My Life as an Explorer

by Roald Amundsen

Overview

Prior to his disappearance in the Arctic during an airborne rescue mission, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) had reflected in writing on his extraordinary career. First published in 1927 and reissued here in the English translation of that year, his autobiography discusses in straightforward style the numerous difficulties of his many expeditions, ranging from problems of finance and planning through to dealing with life-threatening danger and inevitable controversy. Generously acknowledging an 'old gentleman in Grimsby' for providing materials that helped him plan the first navigation of the North-West Passage, Amundsen credits painstaking preparation as the cornerstone of his success, especially in the conquest of the South Pole. His fuller accounts of these two expeditions are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. Frank and focused like its author, the present work will reveal to readers the outlook and approach of a remarkable figure in the history of polar exploration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108071437
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/17/2014
Series:	Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Roald Amundsen is perhaps the most famous of the Edwardian explorers after Shackleton and Scott. He was the first man to sail the North-West Passage and the first to reach the South Pole. He flew over the North Pole in a dirigible and disappeared while searching for his friend, Nobile, who had flown to the Pole in 1928 and whose airship Italia had crashed on the way back. First published in 1927, Amundsen's classic tale of adventure has been out of print for many years.E. C. Coleman served in the Royal Navy for 36 years, which included time on an aircraft carrier, a submarine, and Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. During that time he mounted four Arctic expeditions in search of evidence from the 1845 Sir John Franklin Expedition. He has written many books on naval, polar, medieval and Victorian subjects and contributed the foreword to two volumes of Captain Scott's diaries. His interest in the Grail legend is longstanding and he is currently researching a new (and linked) work on the Knights Templar. He lives in Lincolnshire.

Table of Contents

1. Early memories; 2. Ice-bound in the Antarctic; 3. The conquest of the Northwest passage; 4. The dash to the South pole; 5. In the grip of the northern ice pack; 6. Financial worries; 7. An airplane flight with Lincoln Ellsworth; 8. The transpolar flight of the Norge; 9. Concerning Mr Stefansson and others; 10. The serious business of exploration; 11. Problems of food and equipment; Appendix; Index.