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Title: Engaging story marred by pedestrian writing
Review: The intertwined stories of Scott and Amundsen are dramatic reading for fans of exploration and the polar regions, but Huntford's plodding, judgemental style diminishes his book. I would have expected tighter writing and more judicious use of sources from a professional journalist, but I guess he needs a firmer editorial hand. I was particularly irritated by Huntford's unsupported psychological judgements, and his strong tendency to cast every act of Amundsen's in the most favorable possible light, and every act of Scott's in the worst. Nonetheless, it is useful to have the stories told in parallel, and this is certainly this account is a useful corrective to the myth of the heroic Scott.
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