Race for the South Pole: The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen [Hardcover]

Roland Huntford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1441169822 | ISBN-13: 978-1441169822 | Edition: 1

For the first time ever Roland Huntford presents each man's full account of the race to the South Pole in their own words.>

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Crucially, [Huntford] reads Norwegian, and the translations are his own. Decades of experience allow him to dilate on the idiosyncrasies of fur in the polar environment; on the workings of the anemometers and on the 'meridian sight method of finding latitude' ... This work is brilliant, and well executed.' (The Times )

'Breaks new ground by letting both men live and die side by side in their own words ... The Race for the South Pole represents Huntford's final attempt to get Scott and Amundsen's legacies restored to what he believes should be their proper balance. There is simply no more evidence left to find.' (Guardian G2 )

BBC History Magazine's Pick of the Month, November 2010
'Reading the journals of Scott and Amundsen together has the advantage of highlighting the relative pace and position of the two expeditions on a daily basis. It also draws attention to the contrasting literary styles of their authors. Of interest here are not simply the celebrated set-pieces, most notably Scott's powerful final 'message to the public', but also more routine matters of format and function.'
(BBC History Magazine )

"Side by side, day by day, Huntford lets Scott and Admundsen speak for themselves, placing the original diary entries of each man on facing pages. He includes superb original maps and photographs, and the never-before-translated diary of Admundsen's charismatic lead skier."
-Longitude

'The knowledge and research of this 83-year-old author is magnetic and forces the reader to reassess one's understanding of Amundsen's organisation and the amateurish approach of Scott... This is more than just a good book - you make the journey.'

(guardian.co.uk (Readers Recommendations) )

'This is a valuable book, and Huntford enriches the fascinating diary entries with his own expert analysis and insight into polar history.'

(The Geographical magazine )

There is gratitude for the translations he had provided which have enabled non-Norwegian speakers to read two previously unavailable texts. [Huntford] has given factual insights into subjects as varied as skiing, marine engines and the relationship of Amundsen's expedition to the International Date Line... [he] makes some fascinating points. (The Journal of Polar Record, Volume 47 )

'Breaks new ground by letting both men live and die side by side in their own words … The Race for the South Pole represents Huntford’s final attempt to get Scott and Amundsen’s legacies restored to what he believes should be their proper balance. There is simply no more evidence left to find.’ (, )

BBC History Magazine's Pick of the Month, November 2010
'Reading the journals of Scott and Amundsen together has the advantage of highlighting the relative pace and position of the two expeditions on a daily basis. It also draws attention to the contrasting literary styles of their authors. Of interest here are not simply the celebrated set-pieces, most notably Scott’s powerful final 'message to the public’, but also more routine matters of format and function.’
(, )

"Side by side, day by day, Huntford lets Scott and Admundsen speak for themselves, placing the original diary entries of each man on facing pages.  He includes superb original maps and photographs, and the never-before-translated diary of Admundsen's charismatic lead skier."
-Longitude

'The knowledge and research of this 83-year-old author is magnetic and forces the reader to reassess one's understanding of Amundsen's organisation and the amateurish approach of Scott... This is more than just a good book - you make the journey.'

(, )

'This is a valuable book, and Huntford enriches the fascinating diary entries with his own expert analysis and insight into polar history.’

(, )

Race for the South Pole, while allowing the reader to savour the contrasts between the expedition diaries of Scott, Amundsen and Bjaaland, also shows Huntford in continued argument with his sources. (, )

About the Author

Roland Huntford is the world's foremost authority on the polar expeditions and their protagonists. He is the author of the award-winning Two Planks and a Passion: the Dramatic History of Skiing and Scott and Amundsen: Last Place on Earth and he is the biographer of Shackleton and Nansen. He was the Scandinavian correspondent on The Observer for many years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Continuum; 1 edition (December 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441169822
• ISBN-13: 978-1441169822
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.3 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #557,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > History > Europe > Norway
  • #65 in Books > Travel > Polar Regions > Antarctica

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars South Pole Student Wins July 21, 2011

By Book & DVD Observer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I, like many of you, had refused to buy the edited version of Robert F. Scott's expedition diary. The unedited version may have been available somewhere, but I discontinued searching for it a long time ago. Finally, we have Scott's unedited expedition diary {edited words are bold and italicized} as well as Roald Amundsen's and Olav Bjaaland's expedition diaries competently translated into English. For those less familiar, Bjaaland was the ski champion on Amundsen's team of five that went to the South Pole. He was also the only one of Amundsen's group that was not specifically a trained navigator, yet expertly proved his 'intuitive mountain sense' throughout the journey.
This is a personality revealing book as well as for logistics. For those interested in logistics, all latitude/longitude,
temperatures, nautical miles, etc. are covered on a day to day basis. For those interested in personalities, have at it.
Just read the expedition diaries alone, and you can decide for yourself.
I'll not cover the specifics in this review, let it suffice that there are some formidable players in both parties. The diaries for each day and for each man are side by side.
If you have accumulated a small library on the discovery of the South Pole, this book will answer many questions and ensure
a solid knowledge about specific characters, time line of events, and of events on a day to day basis. Each depot, location, contents, many useful maps of different scales, illustrations and dozens of photograghs are also here.
For the casual reader on this subject, possibly for the first time, a clear chronological story will evolve full of facts and curiously intricate characters. In their own words, ofcoarse.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Race to the South Pole November 26, 2010

By Robert Brands

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great book on the simultaneous effort of Scott and Edmunson to reach the South Pole 100 years ago. Well written insight and background but neatest is the side by side journal entries and efforts. Well done, worthwhile read for any Pole exploring readers.

11 of 30 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Extreme Bias overwhelms historical content January 10, 2011

By DickMcDermott

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Anyone who has read about the race for the south pole is aware of the different camps in favor of Scott or Amundsen. The real facts show that both men were strong courageous leaders. Amundsen's sole purpose was to reach the pole. Reaching the pole for Scott, while important, was not the end all of the exploration trip. This is the first book which has both of the leaders journals. For that fact alone, it is worth having. But........Huntford's extreme bias against Scott almost makes the book unreadable. I have read just about every book on these men. Both had great strengths and both had their faults. But in Huntford's eyes, Amundsen could never do anything wrong, and Scott could never do anything right. This comes through in page after page and blemishes what should be a nice addition to the books on this era. One would do well to read the diaries on their own and skip Huntford's narration. He continually finds hidden meanings in the writings of both men 100 years after the fact, at times with very thin backup or correlation. Both men should be praised. Huntford's bias is not just against Scott but the entire British Empire. It's too bad that what should be an important book is ruined by Huntford's obsession with ruining the reputation of Scott and glorifying that of Amundsen. For that reason, it is wise to avoid this book and read other much better and historically accurate descriptions of this time in history.