Roland Huntford

Roland Huntford is acknowledged as the pre-eminent author of Polar biographies. He has written biographies of Captain Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Fridtjof Nansen.Huntford's THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH (also titled SCOTT AND AMUNDSEN ) had a tremendous impact on public interest in Polar matters. Part of the interest was because of Huntford's unflattering treatment of the iconic Captain Scott, and the adverse comparison of the planning and execution of the large and well-funded British expedition against the small Norwegian one led by Amundsen. Huntford can be credited with demolishing much Scott mythology, including the garnering of meticulous and valuable scientific data, and correspondingly reestablishing the stature of Roald Amundsen.The historical roots of the structure of the book run from Plutarch(LIVES) through Alan Bullock (HITLER AND STALIN).The two books which followed, biographies of Shackleton (SHACKLETON) and Nansen(NANSEN,1997) were also widely acclaimed. NANSEN claims to be the first full-length biography in English of the great explorer and statesman using original sources,previously untapped.

Related Topics:
Captain Scott - Ernest Shackleton - Nobel Peace Prize - Fridtjof Nansen

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Recently there has been a rebuttal of Huntford's demolition of Scott by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who has pertinently pointed out that Huntford lacks direct experience of Polar travel and man-hauling and is therefore not really qualified to comment on Scott's technical deficiencies. However, this defence does not hold much water as Fiennes has not succeeded in whitewashing Scott's choice of Siberian ponies over dogs, the crucial mistake, which led to the man-hauling decision.

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Huntford's other books include THE NEW TOTALITARIANS, SEA OF DARKNESS and THE SAYINGS OF HENRIK IBSEN.He lives in Cambridge and was the former Scandinavian correspondent of Observer and also the Alistair Horne Fellow at St. Anthony's College, Oxford.

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