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Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science
Yale University Press
June 2011
On Sale: May 31, 2011
356 pages ISBN: 0300154089 EAN: 9780300154085 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction History
Published to coincide with the centenary of the first
expeditions to reach the South Pole, An Empire of Ice
presents a fascinating new take on Antarctic exploration.
Retold with added information, it's the first book to place
the famed voyages of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, his
British rivals Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and
others in a larger scientific, social, and geopolitical context. Efficient, well prepared, and focused solely on the goal of
getting to his destination and back, Amundsen has earned his
place in history as the first to reach the South Pole.
Scott, meanwhile, has been reduced in the public mind to a
dashing incompetent who stands for little more than
relentless perseverance in the face of inevitable defeat. An
Empire of Ice offers a new perspective on the Antarctic
expeditions of the early twentieth century by looking at the
British efforts for what they actually were: massive
scientific enterprises in which reaching the South Pole was
but a spectacular sideshow. By focusing on the larger
purpose, Edward Larson deepens our appreciation of the
explorers' achievements, shares little-known stories, and
shows what the Heroic Age of Antarctic discovery was really
about.
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