My 2023 New Year’s resolution was to learn as much as possible about the Heroic age of Polar Exploration (1897 to 1922). Nine months, and several books later I have just completed my final book and what a read it was.
The Worst Journey in the World is a gripping account of Captain Scott’s Tera Nova Expedition whose ultimate aim was to reach the South Pole. This they did but perished on the return journey.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard was the youngest member of the Expedition and later part of the rescue party team that found the frozen bodies of Scott and the three men who had accompanied him on the final push to the Pole.
Despite the horrors that Scott and his men eventually faced, Cherry-Garrard’s account is filled with details of scientific discovery and anecdotes of human resilience in a harsh environment, supported by diary excerpts and accounts from other explorers. The Worst Journey in the World is the most celebrated and compelling of all the books on Antarctic exploration.
