Volume 54, Number 14 · September 27, 2007

S & M at the Poles

By Al Alvarez
Scott of the Antarctic: A Life of Courage and Tragedy
by David Crane

Knopf, 572 pp., $30.00

The Frozen Ship: The Histories and Tales of Polar Exploration
by Sarah Moss

BlueBridge, 244 pp., $24.95

The Last Explorer: Hubert Wilkins, Hero of the Great Age of Polar Exploration
by Simon Nasht

Arcade, 346 pp., $27.50

David Crane's fine biography of Captain Robert Falcon Scott begins on St. Valentine's Day, 1913, at the moment of his greatest glory—his funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral in the presence of the King, the archbishop of Canterbury, and all the grandees of the land, military and civilian, in full dress regalia. The service was short, with no sermon, and at its close, when the band of the Coldstream Guards played the national anthem, a crowd of ten thousand mourners outside the cathedral sang along with the congregation.



Review, 4485 words

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