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S'està carregant… Racing with Death: Douglas Mawson, Antarctic Explorerde Beau Riffenburgh
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Sociology.
Nonfiction.
HTML: Scott, Shackleton and Mawson were the three great explorers of the Edwardian age. Now Beau Riffenburgh tells the forgotten story of Douglas Mawson and his death-defying expedition of 1911-14. A key member of Ernest Shackleton's famous Nimrod Expedition, Mawson led his own Australasian Antarctic Expedition. However, following the tragic deaths of the other members of his sledging party, he was left to struggle the hundreds of miles back to base alone, only to find that the relief ship had sailed away, leaving him to face another year in Antarctica. Having survived with a small band of men against incredible odds, he later led a groundbreaking two-year expedition which explored hundreds of miles of unknown coastline. Mawson's is a story of true heroism and a fascinating insight into the human psyche under extreme duress. .No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)919.8904History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Australasia, Pacific Ocean islands, Atlantic Ocean islands, Arctic islands, Antarctica and on extraterrestrial worlds Polar regions AntarcticaLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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The key event in his life occurred somewhat early on, when he trekked with two companions across the Antarctic ice. Both of his companions died on this horrendous mission, and Mawson had to endure lack of food and equipment, and falls in crevasses on his return journey - only to see the ship that was to take him back to Australia departing, forcing him to spend another year on the rudimentary base that he had set up. This has perhaps been over dramatised because the ship was able to return, but collecting men at another camp was a priority, and it would have dangerous to go back to collect him. Furthermore, he was not over-wintering alone; others stayed behind as well. For a more dramatic story of endurance in this region, that of Shackelton is hard to beat. However, that is not to minimise what Mawson ensured.
In fact this book does not really do a great job of covering this story. Of course, there is more to Mawson's life. There were further trips to Antarctica, journeys of fund raising and promotion, global politics, administration and academia. The authors also spends a fair bit of time describing the conflict between Mawson and the skipper of the Aurora (and a subsequent ship). Friends at the start, this degenerated into open and destructive conflict, and yet eventually what appears to be a constructive working relationship in advancing Antarctic research.
What I missed was a good explanation of the 'so-what' of all this effort, other than making claims on the landmass of Antarctica, and a protection of wildlife.
Suggestion: Put Leonard Bickel's book This Accursed Land on your reading list. ( )