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The last Viking : the life of Roald Amundsen / Stephen R. Bown.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Cambridge : Da Capo Press, c2012.Description: xxii, 357 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0306820676 (hardcover : alk. paper)
  • 0306821621 (e-book)
  • 9780306820670 (hardcover : alk. paper)
  • 9780306821622 (e-book)
Subject(s):
Contents:
1. West -- The boy from the Mountain Kingdom -- Polar apprentice -- An extraordinary plan -- Where Franklin died -- An education at Gjøahavn -- 2. South -- "I resolved upon a coup" -- The Napoleon of the Poles -- Dogs and skis -- A featureless expanse of snow -- 3. East -- A hero returns -- A new battlefield -- The frozen reaches of Tartary -- 4. North -- Grounded dreams -- The Arctic Phoenix -- The dirigible and the fascist -- A massed attack on the polar regions -- 5. Lost -- No more Poles to conquer -- Epilogue: the end of the Heroic Age.
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Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Amundsen R. B787 Available 33111007006949
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Last Viking unravels the life of the man who stands head and shoulders above all those who raced to map the last corners of the world. In 1900, the four great geographical mysteries--the Northwest Passage, the Northeast Passage, the South Pole, and the North Pole--remained blank spots on the globe. Within twenty years Roald Amundsen would claim all four prizes. Renowned for his determination and technical skills, both feared and beloved by his men, Amundsen is a legend of the heroic age of exploration, which shortly thereafter would be tamed by technology, commerce, and publicity. Feted in his lifetime as an international celebrity, pursued by women and creditors, he died in the Arctic on a rescue mission for an inept rival explorer.

Stephen R. Bown has unearthed archival material to give Amundsen's life the grim immediacy of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the World , the exciting detail of The Endurance , and the suspense of a Jon Krakauer tale. The Last Viking is both a thrilling literary biography and a cracking good story.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. West -- The boy from the Mountain Kingdom -- Polar apprentice -- An extraordinary plan -- Where Franklin died -- An education at Gjøahavn -- 2. South -- "I resolved upon a coup" -- The Napoleon of the Poles -- Dogs and skis -- A featureless expanse of snow -- 3. East -- A hero returns -- A new battlefield -- The frozen reaches of Tartary -- 4. North -- Grounded dreams -- The Arctic Phoenix -- The dirigible and the fascist -- A massed attack on the polar regions -- 5. Lost -- No more Poles to conquer -- Epilogue: the end of the Heroic Age.

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