Racing With Death [Paperback]

Beau Riffenburgh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2009

Scott, Shackleton and Mawson were the three great explorers of the Edwardian age. Now Beau Riffenburgh tells the forgotten story of Douglas Mawson and his death-defying expedition of 1911-14. A key member of Ernest Shackleton's famous Nimrod Expedition, Mawson led his own Australasian Antarctic Expedition. However, following the tragic deaths of the other members of his sledging party, he was left to struggle the hundreds of miles back to base alone, only to find that the relief ship had sailed away, leaving him to face another year in Antarctica. Having survived with a small band of men against incredible odds, he later led a groundbreaking two-year expedition which explored hundreds of miles of unknown coastline. Mawson's is a story of true heroism and a fascinating insight into the human psyche under extreme duress.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The greatest survival story in the history of exploration' Sir Edmund Hillary 'In Beau Riffenburgh, [Mawson] has found a biographer who truly knows his way around the hut politics and intemperate journals of Antarctic history The biographer takes the Edwardian view that it's by the explorer's heroics you shall know him, which is why, like the best polar books, Racing With Death is on peak form when out on the ice' Daily Telegraph 'Beau Riffenburgh has delivered an outstanding adventure' Literary Review

About the Author

Beau Riffenburgh is an historian specialising in exploration, particularly that of the Antarctic, Arctic, and Africa. Born in California, he earned his doctorate at Cambridge University, following which he joined the staff at the Scott Polar Research Institute, where he served for 14 years as the editor of Polar Record. He is the author of the highly regarded Nimrod: Ernest Shackleton and the Extraordinary Story of the 1907-09 British Antarctic Expedition and The Myth of the Explorer. He also served as Editor of the Encyclopedia of the Antarctic.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Paperbacks (August 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747596719
• ISBN-13: 978-0747596714
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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