Review by Choice Review
Most books about Antarctica fall into three categories: stories of exploration and heroism, scientific and environmentalist accounts of its physical characteristics, and analyses of Antarctic law and politics. Baughman's book falls outside these categories; it is essentially a history of human experience in the region in the second half of the 19th century, during which science gradually replaced whaling as the dominant activity. There was courage, of course, a good deal of romanticism, vanity, competition, spitefulness, and other entirely human qualities displayed by these early visitors. The outstanding figures of this period were the Norwegian Carsten E. Borchgrevink and the Englishman Sir Clements R. Markham. Their reports and correspondence provide much of the material for the book. It is very well written, as well as good history, based on archival sources, scholarly journals, and interviews. It fills a rather large gap and contributes greatly to understanding the region, and is therefore most welcome. General readers; advanced undergraduates and above. M. I. Glassner; Southern Connecticut State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A slender history of the first years of organized Antarctic exploration. Baughman (History/Benedictine College) begins at the beginning, with speculation by ancient Greeks about the existence of a vast southern continent. The region remained a mystery for almost two millennia, until the 1820's, when several different explorers sighted Antarctica. Expeditions were mounted, but all fell through; in the early 1890's, though, whale hunters began moving into Antarctic seas. One such venture included seaman Carsten Borchgrevink (1864-1930), who discovered the first sample of Antarctic plant life (lichen) and became the first human to set foot on the continent by elbowing aside his captain during the landing. Spurred on by Borchgrevink and others, men began steaming to Antarctica on scientific and exploratory expeditions. Prominent figures included Sir Clements Markham, president of the Royal Geographic Society, who sponsored the expedition that gave Robert F. Scott his first command, and Dr. Frederick Cook--better known for his North Pole rivalry with Robert Peary--who served brilliantly on the Belgica expedition, saving the crew by discovering the benefits of eating penguin to stave off scurvy. Baughman looks askance at Markham, who decided that dogs were inadequate for polar work--a belief that led to the death of Scott and his companions in the 1912 polar push. But the author's attention and criticism land most heavily on Borchgrevink, a poor leader and poorer scientist whose Southern Cross expedition- -conducted about a decade after his first landing on the continent--never measured up to its potential for meteorological or scientific discovery. Not the major history of this era that still begs to be written; still, a useful, informative addition to Antarcticana. (Four maps, two b&w photographs)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
