top

FIENNES, Randolph

Captain Scott

I approached this book with high hopes for it to serve as a definitive biography of Robert Scott, tackling his critics head-on and setting the record straight. Opinions on Scott typically fall into one of two camps: he is seen as either a leader who was somewhat unlucky or an incompetent manager reluctant to take advice. This book contributes to this ongoing debate. It needed to present a strong counter-argument to, for example, Roland Huntford's critical portrayal of Scott.
What the book does offer is an acknowledgment of Scott's flaws. The author, relying on available material, has certainly succeeded in making Scott's story even more engaging. Serious readers of this subject should not dismiss the book outright. Fiennes may also be uniquely positioned to understand the physical and mental attributes required of an Antarctic explorer, and he does an excellent job of conveying these important considerations on paper. He argues that Scott has been misunderstood and his intentions misinterpreted, it does however, fall short of being a convincing full-defense of Scott, mainly because there isn't the proof that Scott was a competent leader of men.
Nevertheless, this book perfectly illustrates why the study of the 'heroic age' explorers is so fascinating.
S.E.