Having experienced the deprivations, the stress and the sheer physical pain that Scott endured, Sir Ranulph Fiennes is well qualified to write the biography of Captain Scott; he has endured all but the final tragedy of the much-maligned Scott and is determined to set the record straight. As well as providing a biographical account of Scott's life - written with the full and exclusive co-operation of the Scott Estate, this book traces the way that Scott's reputation has been attacked and his achievements distorted.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'No-one is better placed than Fiennes to understand what Scott may have experienced or to appreciate the enormity of his achievement. A gripping tale of courage and adventure.' -- Daily Mail 'A valuable corrective to the trend of Scott debunking ushered in by Roland Huntford...One by one, and with commendable attention to detail, Fiennes explodes the accumulated myths. The world will remember Scott and, to a lesser extent, Fiennes when the memory of the mean-spirited and misleading Huntford has long since melted away.' -- Justin Marozzi, Sunday Telegraph 'Sir Ranulph Fiennes has done Captain Scott's memory some service...he has certainly written a more dispassionate and balanced account than Huntford ever set out to do' -- Simon Courtauld, Spectator 'He is uniquely qualified...because only someone who has "man-hauled" across Antarctica can know what went on. Fiennes's own experiences certainly allow him to write vividly and with empathy of the hell that the men went through. He has valuable insights into the running of the Royal Geographical Society and the mounting of an expedition, and he does indeed right some wrongs.' -- The Sunday Times
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
A former member of the SAS, Sir Ranulph Fiennes was the first man to reach both poles on land. He is the only person yet to have been awarded two clasps to the Polar medal for both Antarctic and the Arctic regions.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellently crafted and definitive work.,
By Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: Captain Scott (Paperback)
On the cover of this book is a head and shoulders photograph of Scott which, almost eerily, reminds me of a similar study of author Ranulph Fiennes from another work. These two men have more in common than just the South Pole.
Over the years, Scott has come in for considerable criticism particularly by those who have no understanding of the subject. This can be likened to a non-driver who believes he is able to describe exactly what it is like to survive a racing car crash at over 180 mph. Personally, I want to hear the driver's account. Scott, however, did not survive his final expedition and that is why so many "non-drivers" believe themselves qualified to comment on his life, his achievements and, of course, his death - and do so from the warmth and safety of whatever centrally-heated base camp they occupy. Such armchair experts deliberately set out to uncover whatever flaws exists in the makeup of any person who achieves greatness and often invent defects which never existed. They do so in order to reduce that person to whatever common level is occupied by ordinary mortals. Consequently, Scott has been subjected to the wrath of writers whose own understanding of hardship is limited to the inconvenience of running out of petrol on a motorway. It takes, therefore, an explorer and writer of the magnitude of Ranulph Fiennes to produce an accurate biography of Captain Scott if only because he possesses an unparalleled understanding of the subject, of the man, of the hardships and of the drive and ambition - because he too has been there and done that. Add to that, the simple fact that Ranulph Fiennes is also always able to provide an outstanding "read" and this book does supreme justice to the topic. Ranulph Fiennes has led many expeditions, has conquered both Poles and in 2009 climbed Everest at the age of 65! Whilst this book is about Scott and not the author, they are relevant factors when considering the content. In an outstanding and excellently crafted work, Captain Scott is revealed in a way not seen before - if only because no previous author had the expertise to understand what happened and why. As Scott and his life open up to be revealed page by page, so Fiennes tackles each success, each obstacle, each failure and each point of later criticism as it was reached in the life of the man himself. Expertly drawing on his own relevant experiences just at the right juncture, Fiennes provides the reader with a thorough awareness of precisely what confronted Scott at that particular time. In explaining each occurrence, he offers the reader a thorough comprehension of the situation and the problems faced so that we are finally able to understand. That understanding comes about only because both subject and author are, in many ways, kindred spirits. That said, this is not a work of hero worship. Certainly not. This is an honest appraisal of a great man who had equally great flaws in is character and even caused other men to die. It is, therefore, an exposé of the truth behind that man and of the legend he has become. Each myth is not just discounted, it is considered almost as though a formal commission had been tasked with establishing the truth. In adopting this approach, Ranulph Fiennes has provided a long-overdue definitive account of the life of Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Perhaps, he may now be finally allowed to Rest in Peace. NM
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deeply moving,
This review is from: Captain Scott (Paperback)
I finished "Captain Scott" today after starting it about a week ago, and have been on a bit of an emotional ride for the last few days because of this book. I have known the Scott story since I was very young, but that didn't prepare me for what I experienced, reading of the last hours of men I felt I had gotten to know through Fiennes' excellent retelling of their story and extensive quoting of their own words. Captain Scott, Titus Oates, Taff Evans, Bill Wilson and Birdie Bowers came alive for me briefly, before being taken away again and the experience has affected me greatly.
I have not read Huntford's book and so can't really comment on any specifics of his work (which Fiennes goes to great lengths to rebut), except to say that he has clearly abandoned any attempt at objectivity in his book, which appears to be a deliberate character assassination, for whatever reason. The only minor quibble I had with Fiennes' book was that at times it is obvious that he is trying to head off criticism of Scott almost before the reader has a chance to form it in his or her mind. As he relates some part of the expedition that raises even minor questions about Scott's judgement, Fiennes is quick to jump in with a reasoned argument or an anecdote backing up Scott from his own polar expeditions 80 years later, pointing out (quite correctly, I suspect) that he is the only Scott biographer to have actually experienced these conditions. I did not find such fastidious defence of Scott necessary. These men were human and like all of us, they made mistakes. The combination of these mistakes and plain bad luck meant they paid the price. Scott's final letters to the mothers of Wilson and Bowers, written with their sons' frozen bodies beside him and hours from his own end, show the great humanity of the man. Huntford's suggestion that he was at this time only concerned with shifting the blame and with his own reputation is hard to give any credence to at all. But given the depth of Huntford's attack on Scott, Fiennes' defence in this regard is fully understandable, and does not impact much on the book. Fiennes has, in my opinion, succeeded admirably in his goal of restoring Scott's savaged reputation, and his and his men's humanity, and at the same time, written an excellent, sympathetic account of an incredible true story of heroism and endurance.
8 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An account of one of the greatest ever explorers by the greatest living explorer,
By
This review is from: Captain Scott (Paperback)
Previous accounts of Captain Scott's expeditions have subsequently left, perhaps, an unfair opinion of him. The main reason being that the writer has not had to endure anything remotely similar to Robert Falcon Scott and his team. That is until Ranulph Fiennes gave us his book on the subject.
Having 'been there and done it', Ranulph Fiennes delivers such a gripping account, based on facts documented by Scott and his team, as well as an objective opinion on the decisions made from the 1902 the, ill-fated 1911 expeditions. He also adds his personal experiences and decisions, some of which have been based on both positive and negative aspects from the first expeditions. Captian Scott by Ranulph Fiennes is both gripping and moving. By already knowing the fate of the team, including the immortal line from Laurence Oates, "I'm just going outside, I may be sometime", I was still compelled to keep reading, hopelessly wanting a different outcome. I would recommend this book to anyone, whatever their, age, background, interests or aspirations. There are such things as heros, sometimes it takes another hero to recognise this and bring it to the world's attention.
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