The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-13

One of the best adventure books I've ever read.

An adventure story just doesn't get any better than this, and what adds to the readers pleasure is that it is all true. I was fortunate enough to read this while on an Antarctic cruise. The descriptions of Antarctica and the conditions faced by this expedition are terrific. This book is about character, endurance, hope, tragedy, and ultimately, wonder and awe !

Apsley's journey through the darkness of the stormy Antarctic winter to where the Emperor penguins stood with their eggs was one of the most moving journeys I have read about. Apsley tells the story with great humility and this endears him to the reader. This book would be worth buying simply for this story, but it also tells of Robert Falcon Scott's journey and the death of all of the party who made the final push to the pole. Apsley and the others who were not chosen to make the final push to the pole doggedly searched for their companions and friends and finally found them frozen. Apsley quotes Scott's journal detailing Scott's last moments and the fate of the others. This is harrowing, but inspiring reading. Apsley Cherry-Garrard is one of the more forgotten heros of Antarctic exploration. I use the word hero with trepidation, but it is apt in his case. He truly would lay down his life for his friends and he cared deeply for those he called friends.

In 1911-1912 the author as a young man was part of the ill fated Robert Falcon Scott British Expedition to be the "first" at the South Pole. The larger history of that effort's limited success and the stories of the lives lost is a well told as historical fact. Within the book lies the Chapter about the author's effort with two other companions to travel in a winter journey for the purpose of observing Emperor penguins in their nesting rookeries. This is the coldest journey "on record" with howling winds at -70 degrees f under total darkness climbing between open crevasses that were endlessly deep to retrieve a few unhatched eggs for scientific research. Once you've read this author's rendition of that "worst journey" no other adventure travelog can compare. Good reading and most unforgettable.