Race to the Pole: Tragedy, Heroism, and Scott's Antarctic Quest

On the cover of this book is a head and shoulders photograph of Scott which, almost eerily, reminds me of a similar study of author Ranulph Fiennes from another work. These two men have more in common than just the South Pole. Over the years, Scott has come in for considerable criticism particularly by those who have no understanding of the subject. This can be likened to a non-driver who believes he is able to describe exactly what it is like to survive a racing car crash at over 180 mph. Personally, I want to hear the driver's account. Scott, however, did not survive his final expedition and that is why so many "non-drivers" believe themselves qualified to comment on his life, his achievements and, of course, his death - and do so from the warmth and safety of whatever centrally-heated base camp they occupy. Such armchair experts deliberately set out to uncover whatever flaws exists in the makeup of any person who achieves greatness and often invent defects which never existed. They do so in order to reduce that person to whatever common level is occupied by ordinary mortals. Consequently, Scott has been subjected to the wrath of writers whose own understanding of hardship is limited to the inconvenience of running out of petrol on a motorway. It takes, therefore, an explorer and writer of the magnitude of Ranulph Fiennes to produce an accurate biography of Captain Scott if only because he possesses an unparalleled understanding of the subject, of the man, of the hardships and of the drive and ambition - because he too has been there and done that. Add to that, the simple fact that Ranulph Fiennes is also always able to provide an outstanding "read" and this book does supreme justice to the topic. Ranulph Fiennes has led many expeditions, has conquered both Poles and in 2009 climbed Everest at the age of 65! Whilst this book is about Scott and not the author, they are relevant factors when considering the content. In an outstanding and excellently crafted work, Captain Scott is revealed in a way not seen before - if only because no previous author had the expertise to understand what happened and why. As Scott and his life open up to be revealed page by page, so Fiennes tackles each success, each obstacle, each failure and each point of later criticism as it was reached in the life of the man himself. Expertly drawing on his own relevant experiences just at the right juncture, Fiennes provides the reader with a thorough awareness of precisely what confronted Scott at that particular time. In explaining each occurrence, he offers the reader a thorough comprehension of the situation and the problems faced so that we are finally able to understand. That understanding comes about only because both subject and author are, in many ways, kindred spirits. That said, this is not a work of hero worship. Certainly not. This is an honest appraisal of a great man who had equally great flaws in is character and even caused other men to die. It is, ther

"Captain Scott," Ranulph Fiennes' biography of the Antarctic explorer who died during the so-called "Race to the Pole," is an exhaustively researched, brilliant work. It's no page-turner; you have to keep your focus to learn about the life of the British Naval officer and explorer who died in a tent with two of his crew members after reaching the South Pole just days after Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1912. There have been many books and some films about Scott, Amundsen and other polar expeditions from the end of the 19th and start of the 20th centuries, but this will be the definitive work on the late explorer's life.

Ran Fiennes does a great job of showcasing the 'real Scott' after receiving several character assassinations from armchair critics over the years. Ran is one of the best placed people on this Earth to offer an unbiased opinion on Scott's character and achievements as he's 'been there, done that' himself - he's walked many miles in Scott's shoes. You only need look no further than the many books written by other team members of Scott's expedition (read Cherry-Garrard's "The Worst Journey in the World" for one) to see they all thought the world of Scott - even 'Titus' Oates came round in the end. Criticizing someone's decisions and achievements without having experienced the same situation for yourself is foolish and many have fallen into this trap. Just because Scott and his Polar Party died doesn't make it a failure - look at the wealth of scientific and geographical information that came from the time they all spent down South. Read this book with an open mind and you might just learn something about true, charismatic leadership, and about Scott himself.

Previous accounts of Captain Scott's expeditions have subsequently left, perhaps, an unfair opinion of him. The main reason being that the writer has not had to endure anything remotely similar to Robert Falcon Scott and his team. That is until Ranulph Fiennes gave us his book on the subject. Having 'been there and done it', Ranulph Fiennes delivers such a gripping account, based on facts documented by Scott and his team, as well as an objective opinion on the decisions made from the 1902 the, ill-fated 1911 expeditions. He also adds his personal experiences and decisions, some of which have been based on both positive and negative aspects from the first expeditions. Captian Scott by Ranulph Fiennes is both gripping and moving. By already knowing the fate of the team, including the immortal line from Laurence Oates, "I'm just going outside, I may be sometime", I was still compelled to keep reading, hopelessly wanting a different outcome. I would recommend this book to anyone, whatever their, age, background, interests or aspirations. There are such things as heros, sometimes it takes another hero to recognise this and bring it to the world's attention.