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THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD. By Cherry-Garrard. Paperback, 128mm x 197mm, 607 pages.
This is a gripping account of an expedition gone disastrously wrong. One of the youngest members of Scott's team, Apsley Cherry-Garrard was later part of the rescue party that found the frozen bodies of Scott and the three men who had accompanied him on the final push to the Pole. Despite the horrors that Scott and his men eventually faced, Cherry-Garrard's account is filled with details of scientific discovery and anecdotes of human resilience in a harsh environment, supported by diary excerpts and accounts from other explorers. A masterpiece of travel writing, The Worst Journey in the World is the most celebrated and compelling of all the books on Antarctic exploration.
NZ$35.00 + Delivery
CHERRY. A life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard.By Sara Wheeler. Paperback, 129mm x 198mm, 354 pages, black & white photographs.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic. Cherry undertook an epic journey in the Antarctic winter to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. The temperature fell to seventy below, it was dark all the time, his teeth shattered in the cold and the tent blew away. 'But we kept our tempers,' Cherry wrote, 'even with God'.
After serving in the First World War Cherry was invalided home, and with the zealous encouragement of his neighbour Bernard Shaw he wrote a masterpiece. In The Worst Journey in the World Cherry transformed tragedy and grief into something fine. But as the years unravelled he faced a terrible struggle against depression, breakdown and despair, haunted by the possibility that he could have saved Scott and his companions.
This is the first biography of Cherry. Sara Wheeler, who has travelled extensively in the Antarctic, has had unrestriced access to new material and the full co-operation of Cherry's family.
NZ$29.00 + Delivery
WINGS OF ICE.By Jeff Maynard. Paperback, 154mm x 234mm, 296 pages, black & white photographs.
With the rise of aviation at the beginning of the twentieth century, daring men were finally able to explore the Earth's final frontiers - the Arctic and Antarctic wildernesses.
Hoping to resurrect his fading career, the legendary Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen desperately wanted to fly over the North Pole. American naval commander Richard Byrd was determined to beat Amundsen to the prize. An Australian adventurer, George Hubert Wilkins, also joined the competition, initiating a rivalry with Byrd that would last years and take them to the ends of the Earth.
The world watched in fascination as the air race to the North Pole escalated, until in May 1926 Byrd claimed to have reached it in his Fokker Trimotor, the Josephine Ford. But did he really succeed?
In 1928, while Amundsen was involved in the bitter dispute that would cost him his life, Byrd announced he would fly to the South Pole. Wilkins was hired by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst to beat him. The competitors unloaded their planes on opposite sides of Antarctica and prepared for the last great race in polar history.
In a carefully researched and thrilling written narrative, author Jeff Maynard recounts the breathtaking "Race to the Poles", restoring the remarkable aviator and explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins - an exceptional but forgotton Australian hero - to his rightful place as a pioneer of scientific exploration. This book also examines Admiral Richard Byrd's much-disputed claim to have flown to the North Pole, providing the definitive solution to an intriguing eighty-year-old mystery.
NZ$43.00 + Delivery
SHACKLETON'S WAY, Leadership lessons from the great Antarctic explorerBy Margot Morell & Stephanie Capparell. Pbk, 128mm x 197mm, 238 pages, monochrome photographs.
Sir Ernest Shackleton has been called "the greatest leader that ever came on God's earth, bar none" for saving the lives of the twentyseven men stranded with him on an Antarctic ice floe for almost two years.
Written by two veteran business observers, Shackleton's Way details universal leadership tactics set against the thrilling survival story of the Endurance expedition. Whether it's hiring good workers, supporting and inspiring employees to do their best, managing a crisis with limited personnel and resources, creating order out of chaos, or leading by personal example with optimism, egalitarianism, humour, strength, ingenuity, intelligence and compassion, Ernest Shackleton set an example we can all follow. Illustrated with photographer Frank Hurley's masterpieces and other rarely seen photo's, Shackleton's Way is filled with fascinating and practical lessons of a leader who succeeded by putting people first and triumphing brilliantly when all the odds were against him.
NZ$35.00 + Delivery
THE ENDURANCE, Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic ExpeditionBy Caroline Alexander. Hbk, 215mm x 240mm, 214 pages, monochrome photographs.
This is a new edition of the original paperback. The quality of the photographs is considerably improved and it is indeed difficult to appreciate the time and circumstances when they were taken. A new dimension to this narrative is created by these wonderful photographs.
In August 1914, Sir Ernest Shackelton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail aboard the Endurance bound for the South Atlantic - their goal to be the first explorers ever to cross Antarctic. Weaving a treacherous path through the icy Weddell Sea, they came within eighty miles of their destination when the ship became trapped in the ice pack. For the next ten months they waited for the ice to break, but it never did, instead crushing the Endurance in its floes, leaving the crew stranded.
An extraordinary book and a miraculous survival story, Caroline Alexander has produced a thrilling book of the most perilous journey of them all. This book is an essential read for all those who have been intrigued by this tale of high adventure.
NZ$75.00 + Delivery
SHACKLETON'S BOAT JOURNEYBy F. A. Worsley. Pbk, 135mm x 215mm, 220 pages, monochrome photographs.
This boat journey has as recently as 2001 been described as the longest and most arduous small boat journey on record. The author, Captain Frank Worsley, was a New Zealander who was also the Captain of Shackleton's ship Endurance. He was selected to accompany Shckleton and three others on the 800 mile boat journey because of his superior navigational ability, his considerable experience in sailing and handling small boats, and his great stamina, strength and positive attitude.
It is a miracle that the journey succeeded, concluding as it did with the crossing on foot of South Georgia to summon help from a whaling station. This has only been accomplished once since then, by expert climbers using modern equipment and starting from a fitness base of rest, excellent health and proper feeding.
Worsley was known as an excellent story-teller (one reason why he appealed to Shackleton), and his book is an absorbing narrative. It complements Shackleton's own account in South - the only other contemporary record of these events. It is very well illustrated with large photographs taken by Frank Hurley, inluding some of the final pictures taken with a "hand-held".
NZ$40.00 + Delivery
SHACKLETON'S FORGOTTEN MEN, The Untold Tale Of An Antarctic TragedyBy Lennard Bickel. Pbk, 155mm x 235mm, 243 pages, monochrome photographs and drawings.
This is the account of the "other" part of the Imperial Trans Antarctic Expedition, namely the Ross Sea Party. They were to provide the supplies cached for Shackleton's journey on the "homeward bound" side of the South Pole. Their mission was to haul sledges 200 miles across the interior.
As with the Endurance party, their ship was lost to them in the ice, however unlike the Shackleton party it was due to the precipitate departure of a fearfull leader. Nevertheless they accomplished their task using old Scott expedition supplies, with drastice consequences for some of the men.
This is the story of men rising to extraordinary heights of courage, determination and endurance. They did not have the advantage of leadership of Shackleton's calibre and their story, which is contempoary in place and time, makes a fascinating study contrasted with that as told in South.
Was NZ$45.00 + Delivery
now NZ$30.00 + Delivery
ENDURANCE.By F.A. Worsley. Paperback, 139mm x 209mm, 310 pages. Monochrome photographs.
First published in 1931, Endurance relates the riveting account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's doomed 1914-16 expedition to the Antarctic and its incredible rescue: After HMS Endurance stuck in Antarctic ice packs and then sank into the Weddell Sea, it's twenty-five crew members were forced to launch three lifeboats and sail, in miserable conditions, for barren Elephant Island. From there, Shackleton, Frank Worsley (captain of the Endurance), and four others set off in the largest of the lifeboats, the James Caird, to seek help eight hundred miles away at the whaling stations on the island of South Georgia. Endurance is not only a tale of courage and unrelenting high adventure but also a tribute to one of the most courageous leaders in the history of exploration.
NZ$40.00 + delivery.
SOUTH.By Sir Ernest Shackleton. Paperback, 152mm x 229mm, 375 pages. Monochrome photographs.
In August 1914, 28 men aboard the ship Endurance bagan what was to be the "last of the great explorations" - the crossing of the vast Antarctic land mass. It turned into one of the most remarkable survival stories ever recorded.
In this reissue of the original 1920 edition, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the legendary leader of the expedition, eloquently describes their fabled two-year odyssey in one of the most inhospitable regions on earth - the devastating crushing of the Endurance in a sea of ice, the crew's impossible journey over the barren, frozen wasteland of the Antarctic, their navigation across nearly a thousand miles of tumultuous seas in an open boat, and their ever-constant struggles against unimaginable cold, hunger, hardship, and despair as they struggled toward rescue.
Filled with more than eight-five photographs and illustrations from the journey, Shackleton's account is a distinctive tale of high adventure. It is also a lasting testament to his leadership and courage, as well as a moving statement about the human will to survive.
NZ$55.00 + delivery.
ROALD AMUNDSEN.By Tor Bomann-Larsen. Hardback, 160mm x 240mm, 384 pages. Monochrome photographs.
Roald Amundsen, conqueror of the South Pole, is one of the most famous explorers in Polar history yet until now there has been no biography in English of this complex man. Written by acclaimed Norwegian author Tor Bomann-Larsen, and with a forword by Polar explorer Pen Hadow, this compelling biography looks behind the familiar image of the hero to reveal Amundsen's true character and the diverse nature of his achievements.
In 1908, even before reaching the South Pole, Roald Amundsen, together with Cook, Peary, Scott and Shackleton, was one of the important names in Polar exploration. Over a period of thirty years he became the first to traverse the North West Passage, establish the position of the magnetic North Pole and attempt to fly over the North Pole.
Amundsen's achievements were spectacular and he was hailed in triumph by Norway and the world. Yet the idealistic view of him as an unassuming, fearless hero was virtually destroyed by Amundsen himself when his controversial autobiography was published in 1927. The question was: who was the real Amundsen?
Tor Bomann-Larsen draws on his incredible discovery of over 15,000 letters and papers in a barn outside Oslo. Together with vivid first-hand accounts from Amundsen and his crew he is able to reveal the life and character of the determined, pugnacious pioneer to an extent which has never before been possible. He investigates Amundsen's varying attitudes towards his crew, his three great unfulfilled love affairs - all with married women - and the adoption, then rejection, of his "Two Eskimo Girls". Most tellingly, he uncovers the true reason behind the change in Amundsen's character from the 'best man in the whole world' to the solitary character whose behaviour, as Fritjof Nansen wrote, 'will...continue to do a lot of harm'.
NZ$75.00 + delivery.
A HISTORY OF ARCTIC EXPLORATION.By Matti Lainema & Juha Nurminen . Hardback, 252mm x 345mm, 349 pages. Monochrome and colour photographs, maps and illustrations.
Documenting more than 2,500 years of Arctic exploration, from the earliest seafarers of antiquity and the great naval and mercantile voyages in search of the Northwest and Northeast Passages, to the conquest of the North Pole and even beyond, this book is the definitive account of explorations made throughout the great Northern polar expanse. For the first time, it brings together the major explorers from both East and West to present one of the most detailed and beautifully illustrated surveys of the region's history ever published.
Drawing on many previously unseen charts, artworks and maps from major European museums, the extensive holdings of the Nurminen Foundation as well as private collections and archives, A History of Arctic Exploration reveals how this remote region was gradually explored and charted by men of supreme skill, courage and initiative, overcoming extreme conditions in almost incredible feats of endurance. Key figures such as Barents, Franklin, Nodenskjold, Peary, Nansen, Stefansson and Amundsen are discussed in depth, together with an evaluation of their achievments, showing how each contributed to our understanding of the Arctic. Many perished as the North defiantly held on to its secrets, ultimately proving that success could only be achieved by adapting to the extreme conditions, following the example of the indigenous people who had successfully inhabited the North for hundreds of years.
Today, the future of the Arctic is of global concern. In recent years, climate change and sovereignty disputes over territory have highlighted this worrying reality, drawing much attention to the region. Yet the Arctic has always been an inspiring and fascinating place, as well as a source of much human drama due to its harsh landscape and demanding conditions. Arctic expeditions were motivated by many different factors, including the pursuit of fame, natural resources and scientific endeavour, but they can all be characterised by the uniquely human desire to push back frontiers. Collectively the accounts of such epic journeys form an absorbing and complex historical narrative, fully presented in this insightful and deeply resonant book.
NZ$120.00 + delivery.
TERRA INCOGNITA.By Sara Wheeler. Paperback, 130mm x 197mm, 306 pages.
After writing two highly praised travel books, Sara Wheeler was accepted by the American government to be the first foreigner on their National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Program. She spent seven months on the continent, travelling from the fabled Ross Ice Shelf to the Pole itself, the remoter reaches of the West Antarctic ice sheet, and the balmy Antarctic Peninsula. Terra Incognita is a meditation on the landscape, myths and history of one of the remotest parts of the globe, as well as an encounter with the international temporary residents of the region - living in close confinement despite the surrounding acres of white space - and the mechanics of day-to-day life in extraordinary conditions. Through Sara Wheeler, the Antarctic is revealed, in all its seductive mystery.
NZ$30.00 + delivery.
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