Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age: Scott, Shackleton and AmundsenNow available in paperback, the incredible story of Australia's most famous polar explorer and the giants from the heroic age of polar exploration Douglas Mawson, born in 1882 and knighted in 1914, was Australia's greatest Antarctic explorer. This is the incredible account of an expedition he led on December 2, 1911, from Hobart, to explore the virgin frozen coastline below, 2000 miles of which had never felt the tread of a human foot. After setting up Main Base at Cape Denision and Western Base on Queen Mary Land, he headed east on an extraordinary sledging trek with his companions, Belgrave Ninnis and Dr Xavier Mertz. After five weeks, tragedy struck--Ninnis was swallowed whole by a snow-covered crevasse, and Mawson and Mertz realized it was too dangerous to go on. Dwindling supplies forced them to kill their dogs to feed the other dogs, at first, and then themselves. Hunger, sickness, and despair eventually got the better of Ninnis, and he succumbed to madness and then to death. Mawson found himself all alone, 160 miles from safety, with next to no food. This staggering tale of his survival, against all odds, also masterfully interweaves the stories of the other giants from the heroic age of polar exploration, to bring the jaw-dropping events of this bygone era dazzlingly back to life. |
Contents
9 | |
51 | |
Chapter Two Into the Night and Out into the Wilderness | 93 |
Chapter Three Getting Home | 130 |
THREE MEN GET ORGANISED | 169 |
Chapter Five Departures | 209 |
Chapter Six Journey to the Bottom of the Earth | 242 |
Chapter Seven Trials and Errors | 279 |
Chapter Eleven Settling | 443 |
Chapter Twelve The Winter Months | 482 |
Chapter Thirteen Into the Wide White Yonder | 521 |
Chapter Fourteen A CloseRun Thing | 563 |
Chapter Fifteen Now Is the Winter of Our Discontent | 601 |
Epilogue | 657 |
Notes and References | 682 |
Bibliography | 713 |
Chapter Eight Under Way | 309 |
Chapter Nine To the South | 354 |
Chapter Ten Cape Denison | 394 |
Index | 721 |
Other editions - View all
Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age: Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen Peter FitzSimons No preview available - 2011 |
Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age: Scott, Shackleton and ..., Volume 1 Peter FitzSimons No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
AAE diary aboard Adelaide Amundsen Antarctic Expedition Antarctica arrived Aurora Australia Beardmore Glacier Blizzard Bowers British Cape Adare Cape Denison Cape Evans Cape Royds Captain Davis Captain Scott Cherry-Garrard coast crevasse crew days thereafter December Depot dogs Douglas Mawson earlier Edgeworth David exploration February feels feet Frank Wild freezing frozen Geographical hauling head Heinemann Hobart Hurley Hut Point Ibid Ice Barrier Jacka and Jacka January Jeffryes journey Kathleen Scott land Laseron Last Expedition later letter London look Mackay Macquarie Island March McMurdo Sound Mertz miles morning night Nimrod expedition Ninnis Norwegian Oates once Paquita penguins ponies pull Robert Falcon Scott Ross Shackleton ship shore sledge snow soon South Magnetic Pole South Pole Southern Party SPRI supplies Sydney Taffy Teddy Evans tent Terra Nova Terra Nova expedition thing turn weather weeks Wilson wind Winter Quarters writes