Customer Reviews

Pilgrims on the Ice: Robert Falcon Scott's First Antarctic Expedition

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Dr. Baughman continues to build on his reputation as America's preeminent polar historian in this book: Pilgrims on Ice (his first book on early Antartic exploration was Before the Heroes Came). This book focues on Robert Scott and the Discovery Expedition 1901 to 1904. By reading Dr. Baughman's work - one can see that this initial expedition laid the groundwork for the British expeditions of the following 21 years. In fact, the major players all played a part in this initial expedition. This voyage was Shackleton's first expedition to the South (serving as Scott's third officer). And I enjoyed the new insights Baughman provided into the young Shackleton, as well as the human details on expedition leader Scott and the rest of band. In its 250-odd pages of text, this becomes the first exhaustive account of the Discovery expedition 1901 to 1904 by a late 20th century polar historian. Baughman's extensive use of original documents in British and European archives brings fresh insight and more details on this heroic group then ever before available. I recommend this for lovers of travel, adventure, and biography.

This book presents a fresh and reasoned assessment of Scott's first Antarctic expedition in its historical context. Engagingly written and well researched, its perspective casts an interesting light on aspects of Scott's first Antarctic expedition that have been passed over in general works on Scott in favor of the drama of the second expedition. The first expedition had ample drama of its own, and the author's take on such personalities as Clements Markham, Shackleton, and Scott himself is different enough from "standard received" to merit reading. I was particularly interested in the author's description of the interplay between Scott's orders as he received them and perceived them and subsequent criticism of the expedition for its failure to maximize the results obtained for the resources invested.

All in all, readable, informative, interesting, and well worth a read. You will find the point of view rather different from that so persuasively presented by Roland Huntford in his recently re-released "Scott and Amundsen," but partisanship -- if so strong a term may be used -- intrudes only occasionally, and then only in instances in which the author feels unfair misrepresentation may have done violence to the historical record.

I enjoyed this book!