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The Last Viking by Stephen R. Bown: book review

 



The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen Conqueror of the South Pole (2013) is the biography of the Norwegian polar explorer, set in Oslo, the North Pole, and the South Pole, from 1900 to 1928.

 

It begins in 1928 when Roald Amundsen is 56 years old in Oslo in the first year of his retirement as a polar explorer. Rival explorer, Italian Umberto Nobile, is in dire straits when his dirigible (airship) crashes into the polar sea. Despite having publicly feuded with Nobile for the previous 18 months, Roald Amundsen sets off to Spitsbergen on a private rescue mission with a Norwegian pilot, a French pilot, and three Frenchmen. It was his demise when the plane disappeared over the Barents Sea.

 

For the previous 20 years, between 1903-1928, Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) was revered as an experienced and handsome hero, leading many eplorations across eight nations, were he conquered the Northwest Passage, the Northeast Passage, the South Pole, and the North Pole. Described as larger-than-life, a restless spirit, intuitive, optimistic, meticulously organized, and engagingly entertaining, it was also said that he was competitive, cold, arrogant, and devious.

 

The time is of the age of exploration in general. Competitive, as if a sporting event: ‘As early as the fall of 1909 Amundsen had been planning to contrive a race between himself and [British adventurer Robert Falcon] Scott’ to the South Pole that he was sure would appeal to the public … ‘less preoccupied with the objects of science and more accepting of conspicuous achievement.’ Scott (1868-1912) had attempted the South Pole crossing from 1901-1904 during the ‘Discovery’ expedition – and he had no idea that he was in a ‘race’ with Amundsen to conquer the South Pole. 

 

Roald Amundsen conquered the South Pole five weeks before Scott during Scott’s second attempt at the South Pole during the ‘Terra Nova’ expedition, 1910-1913. Scott lost his life. 

 

Communication was almost non-existent at the time, and the two men never met or communicated with each other while at the South Pole, and Amundsen did not learn of Scott’s fate until almost two years later. This information places the feats in context, making readers realise the extent of the dangers, difficulties, and hardships – and how much the expeditions depended upon extensive planning and learning from previous attempts.

 

This biography looks at all sides of the life and legend of Amundsen. From his childhood to his adventures, ‘provincialism, feelings of inferiority or insularity’ did not hold him back. At an early age, he felt destined to lead Arctic explorations. The accounts of his ice treks, the preparation of food and supplies, team accomplishments and disputes, the lives of the Inuits, and the evolution of equipment, clothing, and transport make for fascinating reading. 






 

 

 

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MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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