South with Scott

by Edward R.G.R. Evans

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic, timeless works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Classics, Adventure

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1921

About the author

Admiral Sir Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, 1st Baron Mountevans, KCB, DSO, SGM, LL.D was a British naval officer and Antarctic explorer. He was part of two Antartic explorations, the first one being the 1901-1903 the British National Antarctic Expedition - the "Discovery Expedition" as second officer aboard the relief ship, the Morning. A decade later he was captain of the expedition ship Terra Nova and second-in-command on Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1910–1913. During this voyage he became seriously ill with scurvy and almost died.

He served in the First World Wars as commander of the destroyer HMS Broke. Together with HMS Swift he engaged and defeated six German destroyers in the battle of Dover Strait, an action which led to his promotion to captain and invested a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in February 1928 and given command of the Royal Australian Navy Fleet, in 1932 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral, and in 1936 he was promoted to Admiral.

In the Second World War he participated in the Norwegian Campaign. He retired from the Royal Navy on 9 January 1941, and then served as the London Regional Commissioner for Civil Defence.

In November 1945 he was raised to the peerage of Great Britain as Baron Mountevans.

Reviews

[^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, whose style sadly does not sit comfortably a century on from the events it describes.

This is the Romantic Myth of Scott of the Antarctic writ large, and whilst I kept that thought firmly in mind I enjoyed it; though it was impossible to not to think of Roland Huntford’s bile http://tinyurl.com/o24oevp rising at lines such as, “Certainly no living man could have taken Scott’s place effectively as leader of our Expedition – there was none other like him. He was the Heart, Brain, and Master.” (p.230).

But there again, the very style in which Evans’ account is written does oddly and unintentionally also bring home very sharply just how high confidence and hopes were, and how terribly deeply crushing the defeat engineered by Amudsen’s expedition was. Is this an account of survivor’s guilt, I wondered? Or do I have an overactive imagination? Am guilty of applying hindsight and different values from a significant distance later in time.

It’s certainly a book well worth reading, but not as the only book on this subject read.

[Igenlode Wordsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cheery account that conveys a strong sense of its author's personality (one gathers that prolonged doses of Teddy Evans' bounciness could eventually get a little wearing!)
A slightly different slant from the standard accounts of Scott's last expedition, since the author unsurprisingly writes in more detail about the various side-expeditions in which he personally took part, and which are not often given any great prominence - the real surprise is perhaps not that some of the members did die, but that so many of them survived near-death experiences and lived to tell the tale. Lt Evans' own almost fatal bout with scurvy (not to mention his party's wild sledging leap over the crevasse) was just one of these miraculous cases of survival, and in consequence it removes him from the narrative for a big chunk of the ensuing winter, when he was evacuated from the Antarctic altogether.

Slightly odd to modern ears are the moments of portentous foreknowledge which interrupt the narrative from time to time - but of course he was writing for an audience who already knew the ending of the story, and expected appropriate sentiments to be expressed and morals to be drawn. Little did he know that it would, in the end, be much less than his predicted century before men not only set foot on the Beardmore glacier again, but established a permanent settlement on that Polar plateau - but he was quite right that transport, in that eventuality, would be by aeroplane, an idea that ten years earlier, when Scott set out, would have been quite inconceivable.

[Duncan Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written at the epoch of the Scott as hero mythology just after the Great War this is an account of the final polar exploration of RFS as written by his second in command Teddy Evans.

Scott and Evans didn't get on and whilst Evans does his best to hide that fact there are certain paragraphs and comments where his contempt shines through.

The actual book itself is flawed, its his POV but as that doesn't include the final polar push it just becomes a regurgitation of other peoples work.

[Gencis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story giving more information about other parties of Scott's Antarctica expedition. This is the story of bravery, self-sacrifice, and the limits man can withstand. It is worth reading for anyone, who is interested in the early Antarctica explorations.
Here I found about the Northern party which had to stay through the winter with very scarce resources. It is incredible how the party survived. And it is a pity that this story is overshadowed by tragic story of the Scott's party.

[Jingle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. The age of exploration and insight into the attitudes, plans, technology and aspirations of another time.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always been fascinated by Antartica, it’s natural beauty, people who’ve tried to explore it, and, to be honest, it was the setting of one of my favorite John Carpenter films, The Thing. (I realize that film was shot in British Columbia, but the id of the place is conveyed, I believe, accurately.)

I was turned onto this book in a weird way, in that I saw a copy of it come up for sale from a rare/antiquarian bookseller. The copy was valuable due to its provenance, being owned by a more recent mountaineer who recently died.

The book is the story of the “Terra Nova” expedition of 1910-1913. This event was the British attempt to be the first to the geographic South Pole. The expedition wasn’t solely for heroics or fame, there was also a rather large scientific component to it. It included physics, marine biology, geology, etc. and many samples were collected over the entire period. Unfortunately, Scott arrived five weeks after the Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first to have arrived at the Pole. On Scott’s return trip, many problems arose and his entire party died.

I enjoyed reading this book, all the while realizing that it did, at times, romanticize the final Antartica expedition of Capt. Robert Scott. But, it was written by one of the men who was on the expedition, suffered injuries himself, and was writing about Scott less than ten years afterward. So, I did try to set any judgements aside and enjoy the story being told. It was a quick read. One section that captured some of the beauty was in Chapter 8, “The Winter Closes In”:

”One passed out of the hut hourly at least and, on moonlight nights especially, one found something beautiful in the scenery about Cape Evans. At full moon time everything turned silver, from towering Erebus with gleaming sides to the smooth ice slopes of Ross Island in the north-east, while away to the southward the high black Dellbridge Islands thrust up from a sea of flat silver ice. Even the conical hills and the majestic Castle Rock, fifteen miles away, stood out quite clearly on occasions.”

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edward Evans was R.F. Scott's second in command on Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Many people criticize Evans as being unreliable and dishonest. While there is some truth in that, I would still recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the early days of Antarctic exploration. I've read about half a dozen accounts of this expedition and this book definitely had some valuable and unique insights.

Evans was a member of the expedition's last support party (along with Tom Crean and William Lashly). This means that his party was the last to see Scott's team of 5 before they marched off to their doom. Of the three men in this team, only Evans and Lashly kept diaries, and only Evans published a book about what happened (although Lashly's diary is quoted at length in TWJINW).

Part of Evans' unpopularity is from his uncomfortable relationship with Scott. But in some ways this makes him a more believable writer; since he didn't always get along with Scott, he could be less inclined to hero-worship and a little more blunt. Many of Scott's men were anti-Shackleton partisans. Evans, on the other hand, made a point of respecting the work Shackleton had done on his earlier expedition. Evans named the Shackleton glacier, partly to honor the man and partly to get a dig in on Scott (per Roland Huntford's account).

Evans came as close to death as any survivor of Scott's expedition. Dying from scurvy on the Barrier on the home journey, he begged Crean and Lashly to leave him for dead and save themselves. They refused. The story of how they got him home is amazing.

At one point, earlier in the book, Evans finds himself skiing completely alone on the Great Ice Barrier. I really enjoyed his description of his thoughts and feelings while he was out in this absolute solitude.

Lastly, this book is mercifully short compared to the other first-person accounts of polar expeditions from the time. Most of them, while fun to read, tend to be very long-winded. This is one of the shortest I've read.

[Kristina Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

You cannot evaluate a first-hand account on the basis of research or even writing style. The book is of value as a genuine version of events. That said, part of that value comes from comparisons and contrasts with other accounts. I would not have gained so much from reading this without first having read well researched books.
Admiral Evans writes with fondness of those he travelled with and naturally is proud of their achievements. The sincerity of his writing is what made this book so enlightening. After so many historians have criticised the expedition and suggested resentments within the party it is uplifting to read a generous narrative of events.

[Pericles Enache · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those people interesteed in Geology, this book is a must read. See the photographs of Mr. Ponting about the illfated expediton at http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/library/pic... .

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awarded to my dad for 'general proficiency', a great way to read about Scott's fateful journey.