full screen
Flaws in the Ice

Flaws in the Ice


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



Out of Stock


Notify me when this book is in stock
About the Book

Douglas Mawson was determined to make his mark on Antarctica as no other explorer had done before him. What really happened on the ice has been buried for a century. Flaws in the Ice is the untold true story of Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 Antarctic Expedition, mistakenly hailed for a century as a courageous survival story from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Prize-winning historian David Day takes off on a five-week odyssey in search of the real Douglas Mawson, famed colleague and contemporary of Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott. Beginning his book on board an expedition ship bound for the Antarctic, Dr. Day asks the difficult questions that have hitherto lain buried about Mawson --, his leadership of the ill-fated Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14, his conduct during the trek that led to the death of his two companions, and his intimate relationship with Scott's widow. The author also explores the ways in which Mawson subsequently concealed his failures and deficiencies as an explorer, and created for himself a heroic image that has persisted for a century.To bolster his career and dig himself out of debt, Mawson would have to return from Antarctica with a stirring story of achievement calculated to capture public attention. South Pole expeditions, by-among others--Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen--were going on at same time With Amundsen having reached the South Pole-- and Scott having died on his return--Mawson would be forgotten if he did not return with an exciting story of achievement and adversity overcome. Mawson obliged, though the truth was something entirely different.For many decades, there has been only one published first-hand account of the expedition --Mawson's. Only now have alternative accounts become publicly available. The most important of these is the long-suppressed diary of Mawson's deputy, Cecil Madigan, who is scathing in his criticisms of Mawson's abilities, achievements, and character that he instructed that his diary was not to be published until the last of Mawson's children had died. At the same time, other accounts have appeared from leading members of the expedition that also challenge Mawson's official story. While most historians ascribe the deaths of the two men to bad luck, the author's re-examination of the existing evidence, and a reading of the new evidence, reveals that the deaths of two men on the expedition were caused by Mawson's relative inexperience, overweening ambition, and poor decision-making. In fact, there's some suggestion that Mawson was consciously responsible for one's starvation so that Mawson himself could survive on the limited food rations. After the death of his companions, Mawson's bungling of his return to the ship forced a team to remain for another full year during which he recovered his strength and began to craft an image of himself as a courageous and resourceful polar explorer. The British Empire needed heroes, and Mawson was determined to provide it with one.In this compelling and revealing new book, David Day draws upon all this new evidence, as well as on the vast research he undertook for his international history ofAntarctica, and on his own experience of sailing to the Antarctic coastline where Mawson's reputation was first created. Flaws in the Ice will change perceptions of Douglas Mawson--one of the icons of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration-- forever.
About the Author: David Day has been a research fellow at Clare College in Cambridge, a visiting professor at University College Dublin, the University of Aberdeen, and the University of Tokyo, and an ARC senior research fellow at La Trobe University. He is currently an honorary associate at La Trobe University in Melbourne and a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra. His many books include best-selling histories of the Second World War, biographies of Australian prime ministers, and a study of Winston Churchill and Robert Menzies that has been made into a television documentary.His books have won or been short-listed for several literary prizes, with Claiming a Continent winning the non-fiction prize at the Adelaide Festival. Conquest: How Societies Overwhelm Others has appeared to acclaim in Australia, Britain, and the United States, and has been translated into several languages. His most recent book is the widely acclaimed Antarctica: A Biography (OUP, 2013).


Best Sellers



Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781493007509
  • Publisher: Lyons Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Lyons Press
  • Depth: 19
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y
  • Spine Width: 20 mm
  • Weight: 526 gr
  • ISBN-10: 1493007505
  • Publisher Date: 04 Nov 2014
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Height: 243 mm
  • No of Pages: 316
  • Series Title: English
  • Sub Title: In Search of Douglas Mawson
  • Width: 136 mm


Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
Flaws in the Ice
Lyons Press -
Flaws in the Ice
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

Flaws in the Ice

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Booksbay (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Booksbay, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Booksbay (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Booksbay a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Booksbay may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Booksbay's sole discretion. Booksbay reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Booksbay's website that Booksbay deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Booksbay does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Booksbay to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Booksbay reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Booksbay, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Booksbay, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    New Arrivals



    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!