Customer Reviews

Captain Scott

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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

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.

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.

Ranulph Fiennes attempts to resurrect Scott's reputation as a great polar explorer after several books, including Roland Huntford's The Last Place on Earth, exposed Scott's incompetence and weak leadership.

The problem with this book is that Fiennes has no new evidence to offer. He merely shrugs off all the criticisms of Scott's last expedition: the use of ponies instead of dogs, the reliance on man-hauling, Scott's failure to lay enough supplies far enough South the previous year, inadequate food and clothing, Scott's last-minute decision to take 5 men on the final leg of the journey and Scott's confusing final orders regarding any relief party.

Fiennes also shrugs off widespread allegations of Scott's weak leadership with ad hominem attacks on Amundsen, Huntford and Shackleton as well as just about everyone who quarreled with Scott at one time or another -- which is a fairly long list of people I might add. Hardly convincing.

The only new information that has come out since Huntford's book was published is Susan Solomon's The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition, which claims that Scott's expedition was doomed by unusally cold weather in March. Solomon however admits that Scott had fairly average weather for the first 4 months of his journey, and the below-average temperatures that Scott faced in March were not exceptionally cold by Antarctic standards. Fiennes tries to argue that Scott would have made it back easily but for the weather, but shrugs off the fact that one of Scott's party was already dead by March, and the fact that the last supporting party to turn back barely made it home alive in February -- with one of them suffering from a severe case of scurvy. Amundsen for his part understood that there was safety in speed, and was already out to sea when the cold weather hit.

If you're interested in the history of Polar exploration by all means read this book, but read Huntford's book first. There's really no getting around the fact that in identical conditions Amundsen beat Scott to the Pole by 34 days, and got home with relative ease. It's really stretching it to say that it was all a matter of luck.

Ran Fiennes does a great job of showcasing the 'real Scott' after receiving several character assassinations from armchair critics over the years. Ran is one of the best placed people on this Earth to offer an unbiased opinion on Scott's character and achievements as he's 'been there, done that' himself - he's walked many miles in Scott's shoes.

You only need look no further than the many books written by other team members of Scott's expedition (read Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World" for one) to see they all thought the world of Scott - even 'Titus' Oates came round in the end.

Criticizing someone's decisions and achievements without having experienced the same situation for yourself is foolish and many have fallen into this trap. Just because Scott and his Polar Party died doesn't make it a failure - look at the wealth of scientific and geographical information that came from the time they all spent down South.

Read this book with an open mind and you might just learn something about true, charismatic leadership, and about Scott himself.

"Captain Scott," Ranulph Fiennes' biography of the Antarctic explorer who died during the so-called "Race to the Pole," is an exhaustively researched, brilliant work. It's no page-turner; you have to keep your focus to learn about the life of the British Naval officer and explorer who died in a tent with two of his crew members after reaching the South Pole just days after Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1912.

There have been many books and some films about Scott, Amundsen and other polar expeditions from the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, but this will be the definitive work on the late explorer's life.