Yes, a very gripping account of a well known "story": Oates leaving the tent with those famous last words. What I had not known was that those who stayed in the tent had the means to end it all quickly with morphine, but chose not to use it. Use of fingers is required but Scott was writing in his diary almost until the very end. When you put this book down you are drained and awestruck. ( )

Having experienced the deprivations, the stress and the sheer physical pain that Scott endured, Sir Ranulph Fiennes is well qualified to write the biography of Captain Scott. He tells the story of Scott's life and discusses how his achievements have been viewed after his death. ( )

This is a fascinating and very sad story. This year it´s 100 years since Scott and two of his fellow explorers died on the ice in Antarctis. There is much written about him but Sir Ranulph Fiennes writing gave the story another dimension because Fiennes has been there and has endured much of what Scott did.

I liked the book very much. It is well written and easy to read. Fiennes tells Scott´s story, and is quite critical of much that has been told about him. I still don´t feel that I´ve learnt what kind of person he was which make me curious. I think he may have been a very private man. ( )

A book about Captain Scott written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes (Hodder & Stoughton 2003) which I read some years ago.

Not only does Fiennes bring us a gripping tale about Scott's doomed attempt to reach the South Pole, he also analyses each decision of Scott from the explorer's point of view. Fiennes is an experienced Artic explorer and he is very well placed to explain why Scott took certain decisions based on the information, experience and tools he had at his disposal. After this eye opening account, Fiennes describes how the press and certain journalists started to alter the image the British had of Scott. In the span of a 100 years it has gone from hero to incompetent leader, to egocentric monster and back

I found this building and unbuilding of one's reputation by the press a truely mindopening book. ( )