Product Description

Behind the great polar explorers of the early twentieth century - Amundsen, Shackleton, Scott in the South and Peary in the North - looms the spirit of Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), the mentor of them all. He was the father of modern polar exploration, the last act of territorial discovery before the leap into space began. Nansen was a prime illustration of Carlyle's dictum that 'the history of the world is but the biography of great men'. He was not merely a pioneer in the wildly diverse fields of oceanography and skiing, but one of the founders of neurology. A restless, unquiet Faustian spirit, Nansen was a Renaissance Man born out of his time into the new Norway of Ibsen and Grieg. He was an artist and historian, a diplomat who had dealings with Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin, and played a part in the Versailles Peace Conference, where he helped the Americans in their efforts to contain the Bolsheviks. He also undertook famine relief in Russia. Finally, working for the League of Nations as both High Commissioner for Refugees and High Commissioner for the Repatriation of Prisoners of War, he became the first of the modern media-conscious international civil servants.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45939 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 800 pages

Review
'[NANSEN] is a rare thing, a work of immense scholarship blazing with insight...' Beryl Bainbridge, LITERARY REVIEW '[Huntford's] NANSEN has been longawaited. It is a triumph ... a hugely satisfying biography' Paul Theroux, GUARDIAN 'It is a book which takes us outward through the life of another and from there inward into our own. What more can you ask of a biography?' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Roland Huntford has captured something of the restless romantic within. It is an accomplished biography at every level.' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Paul Theroux, Guardian
'[Huntford's] NANSEN has been longawaited. It is a triumph ... a hugely satisfying biography'

DAILY TELEGRAPH
'It is a book which takes us outward through the life of another and from there inward into our own.'

Customer Reviews

Nansen - A man of the times
Having lived i Norway for many years, I thought it was about time I knew a little more about this Nansen fellow. I was quite blown away by Huntford's book. With its wealth of detail, it loses nothing on the second and even third reading. It sent me on a quest to find out more about this increadible man. Self-confidant, daring and challenging, yet melancholic and self-searching Nansen was a complex and charismatic figure. From pioneer work on the nervous system, to artic travels, skiing, oceanography, history, art, diplomacy and humanitarian work, Nansen had a hand in just about everything going on in Norway and Europe during his adult life.

Having delved into some of the source material since reading this book, I don't quite agree with all of Huntford's interpretation of his personal characteristics, which he tends to oversimplyfy and overstate. (his relationship with his children, for example) But these are only trifling "complaints."

Nansen may have a more local appeal than the Scott/Amundsen saga. However, if you want to be inspired by someone who really lived upto the phrase "just do it" Nansen is your man, and this is the book for you.

Another great Huntford book
I had read and enjoyed both the Amudsen/Scott and Shackleton books.This is another big book but still very enjoyable. The main attraction to me was to read more about Nansen's drift on Fram and attempt on North Pole. This desription is very well written and an amazing story. The last part of the book focuses on Nansen as a "diplomat". I found some parts a bit dull but did learn more about the incrediable man.

I had come to Nansen after reading about Scott, Amuudsen, Mawson, Franklin, Cook, Peary etc.. I wish I had started with Nansen as in some ways he was the grandfather of polar exploration

Good read for polar fans.
Another in Huntford's excellent series of Polar Biographies. The book roughly divides into three parts. Nansen's first Greenland crossing, his drift with Fram and attempt on the North Pole, and his political life thereafter. Not quite as gripping as Huntford's books on Shackleton and Scott/Amundsen, but well worth a read if you enjoyed those two.