Terra Nova
Ambition, jealousy and simmering rivalry in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration
Harrison Christian
Having read it
★★★☆☆
An interesting read in parts and one that had a reasonable flow throughout to help pace and narrative but, being honest, not quite sure what it was trying to do, or be.
It presents a clear picture of the Antarctic proceedings of the early 1900s and Robert Falcon Scott’s and his team’s efforts, bringing in diary entries from quite a few of them – showing the pressures and perspectives they were under – and the somewhat corralled and edited versions of what happened after the reaching of the South Pole to benefit certain characters and national prerogatives.
Ultimately, not quite convinced it was anything more than a sectioned essay that showed some skill in research, and a bit in comment and writing, to gain a suitable mark in academia . . . oh, and some book sales.
A good passage
While Scott had sat pondering ice physics and protozoa, coastal surveys and penguin eggs, Amundsen had only ever thought about the Pole. He wanted the Pole for the Pole’s sake, and openly described his expedition as a sporting stunt.1 It was as though Scott’s naval and scientific cohort had been pitched against an Olympic ski team. ‘The British expedition was designed entirely for scientific research,’ as Amundsen later wrote. ‘The Pole was only a side issue, whereas in my extended plan it was the main object.’2