost withdrawn demeanour and so much more. We also learn of his expertise with horses. In fact, the reader becomes so engrossed with this man's life that the very first mention of Antarctica comes as something of a surprise when he mentions his application in a letter to his Mother.

This is a perfect biography which provides enjoyment of those elements of the overall story which are recognised by the reader and equal fascination for those aspects which were not previously known. Whilst every reader will come to this work in the full, knowledge of how the subject eventually died, it is not the same as knowing the ending to, say, a work of fiction before reading the book. Lawrence Oates' heroic death is only part of this story and these two authors have told that story in excellent fashion.

NM