In August 1901 Robert Scott, Ernest Shackleton and more than 40 other men set sail to Antarctica for the first time. On their newly built ship, the Discovery, neither Scott nor Shackleton knew what to expect, nor whether they would come back alive. It was on this journey, the 1901 to 1904 Discovery Expedition, that both men became famous polar explorers.
Yet 125 years later, this expedition does not receive the attention it deserves. Scott and Shackleton’s later journeys attract far greater interest, particularly Scott’s dramatic death on the return from the South Pole in 1912 and Shackleton’s heroic leadership following the sinking of the Endurance in the Weddell Sea in November 1915. In my new book, I place the Discovery Expedition centre stage and show the important role it played in the careers of Scott and Shackleton and in Britain’s understanding of Antarctica.
