The Last Viking unravels the life of the man who stands head and
shoulders above all those who raced to map the last corners of the
world. In 1900, the four great geographical mysteries--the Northwest
Passage, the Northeast Passage, the South Pole, and the North
Pole--remained blank spots on the globe. Within twenty years Roald
Amundsen would claim all four prizes. Renowned for his determination and
technical skills, both feared and beloved by his men, Amundsen is a
legend of the heroic age of exploration, which shortly thereafter would
be tamed by technology, commerce, and publicity. FÃ(c)d in his lifetime
as an international celebrity, pursued by women and creditors, he died
in the Arctic on a rescue mission for an inept rival explorer.
Stephen R. Bown has unearthed archival material to give Amundsen's life
the grim immediacy of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's The Worst Journey in the
World, the exciting detail of The Endurance, and the suspense of a
Jon Krakauer tale. The Last Viking is both a thrilling literary
biography and a cracking good story.