The Last Great Quest

The Last Great Quest by Max Jones

Scott's last Antarctic expedition is one of the great adventure stories of the twentieth century. On 1 November 1911, a British team set out on the gruelling 800-mile journey across the coldest and highest continent on Earth to travel to the South Pole. Five men battled through unimaginably harsh conditions only to find the Norwegian flag had been planted at the Pole just weeks before. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, and Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek, starved and frozen to death, only eleven miles from a supply camp. In November 1912, a rescue party discovered their last letters and diaries, which told a story of bravery, hardship, and self-sacrifice that shocked the world. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions and preoccupations of an imperial age. He also shows how heroes are made and manipulated, through a close examination of the unprecedented outpouring of public grief at the news of the death of Scott and his companions. Max Jones uses fascinating new evidence and prevously unseen illustrations to take us back to this remarkable moment in modern history, and tells for the first time the full story of The Last Great Quest.

Excellent book * The Independent on Sunday *
Review from previous edition a mesmerising and superbly researched book * Beryl Bainbridge, The Spectator *
Antarctic scholars and the general reader can enjoy a well-produced and beautifully illustrated account.. * Klaus Dodds THES *
A meticulous examination...weaving record, anecdote and example with great skill, with some remarkable conclusions * Washington Times *
A well-researched account * Sunday Times *
Max Jones...is much more sensitive than previous writers to the full range of meanings which were invested in the Scott story. * Historical Journal *
a fascinating and wide-ranging study * Sunday Times *

Max Jones (1920-1993) wrote and broadcast about jazz from 1942 to his death. In the 1940s he cofounded Jazz Music, and he was the principal jazz contributor to the British magazine Melody Maker for forty years.

A professional trumpeter and jazz writer, John Chilton is the author of Billie's Blues, Who's Who of Jazz, and with Max Jones, Louis: The Louis Armstrong Story.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780192805706
ISBN 10	0192805703
Title	The Last Great Quest
Author	Max Jones
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Year published	2004-11-11
Number of pages	404
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable