The Longest Winter - Scotts Other Heroes

Product Description

Scott's Northern Party played an integral role in his iconic last expedition, but how did they survive? Through the eyes of the men involved, Meredith Hooper recounts one of the greatest tales of adventure & endurance, which has often been overshadowed by the tragedy which befell Scott. Their tents were torn, their food was nearly finished & the ship had failed to pick them up as planned. Gale-force winds blew, bitter with the cold of approaching winter. Stranded & desperate, the six men of the Northern Party faced disaster. Searching out a snow drift they burrowed inside. Lieutenant Victor Campbell drew a line across the floor in the gloom to establish naval order: three officers on one side, the three seamen on the other. A birthday was celebrated with a carefully hoarded biscuit & they sang hymns every Sunday, so what kept these men going? Circumstances forced them closer together, their roles blurred & a shared sense of reality emerged. This mutual suffering made them indivisible & somehow they made it through the longest winter. To the south, the men waiting at headquarters knew that the Polar Party must be dead & hoped that another six men would not be added to the death toll. Working from expedition diaries, journals & letters written by expedition members, Meredith Hooper tells the intensely human story of Scott's other expedition.