Most Of Us Will Have Heard,

of the ill fated expedition,

of explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his men, their mission: to be first to make it to the South Pole, that expedition did not go as planned, but it lead to the writing of a book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, to put the book in context it took first place on the National Geographic’s list of the 100 greatest adventure books of all time. “As War and Peace is to novels, so is The Worst Journey in the World to the literature of polar travel: the one to beat,” wrote the magazine, the book chronicled his adventure seeking emperor penguin embryos and of being a part of the search party that found the body of Scott and his two companions, Lt. Henry Bowers and Edward A. Wilson, the expedition’s chief scientist, He wrote: “that scene can never leave my memory.” 

above Bill Wilson, Henry Bowers and Apsley Cherry-Garrard pictured as they set off on their mission to Cape Crozier, Apsley was born yesterday on January 2nd in 1886, the explorer was only in his twenties when in 1910 he volunteered to go to the Antarctic with explorer Robert Falcon Scott and his men, their mission: to be first to make it to the South Pole, the mission ended in pain, misery and death, because of its compelling story and his vivid writing, Cherry-Garrard's memoir of the failed expedition to be first to reach the South Pole (Norway’s Roald Amundsen’s team beat the Scott expedition by five weeks and were first to plant a flag), was a big seller back in England, “With every page, you think their situation can’t possibly get any worse; and then it does,” writes Jynne Martin for NPR. “That cracking sound you hear? Oh, just the sea ice breaking apart and floating away with your supplies and horses. The sudden strange cold on your face at night? One hundred mph winds just carried off your only tent. Blinded by endless blizzards? Right, compasses don’t work this close to the magnetic pole; good luck finding your way.” despite its miseries, Cherry-Garrard retained some sympathy for those who may have had it worse off than him: “Taken all in all, I do not believe anybody on earth has a worse time than an Emperor penguin,” Cherry-Garrard wrote at the beginning of his book, I regret to say I have not read the book, but I have just downloaded it on to my Kindle, for download options have a look here, it promises to be a great read.