I have had an interest in this subject for several years and the object of this web page is to encourage others to read about this fascinating subject. It does have a strong bias to what is called the 'heroic age' and in particular three very special
people - Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton.
To newcomers who may find this site obscure, I urge you
read some of the books. Try 'The Worst Journey In The
World' by Aspley Cherry-Garrard. A tale of adversity and heroism
that will stir your heart. Study also the difference between
the Scott and Amundsen expeditions. Books by Roland Huntford have been described
as 'the case against Scott'. Make up your own mind about him. He had leadership
qualities that members of his team would (and did) die for. Scott was a product
of his era, criticize him and you criticize society at that time.
The theme has been 'exploration' with a strong emphasis on the
heroic age. This is a loose time scale covering between 1892 (the Bruce expedition)
and 1922 (the death of Shackleton). There are many excellent sites on this
subject, try my links page.
I hope to develop the site further by adding to the comments
on each book. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated and if anyone
would like to contribute to the reviews please feel free to contact me on
scelder@globalnet.co.uk.
Stewart Elder.
30/05/00 
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