I enjoyed this book. Amundsen describes his expedition to the South Pole, the first to ever reach the pole, in clear, strong prose. His story is engaging, and in some points very funny.

Amundsen begins by giving a brief, but comprehensive overview of Antarctic exploration, giving particular attention to the work of Ernest Shackleton, whom Amundsen clearly admires. Throughout the book, Amundsen compares the progress of his party to that of Shackleton's 1908-1909 expedition, which Amundsen refers to as "the most brilliant incident in the history of Antarctic exploration" (40).

The remainder of the book is given over to a detailed account of the preparation for the expedition and the journey itself. I won't try to summarize that exploit, but will instead point to the summary here: http://www.south-pole.com/p0000101.htm.

One thing I particularly admired about the book was the careful way Amundsen gave credit to those who worked under him. Everyone's name was mentioned in the book, from his second in command down to the deckhands that were hired in the last 6 months of the trip. Amundsen described their hard work and credited them with the expedition's sucess.

However, I give the book a qualified . I enjoyed it very much, but a great deal of my pleasure was due to the fairly extensive knowledge I already have of this trip. I appreciated the way Amundsen's narrative glossed over the political problems he had at home, and the conflict he had with his second in command, and I was entertained by the clever way he thanked important donors or sponsors throughout the book.

I would not reccomend this as an introduction to the Scott/Amundsen race to the South Pole -- for that I would suggest The Last Place on Earth, by Roland Huntford.