Icy Graves: Exploration and Death in the Antarctic

The Great Southern Ocean has been the focus of Antarctic exploration since Captain Cook first sailed into it in 1773. The Sixth International Geographical Congress of 1895 challenged the conquest of the continent, resulting in numerous expeditions with fatalities. Modern technology increased the pace of exploration, but aircraft and motor vehicles introduced new dangers. Icy Graves uses the tragic tales of famous explorers and lesser-known figures to plot the forward progress of Antarctic exploration, often in their own words.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 11 September 2020
Publisher: The History Press Ltd

Since Captain Cook first ventured into the Great Southern Ocean in 1773, humanity has relentlessly pursued the expansion of Antarctic exploration. Initially, the expeditions aimed to chart the coastline of Antarctica, but the Sixth International Geographical Congress of 1895 presented a more audacious challenge: the conquest of the entire continent. While the tragic loss of Captain Scott's Polar Party remains the most well-known, numerous subsequent expeditions tragically met their end. Men perished through drowning, falls into bottomless crevasses, fatal fires, madness, and freezing to death. The advent of modern technology accelerated the pace of exploration, yet it also introduced entirely new dangers. For the first time, Icy Graves employs the tragic accounts of renowned explorers such as Robert Falcon Scott and Aeneas Mackintosh, as well as numerous lesser-known figures from both the British and international communities, to chronicle the ongoing progress of Antarctic exploration. The book vividly recounts, often in their own words, the courageous stories of the brave men and women who have succumbed to what Sir Ernest Shackleton aptly termed the "White Warfare of the South."

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 129 x 198 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780750994842
Edition number: 2 New edition