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The publications on this page are all currently in print.
For information about items not yet published please see the Upcoming Publications page.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT POSTAGE: Surface mail postage is included in the price of the books. If you require air mail a supplement
will have to be paid to cover the extra charge. We can ship to anywhere in the world.
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The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration:
Bluntisham Books is proud to present, along with its standard publications, a series of publications
titled 'The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration'.
 The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration is an attempt to bring together a collection of diaries, journals,
facsimilies and translations detailing different aspects of Antarctic Exploration at the start of the
20th century.
The Heroic Age of Exploration has been divided into three categories: The Diaries, The Facsimilies and
The Translations.
...more |
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SPECIAL OFFER!
BUY THREE OF OUR PUBLICATIONS AND RECEIVE A £15.00/$26.00 DISCOUNT!
BUY FOUR OR MORE OF OUR PUBLICATIONS AND RECEIVE A £20.00/$35.00 DISCOUNT!
To receive these discounts please print out our order form, fill it out and mail it to us with the appropriate
payment or payment details.
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| LATEST PUBLICATIONS |
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| ! SPECIAL DISCOUNT OF £5 IF YOU ORDER BOTH ARNOLD AND DAVIS ! |
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8 Men in a Crate - The ordeal of the Advance Party of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955-57
by Anthea Arnold |
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Once the Pole had been conquered by Amundsen and Scott the next great journey was the crossing of the Antarctic continent, first attempted by Filchner in 1912 and then by Shackleton in 1914.
As part of the International Geophysical Year the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition was set up with Vivian Fuchs in charge. He would start froma base on the Weddell Sea and after reaching the Pole, continue to the Ross Sea using supply depots laid by a New Zealand team working from McMurdo and led by the the conqueror of Mount Everest , Sir Edmind Hillary.
In January 1956 an advance party of eight men was left at Shackleton Base to build the accommodation and lay depots to ease the passage of Fuchs's team the following year.
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The achievement of this expedition still resonates today but the near-death experience of the Advance Party at Shackleton Base has been largely forgotten. The eight men left behind only just survived in a dreadful Antarctic winter, living by day in a sno-cat crate and sleeping in tents at night while trying to erect a poorly designed hut with inadequate manpower and equipment.
The loss of much of their stores put their survival on a knife edge.
This account, based on the diary of the young medical officer Rainer Goldsmith, shows how close to disaster they came and how lucky they were to survive. Fuchs later admitted that "apart from Scott's marooned Northern Party theirs was the most severe ordeal in the history of Antarctic exploration". |
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| ISBN: 9781852970956 |
144pp + 16 pp colour pictures, paperback |
£12.75 |
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With the Aurora in the Antarctic 1911-1914
by J. K. Davis |
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Douglas Mawson lead the Australian Antarctic Expedition 1911-1914, a stirring tale of exploration in what he referred to as 'The Home of the Blizzard'. But much less well known is the story of the expedition's ship, the Aurora, and its remarkable captain - John King Davis.
Both Davis and Mawson cut their Antarctic teeth as members of Shackleton's expedition of 1907-09 and , by the time he had retired, David was one of the most experienced ice captains in the world.
The Aurora was built in 1876 as an Arctic whaler. Although old and battered, captained by David it managed three Antarctic voyages in support of Mawson and his men.
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Known as 'Gloomy Davis' by his crew, he was reticent man of principle and determination. His view of the captain's role brought him into direct conflict with Mawson, with inevitable tensions for the expedition. Yet both men were crucial to the success of the expedition, both in terms of exploration ands science.
Published in a small edition in 1919 it is now very scarce and we are delighted to republish it here in facsimile form, with a new introduction by the well-known polar historian Beau Riffenburgh.
This is a companion volume to our earlier book Trial by Ice - the Antarctic journals of John King Davis, edited by Louise Crossley. |
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| ISBN: 9781852970963 |
312pp + foldout map, blocked in gold on front and spine, hardback |
£27.50 |
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| GENERAL PUBLICATIONS |
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The
Will and the Way of John Riddoch Rymill,
by John Bechervaise |
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Some expeditions never achieve adequate recognition for their contributions to exploration
or science. The same is often true for their leaders.
The Second World War overshadowed the very considerable achievements of
the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE). Its youthful members were remarkably
talented, as their later careers were to show, and none more so than the
leader John Rymill. |
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Rymill, a private man of few words but with all the
necessary leadership qualities, cut his polar teeth with Gino Watkins in
Greenland. After BGLE he returned to Australia to take up farming and riding,
becoming a renowned authority in both fields.
Rymill told the story of BGLE in his book Southern Lights, but modestly
underplayed his own contribution. In this new book John Bechervaise, an
author with extensive personal Antarctic experience, tells the full story
of John Rymill for the first time. |
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| ISBN: 1 871999 07 3 |
220 pp, paperback, with maps and halftones |
£14.00/$22.00 |
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In the Teeth of the Wind - South Through the Pole,
by Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer |
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On 4 November 1997, two Belgian
explorers, Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer, set out on an
incredible journey. From the coast of Dronning Maud Land they
headed south through the most inhospitable terrain in the world
to the American base at McMurdo Sound.
They intended to cross
the Antarctic continent from South to North without any outside
assistance. They carried in their ultra-light sledges not only
supplies for the entire journey but also scientific equipment
necessary for taking ice-core samples from snows where no human
had ever set foot. |
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Ninety-nine days and 3924 kilometres later, after various set-backs,
dangers, poisoning, broken bones, they reached their goal. On
the way they set many new records, managing on some days to
clock up distances of over one hundred kilometres at amazing
speeds. Their exploit was made possible only by the unprecedented
use of traction sails, which had been conceived and designed
specifically for the expidition, with the aim of harnessing
the fierce Polar katabatic winds.
The book tells the story of this fabulous adventure
through the two men's diaries, chronicling their daily progress,
their doubts and fears, triumphs and achievements. |
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| ISBN: 1 85297 066 9 |
224pp, hardback, jacketed, photographs, illustrations and maps |
REDUCED £12.50 |
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South Georgia: Gateway to Antarctica,
Ludwig Kohl-Larsen, translated by William Barr |
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South Georgia has been the gateway to the Antarctic for many of the early
expeditions to the continent. Ludwig Kohl-Larsen first visited the island in 1911 as the doctor on the Otto Nordenskjold
expedition. Appendicitis cut short his time with the expedition but seeing South Georgia kindled in him an enthusiasm
for returning to the Antarctic.
He married Captain Larsen's daughter and used his close connections with the Larsen
family to return to |
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the Antarctic, first in 1924 on board the first whaling factory ship (Sir James Clark Ross) to
operate in the Ross Sea and then, in 1929, to travel around South Georgia and film the wildlife.
Along with his wife and
a photographer he spent a summer camped in various parts of the island, exploring the interior on skis, collecting
natural history specimens and filming. This is the story of this private expedition, translated for the first time from
German. Kohl-Larsen went on to become an important anthropologist, studying the Lapps in Scandinavia, and nomadic tribes
first in Persia and later in East Africa. |
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| ISBN: 1 85297 075 8 |
304pp hardback, jacketed, illustrated with 40+ photos and maps |
£24.95/$45.00 |
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In the Arctic - Tales Told at Tea-Time
In the Antarctic - Stories of Scott's Last Expedition
by Frank Debenham |
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When Frank Debenham returned from the Antarctic in 1913 he resolved not
to publish any reminiscences, but at the urging of many friends he published, in 1952, IN THE ANTARCTIC which deals
chiefly with the lighter side of the three years he spent in the Antarctic.
This edition has been reprinted as a
companion volume to IN THE ARCTIC - Tales Told At Tea-Time. Written in his retirement, these delightful tales were |
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Debenham's way of remembering some of the people - explorers, staff, research students - who passed through his tenure
as Director of the Scott Polar Institute. The stories are a mixture of fact and fantasy, some are poignant, some are
amusing, but all are delightful.
The books are bound in slate-blue Irish linen buckram and blocked in gold on front and spine. |
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| In the Arctic |
144pp, hardback, illustrated |
£15.00/$26.00 |
| In the Antarctic |
160pp, hardback, illustrated |
£15.00/$26.00 |
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Towards the South Pole Aboard the Francois by J. B. Charcot
translated by A. Billinghurst |
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The First French Expedition to the Antarctic set sail in1903 under the command of Dr Jean-Baptiste
Charcot, the 35-year-old son of a well-to-do neurologist.
Charcot did not want to follow in his
father's footsteps, being more interested in life at sea. Using his inheritance he first sailed
the waterways of France, Holland, England and around Ireland until in 1902 he sailed to Iceland.
He reached the Arctic Circle and his taste for polar voyaging was established.
On his return he commissioned a new vessel, finally named the Français. On 15 August 1903 he set
sail for the Antarctic, with the Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache aboard for the first leg.
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Charcot had designed the ship so every man had a private space and he was especially proud of
his provisioning - including adequate stocks of wine.
His account reveals a man of culture and sensitivity. His descriptions of scenery are lyrical and
emotionally charged, and his attitude to wildlife was often in sharp contrast to other polar
explorers. He charted new coasts, and undertook scientific studies in oceanography, bacteriology,
geography, geology and meteorology.
This is a fascinating insight into a totally different style of Antarctic exploration and the
reader will enjoy the delightful contrast between his expedition and others of the same period. |
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| ISBN: 1 85297 062 6 |
304 pp, cloth-bound hardback, illustrations, maps and halftones |
£45.00/$85.00 |
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