South: the Race to the Pole

Pieter van der Merwe with Jeremy Michell

Conway

£18.99

Four new galleries opened this autumn in the National Maritime Museum. Jeremy Michell is lead curator of Polar Worlds and has collaborated with Pieter van der Merwe on this new edition of essays focussing on Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton and their companions. The wealth of illustrations certainly whets one’s appetite for a visit. Luke McKernan’s chapter offers fascinating insight into the technical and artistic achievements of the expedition photographers and their crucial role in attracting sponsorship. The story of Antarctica is up-dated and there’s some reassessment of the leaders’ characters. Nevertheless key episodes, such as the last days of the Endurance and Shackleton’s voyage in the James Caird, lose none of their power to thrill.