Product Description

A dramatic collection of writings about polar exploration - stories of self-sacrifice and heroism by eminent adventurers who endured sub-zero temperatures, gale-force icy winds and starvation to explore and experience the eerie allure of the farthest reaches of the globe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #876984 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 359 pages

Review
This is an absorbing collection of writing about polar exploration - stories of self-sacrifice, beauty and heroism by eminent adventurers who endured 50-below-zero temperatures, gale-force winds and starvation to explore the farthest reaches of the globe. Scott's journals recount his long march to and from the South Pole, which ended with the death of all his men and Scott himself; Shackleton offers an account of his heroic efforts to save his men when their ship was crushed by ice thousands of miles from civilization; Lennard Bickel recounts how Douglas Mawson and Xavier Mertz had to eat their dogs after their companion fell into a crevasse with all their food; Richard Byrd writes of his near-breakdown under the stresses of spending a winter alone at the South Pole. Ice also includes reflections on the haunting allure of the beautiful - but deadly - polar landscape from such contemporary writers as Francis Spufford and Barry Lopez. (Kirkus UK)

Customer Reviews

OK as a taster - but leaves one wanting to know the outcomes
While this book is a collection of writings by various authors, the subject matter is all very similar (obviously). However, each 'extract' leaves you wondering what happened before and after. Given that polar exploration probably doesn't often happen in small adventurous chunks, one can see why, but it was annoying that, after you begin to get a feel for the hardships involved, the stories so often left the explorer(s) dying.

I was left thinking "yes... and then what happened ?" and "well... did they survive or what ?" but the stories are not completed.

You might argue that, as a taster to lead the reader on to the actual accounts (such as Shackleton's "South"), it succeeds rather too well.

In short, interesting stuff, if all very similar (eat the pemican, eat the dogs, eat the shoes, another person died). If you want extracts, to get a flavour, its a worthwhile read. If you want to know how the explorers found themselves there or what happened to them afterwards, you might be disappointed.