On 14 December 1911, Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) and his Norwegian team became the first humans to reach the South Pole, a month before their ill-fated British rivals under the leadership of Robert Falcon Scott. Reissued here is the 1912 English translation of Amundsen's two-volume account of how this extraordinary and perilous feat was achieved. Illustrated throughout with illuminating maps and photographs, the text contains important details relating to matters of climate, equipment, diet, sledging and survival in forbiddingly cold conditions over uncertain terrain. Underpinning Amundsen's success, the use of dogs, skis and fur clothing made possible the dash to the pole and back without the loss of human life. While careful to present the expedition in the best light, Amundsen's work remains essential reading in the history of Antarctic exploration. Volume 1 covers the early stages of the expedition prior to the start for the pole in October 1911."

On 14 December 1911, Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) and his Norwegian team became the first humans to reach the South Pole, a month before their ill-fated British rivals under the leadership of Robert Falcon Scott. Reissued here is the 1912 English translation of Amundsen's two-volume account of how this extraordinary and perilous feat was achieved. Illustrated throughout with illuminating maps and photographs, the text contains important details relating to matters of climate, equipment, diet, sledging and survival in forbiddingly cold conditions over uncertain terrain. Underpinning Amundsen's success, the use of dogs, skis and fur clothing made possible the dash to the pole and back without the loss of human life. While careful to present the expedition in the best light, Amundsen's work remains essential reading in the history of Antarctic exploration. Volume 2 covers the momentous journey to the pole and back, closing with chapters and appendices on nautical and scientific topics."

From an early age Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) was determined to be an explorer. Having gained valuable experience on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897 9), he resolved to conquer the North-West Passage. After three years, using a small fishing vessel, the Gjoa, and only six crew, Amundsen succeeded in reaching Nome, Alaska. First published in Norwegian in 1907, and reissued here in its 1908 English translation, this two-volume account is copiously illustrated with photographs. Volume 1 describes how the ship was chosen and its departure from Norway in June 1903. The men spent two winters on King William Island, learning much about survival from the local Inuit. The observatory they established collected magnetic data for almost two years as well as meteorological data, both of which added greatly to existing Arctic knowledge. Sledge journeys ascertained that the position of the North Magnetic Pole had changed little for more than seventy years."

From an early age Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) was determined to be an explorer. Having gained valuable experience on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897 9), he resolved to conquer the North-West Passage. After three years, using a small fishing vessel, the Gjoa, and only six crew, Amundsen succeeded in reaching Nome, Alaska. First published in Norwegian in 1907, and reissued here in its 1908 English translation, this two-volume account is copiously illustrated with photographs. Volume 2 begins with details of Inuit practices, including the building of snow houses, fishing, and the making of clothes. The navigation to Herschel Island, where the men spent a third winter among whaling vessels, is then recounted. One of the crew died from illness before the Gjoa reached Nome in August 1906. This volume contains a lengthy supplement by Godfred Hansen, describing the sledge journeys to map the coast of Victoria Island, and a detailed index to both volumes."

Prior to his disappearance in the Arctic during an airborne rescue mission, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872 1928) had reflected in writing on his extraordinary career. First published in 1927 and reissued here in the English translation of that year, his autobiography discusses in straightforward style the numerous difficulties of his many expeditions, ranging from problems of finance and planning through to dealing with life-threatening danger and inevitable controversy. Generously acknowledging an 'old gentleman in Grimsby' for providing materials that helped him plan the first navigation of the North-West Passage, Amundsen credits painstaking preparation as the cornerstone of his success, especially in the conquest of the South Pole. His fuller accounts of these two expeditions are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Frank and focused like its author, the present work will reveal to readers the outlook and approach of a remarkable figure in the history of polar exploration."

Before Sir Ernest Shackleton's exploration of the Antarctic waters in 1914, Captain Roald Amundsen led a courageous team through ice-chocked waters to become the first expedition to reach the South Pole in 1911. Read the fascinating account of his journey in "The South Pole."

"Roald Amundsen planted the Norwegian flag on the South Pole on December 14, 1911: a full month before Robert Falcon Scott arrived on the same spot. Amundsen's 'The South Pole' is less well-known than his rival's, in part because he is less of a literary stylist, but also, perhaps, because he survived the journey. His book is a riveting first-hand account of a truly professional expedition; Amundsen's heroism is understated, but it is heroism nonetheless."
--"The Times of London," 23 June 2001

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the spring of 1911 two separate expeditions left their respective camps in Antarctica in a desperate bid to achieve the glory of being first to reach the South Pole: a British party, led by Captain R. F. Scott, and a Norwegian one under Captain Roald Amundsen. The South Pole, -- Amundsen's first-hand account of the expedition, -- is a fascinating and highly readable history of the tenacity and perseverance of the age.

"The last of the Vikings," Roald Engebreth Gravning Amundsen was a powerfully built man of over six feet in height, born into a family of merchant sea captains in 1872. In 1903 he navigated the Northwest Passage in a 70-foot fishing boat. Soon afterwards he learned that Ernest Shackleton was setting out on an attempt to reach the South Pole. Shackleton abandoned his quest a mere 97 miles short of the Pole, but Amundsen began preparing his own expedition. Although this was the age of the amateur explorer, Amundsen was a professional: he left little to chance, apprenticed with Inuits, and obsessed over every detail.

On October 18, 1911 Amundsen's party set out from the Bay of Whales, on Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf, for their final drive toward the pole. His British counterpart, Robert Falcon Scott, dependent on Siberian ponies rather than on dogs, began his trip three weeks later. While Scott clung fast to the British rule of "No skis, no dogs," Amundsen understood that both were vital to survival. Aided by exceptionally cooperative weather conditions, Amundsen's men passed the point where Shackleton was forced to turn back on December 7, and at approximately 3pm on December 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen raised the flag of Norway at the South Pole, one month before Scott's party would arrive.

A polar masterpiece of history and adventure, The South Pole is the stunning first-hand account of one of the greatest success stories in the annals of exploration. Most skillfully Amundsen constructs the expedition's character through its personalitiesthe cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crewproviding insight not only into Amundsen's philosophy of exploration, but into the classical age of polar explorers.

Roald Amundsen records his race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's expertise enabled him to succeed where his predecessors, and competitors, did not. His rival Captain Robert F. Scott not only failed to reach the Pole first, but due to poor preparation and miscalculation died with the rest of his party on their return trip. The South Pole remains one of the greatest and most important books on polar exploration.