Scott of the Antarctic

I can remember only one occasion when my parents went to the movies, or the pictures, as we said in England. They took me (and I presume my brother, I don't remember that part) to see John Mills in "Scott of the Antarctic." It was after the war and we were still in need of heroes. The snow was pretty and really didn't seem menacing, the protagonists looked a little chilly, but there were no graphic shots of frost-bitten extremities, and when Titus Oates left the tent, uttering his famous farewell, "I am just going outside and may be some time," there wasn't a dry eye in the place.

Since that time, I have read many biographies of Scott. He has been described as everything from a great leader and a visionary to an ignorant amateur who failed to appreciate the value of skis or understand the relative merits of dogs, horses, machines or manpower to move the vast quantities of provisions. There was always a justification for these judgments, but the authors seemed to have their own agendas as they deified or vilified Robert Falcon Scott.

This latest book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes is a pleasure to read. As a polar explorer himself, Sir Ranulph evaluates Scott's decisions and strategies with an eye to the realities of the situations and compares Scott's expeditions to those he has made. We even get to see photos of what frost bite really looks like! It is a first class book. I recommend it.