White Darkness by David Grann: A Story of Antarctic Obsession

My obsession with Antarctic explorers began when I was eleven and read The Great White South by Herbert Ponting, the photographer on the 1911 Scott expedition. As a girl, I held a heroic idealization of Scott and his men freezing in their hut. It seemed all so heroic, then. Later readings lowered Scott in my estimation.

Henry Worsley idolized Ernest Shackleton for his courage and leadership. Although Shackleton was never able to complete his expeditions, he did save his men's lives. And Worsley's own grandfather had been with Shackleton on his failed expedition to the reach the South Pole.

Henry made a career in the army, completing Special Forces training while pursuing his obsession by collecting Shackleton artifacts.

The White Darkness by David Grann tells the story of how Henry Worsley, after retirement from the army, participated in a centennial expedition retracing Shackleton's trek, along with two other descendants of the original team. The goal was to reach the South Pole, which Shackleton failed to do. They made it. Not content with this achievement, Henry afterward endeavored to complete the other journey that Shackleton had to abandon: crossing the Antarctic. Henry, though, would do it solo.

Once again, I am amazed how men can be driven to endure the unimaginable physical stress of the Antarctic, not just once, but returning again to the dangerous beauty of ice. A hundred years ago men wanted to bring honor to their country and the Antarctic and Arctic were the last unexplored places on earth. But there has always been something more, a need for men to test themselves to the ultimate, to conquer the most extreme conditions imaginable.

In this short book about Henry Worsley, Grann covers the history of Antarctic exploration and conveys a chilling exposure to the 'white darkness' of the freezing desert landscape that has lured so many men to their deaths.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

The White Darkness
by David Grann
Doubleday Books
Pub Date 30 Oct 2018 
ISBN 9780385544573
PRICE $20.00 (USD)

Further Reading on Antarctic Expeditions:

To the Edges of the Earth by William Morrow, reviewed at
https://theliteratequilter.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-last-of-old-fashioned-heroes.html