The Last Place on Earth [B0134]

1984 PB edition (Huntford's book was 1st published in 1979 under the title 'Scott & Amundsen'. This 1984 edition was adapted to tie into the 1985 'Last Place on Earth' Mobil Masterpiece Theatre TV series. The book was again revised and updated in 1999 and republished as 'The Last Place on Earth: Scott and Amundsen's Race to the South Pole'. On 12/14/1911, the classical age of polar exploration ended when Norway's Roald Amundsen conquered the South Pole. His competitor for the prize, Britain's Robert Scott, arrived a month later--but died on the return with four of his men only 11 miles from their next cache of supplies. But it was Scott, ironically, who became the legend, Britain's heroic failure, "a monument to sheer ambition & bull-headed persistence. His achievement was to perpetuate the romantic myth of the explorer as martyr, &...to glorify suffering & self-sacrifice as ends in themselves." The world promptly forgot about Amundsen. The Last Place on Earth is Biographer Huntford's complex account of the race for this last great terrestrial goal - and his attempt to demythologize Scott - and restore Amundsen to glory.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Fascinating and very well written. It is a dirt job on Scott, but only raving empire loyalists will be annoyed by this. In fact, its hatred of Scott makes it even more enjoyable and fascinating."; "The detail with which Huntford delved into both Amundsen and Scott's journals, and his use of other primary sources like letters, was quite impressive."