The Last Place on Earth

Rating:
Summary: worthwhile reading that takes you along on an adventure
Review: Huntford has acheived his purpose of writing an engaging tale of adventure, while placing the reader in the prevailing historical mindset of the day.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging story marred by pedestrian writing
Review: The intertwined stories of Scott and Amundsen are dramatic reading for fans of exploration and the polar regions, but Huntford's plodding, judgemental style diminishes his book. I would have expected tighter writing and more judicious use of sources from a professional journalist, but I guess he needs a firmer editorial hand. I was particularly irritated by Huntford's unsupported psychological judgements, and his strong tendency to cast every act of Amundsen's in the most favorable possible light, and every act of Scott's in the worst. Nonetheless, it is useful to have the stories told in parallel, and this is certainly this account is a useful corrective to the myth of the heroic Scott.

Rating:
Summary: Analysis and excitement blend to form a fascinating story.
Review: This book is a fascinating combination of detailed analysis of the two men, Scott and Amundsen and the wildly different tactics used to reach the Southernmost point on Earth. Although certain sections of the book drag with perhaps too much in-depth analysis (such as a detailed discussion of Amundsen's housekeeper's influence on his life) it moves along well overall.

The final days of Scott's party are laid out in a plain and factual way, but the terror that must have crept over them when they finally realized that there was no way they could reach their main base alive comes through remarkably well. You begin to feel the deep chill of the Antarctic wind and the crushing disappointment when a food depot is missed.

In contrast, the absolute ease of Amundsen's journey is shocking. His men used dogs to pull their sledges to the pole and then killed the weaker dogs on the return trip to feed the remaining team. Detailed planning for the journey, including learning to live in high latitudes from the experts, the Inuit, led to his success. Their skis carried them upwards of 20 miles per day with ease, despite the harsh environment. The team literally had a holiday while "boxing" the pole with flags during the several days used to confirm their position and ensure their place in history.

The pictures reproduced in the book do a good job of filling in the stark images the text roughs out for the reader. The amount of research required to produce this book is simply overwhelming and it should be considered the definitive text on this last great geographic race.

Rating:
Summary: Huntford makes a scapegoat of Scott
Review: In essence this is a refutation that Huntford gives of the lionization of Scott's expedition. It is a wonderful book full of insight. Huntford gives you the startling realization that all along Scott's diaries were meant to be read by an adoring public. I have read Scott's diaries over and over again. They are wonderful, yet this insight of Huntford's makes Scott's diaries all the more poignant. For this it's worth reading. Don't make a mistake and dismiss Scott's worth, just use Huntford to give you more insight. The big problem with this book is that ironically it makes the same mistake that is accuses other of. Huntford can see no wrong or evil in what Amundsen does. Huntford goes as far as seeing signifigance in 1% differences in the amounts of B vitamins their bisciuts contained which is silly. Oh certainly Amundsen was a master of the Artic and Scott was an amateur make no mistake. Yet Amundsen had fatal flaws and Huntford goes as far to say that Amundsen's rashness was blessed by god? Huh? Amundsen's fatal flaw was despite his thorough preparation he was rash. He sped recklessly over crevasse ridden fields on his race to the pole. Only on the way back did he see how lucky he was. If Amundsen had fallen into a cravasse I think Scott would have lived. For it was certain that their will to live was broken by being forstalled at the Pole. Would Scott have taken 30 pounds of geological supplies if he knew he was first at the pole? That Amundsen died in a plane crash later in life flying a liquid cooled plane to the artic is not an anomoly. It's part of what made Amundsen a great explorer. Scott was a lyrical poet. His words today make your spine tingle. Amundsen on the other hand was a dull writer. This is really Amundsen's book. If only Huntford had lived in the time of Scott and Amundsen, then Huntford could have given Amundsen the acclaim he well deserved, but Amundsen's dull writing skills made it certain that Scott would have triumphed over him even in death. This is the book that Amundsen should have written. A wonderful, yet dreadfully biased book.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating dual biography and adventure story
Review: Huntford provides the reader with an engrossing dual biography and a riveting adventure story of two men from competing cultures and with very different methdologies as they race for one of the last great geographical prizes. No previous book had portrayed SCott as the inept bungler that he was as both an expedtion organizer and leader, and the book caused quite a stir in England. SCott had long been eulogized as an adventurer and a gentleman in the British sense: he could suffer with stoicism and looked upon suffering and dying as an accomplishment in itself. He also did things in the classic British style, no dogs,skis and with the British disdain for all things non-British. His death and diaries with that message gave him a moral victory over Amundsen, despite the fact that Amundsen won the race and did so in a fashion that became a model for later adventurers. Both men were flawed, but the book is clearly biased toward Amundsen and rightly so. If the authors pervceptions are even half right, then SCott could be considered a murderer of his own men for his incompetence. Truly fascianting book and highly recommended for anyone interested in adventure travel or exploration or Antarctica.

Rating:
Summary: So far so good.
Review: I am acctually looking for a copy of the film based upon this book. It was presented in Materpiece Theatre on Oct 20 to Nov 24, 1985. It was presented by Mobil corporation and WGBH-TV, Boston. Last I heard, Central Television of London had the rights. If anyone has a copy that they are willing to provide, please contact me at the following email address: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Image vs Substance
Review: I have read my copy of this book so often that the pages are falling out. I really need another copy.

And why is it so fascinating? Beyond this page-turning account of the race to the South Pole is a timeless tale incorporating themes of image vs substance; rational planning vs manifest destiny and hubris; sense vs sensibility. The eventual outcome reads like a Greek tragedy. Each man got what he wanted most: Scott wanted glory; Amundson simply wanted to be first to a Pole (either one would do). "Be careful what you wish for, you may get it." Extraordinary!

Note to others wanting this out-of-print book: Amazon sells copies of the Masterpiece Theater dramatization of "The Last Place on Earth" in the video section of its website. Check it out! The price is very reasonable.

Rating:
Summary: Huntford lunges for the jugular
Review: Although this book was well-written and exhaustively researched, I am wondering why Roland Huntford wrote it with such hatred. He tears Scott apart, sometimes jumping to unwarranted conclusions. Even if he does think that Scott sat in his tent, staring at a companion and willing him to die, he should not put such an idea into a book as a fact. Huntford paid little or no attention to the fact that Scott did have supporters and friends such as Edward Wilson and Apsley Cherry-Garrard. He was *not* unswervingly pigheaded, panicky and stupid as the book makes him out to be. Although this book was informative and made a much-needed point, I think that Huntford would have been better off presenting facts, and turning his point away from Scott's throat.

Rating:
Summary: More than just an Antarctic adventure book,
Review: The Last Place on Earth boes beyond its primary task of being a compelling chronicle of the Antarctic expeditions of Scott and Amundsen.

Huntford deftly delineates the hubris of the 19th century British gentleman, and his confidence in his destiny to be the master of the earth. Scott expects that by behaving in proper British fashion, success will by rights follow. In contrast Amundsen learns from the eskimo, the "savages" who have succeeded in living in the Arctic for generations, whose lessons Scott ignores.

Scott fails and becomes a hero. Amundsen succeeds but makes it look too easy, and fails to capture the imagination and respect of the public.

A wonderful book.

Rating:
Summary: This is hot stuff if you are into cold
Review: Huntfords' three polar books are classics of the genre. This, along with Shackleton and Nansen are key inclusions in any armchair Polar explorers library. It is the modern day equivalent of going to the moon without a radio. If you like the Scott/Amundsen story then I strongly suggest that you read the direct experiences of a man who was on the Scott expedition - Apsley Cherry-Gerard's "The Worst Journey in the World" - easily as well written as Beryl Markham's "West with the Night". If you like the Poles then you must not miss Pierre Berton's "Arctic Grail" a real epic of all the untold (& told) heroes of the North Pole expiditions. Happy exploring ! ! ! !