Journals: Captain Scott's Last Expedition - Tapa dura

Max Jones and the publishers are to be congratulated on this new version of a classic story, and for offering it at such a reasonable price. It should be the last word for a very long time. (Peter Speak, Polar Record, Vol 42/2, 2006 )

'scrupulously scholarly edition... There is nobody who knows more about the Scott mythology than Jones does. With a bit of luck this book will give [Scott] back to the public he deserves.' (David Crane, The Spectator )

'a damn good read' (Literary review )

'The whole script can be found in the latest edition of Scott's diary published by OUP, 'Journals: Captain Scott's Last Expedition'. Ably introduced and edited by Max Jones, this is the full, unexpurgated thing.' (Fergus Fleming, Literary Review )

'thanks to the journals - reprinted now by Oxford University Press, with a new introduction and extensive notes - that we have such a clear picture of Scott's last expedition.' (Beryl Bainbridge, The Times )

'The most gripping story of polar exploration ever written. It is an adventure full of incident and drama, courage and endurance, hope and bitter disappointment with a tragic end. Max Jones's new edition provides fascinating insights into Scott's character and a wealth of extra material.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes

'This is an inexpensive, well-produced and thoroughly annotated edition of an explorers' bible; the journal of a man who finds it "good to know that there remain wild corners of this dreadfully civilised world".' (Mick Herron, Geographical )

'allows the modern reader an insight into the mindset of this now iconic figure' (David Musgrove, BBC History )

In January 1912 Captain Scott reached the South Pole, to find he had been beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian expedition. Scott and his companions faced an 850-mile march to safety. All perished on the return. A few months later, a search party found Scott's body and the journals which told his tragic story. Scott's own account was published to extraordinary acclaim in 1913. Danger grips the reader from the first chapter, as the Terra Nova struggles to force a path through the pack ice. The journey to an unknown land becomes a journey into the self, as Scott's mood oscillates between hope and despair. And, in his last entries, Scott gives voice to the heroic fantasies of his generation, the generation which would fight and die in the Great War. This new edition draws on ninety years of reflection on the Antarctic disaster to illuminate Scott's journals, publishing for the first time a complete list of the changes made to Scott's original text. Drawing on papers from the John Murray archive which have never been used before, Max Jones tells the story of this remarkable book and charts the changing fortunes of Scott's reputation.