Race to the South Pole: The Expedition Diaries of Scott and Amundsen, Roland Huntford (Continuum, London and New York, 2110) xxii, 330pp., hardback, £20, ISBN 978 1 4411 698272.

This must be the modern history bargain of the year.  A century ago in 1910, two ships left for Antarctica, the Terra Nova carrying the British explorers with Robert Falcon Scott and the Fram, with the rival Norwegians led by Roald Amundsen and his companion Olav Bjaaland.

For the first time Scott's unedited diaries are here given along with those of both Amundsen an Bjaaland, never before translated into English.  This then is the definitive account of the race for the South Pole in their own words.  Moreover the book is edited by the foremost authority on polar exploration, Robert Huntford, author of the acclaimed history of skiing, ‘Two Planks and a Passion' and the biographer of Shackleton and Nanser.  The book is illustrated with seven maps and thirty figures, including Amundsen's diary on reaching the South Pole on December 15^th 1911 and Scott's record of his arrival on January 17^th 1912.    Complete dramatic personae are given for the two parties and there are also provided a glossary, end-notes, a bibliography and an index.

Huntford's introduction emphasises that the Norwegians regarded the expedition as aski-rage writ large where Britain wanted to add the South Pole to its very considerable empire.  The personalities of the two leaders also contrasted -Scott had heroic ideals, Amundsen came from a culture which did not believe in taking unnecessary risk.

The diaries are presented parallel in strict chronological order for ease of comparison.

It is riveting and romantic.