The Last Place on Earth by Roland Huntford

The Last Place on Earth

Scott and Amundsen's Race to the South Pole, Revised and Updated

Roland Huntford, Paul Theroux

Random House Publishing Group · Print & ebook · September 7, 1999

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration.

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Genres
Adventurers & Explorers, Polar Regions History, Exploration & Discovery
Published
Random House Publishing Group, September 7, 1999

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About this book

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain's Robert Scott and Norway's Roald Amundsen.

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Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition.

Polar Contention

Come here for

  • Scott and Amundsen at full historical scale
  • Serious expedition history with a performance edge

Expect

  • Revised and updated framing
  • Biography, travel, and adventure in one stark package

Where it sits

Exploration & Discovery56%
Adventurers & Explorers51%
Polar Regions History50%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Exploration & Discovery
  • Travel Writing
  • Polar Travel
Authors
Roland Huntford, Paul Theroux
Publisher
Random House Publishing Group
Published
September 7, 1999
Format
Print & ebook
Reading lane
Exploration & Discovery