Mawson's Will
The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
The dramatic story of explorer Douglas Mawson and "the most outstanding solo journey ever recorded in Antarctic history" (Sir Edmund Hillary, mountaineer and explorer)
For weeks in Antarctica, Douglas Mawson faced some of the most daunting conditions ever known to man: blistering wind, snow, and cold; the loss of his companion, dogs, supplies, and even the skin on his hands and feet. But despite constant thirst, starvation, disease, and snow blindness—he survived.
Sir Douglas Mawson is remembered as the young Australian who would not go to the South Pole with Robert Scott in 1911. Instead, he chose to lead his own expedition on the less glamorous mission of charting nearly 1,500 miles of Antarctic coastline and claiming its resources for the British Crown. His party of three set out through the mountains across glaciers in 60-mile-per-hour winds. Six weeks and 320 miles out, one man fell into a crevasse—along with the tent, most of the equipment, the dogs' food, and all except a week's supply of the men's provisions.
Mawson's Will is the unforgettable story of one man's ingenious practicality, unbreakable spirit, and how he continued his meticulous scientific observations even in the face of death. When the expedition was over, Mawson had added more territory to the Antarctic map than anyone else of his time. Thanks to Bickel's moving account, Mawson can be remembered for the vision and dedication that make him one of the world's great explorers.
Customer Reviews
Mawson’s Will
Speechless
Great story, terrible iBook
The story is well written, compelling, and moving. I would recommend this book to readers interested in polar exploration, scientific discovery, and above all - one man's struggle to survive in an unbelievably hostile environment and against all odds. My only criticism of the writing is the brevity of the final chapter, and the lack of details in the early chapters. The author could have spent more time talking about their gear, their food, and the daily life of polar explorers in the 1900's.
This iBook, however, is awful. It is riddled with typos and errant punctuation. In fact, the last few chapters are almost unreadable due to the atrocious editing. I had to read, and reread entire paragraphs to decipher what certain words were supposed to be, and where sentences started or stopped. I recommend this book, but buy it in good, old fashioned paperback. Then you may even get to see the photos, which were apparently left out of this version (but which are mentioned by the author in the last chapter). Until the publisher fixes the terrible copy editing in this iBook, I can't recommend anyone download it from Apple.