Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard

(Paperback)

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Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's final expedition to the Antarctic. Cherry undertook an epic journey in the Antarctic winter to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. The temperature fell to 70 below, it was dark all the time, his teeth shattered with the cold and the tent blew away. "But we kept our tempers", Cherry wrote, "even with God". After serving in World War I Cherry was invalided home, and with the zealous encouragement of his neighbour Bernard Shaw he wrote a masterpiece. In "The Worst Journey in the World", Cherry transformed tragedy and grief into something fine. But as the years unravelled he faced a terrible struggle against depression, breakdown and despair, haunted by the possibility that he could have saved Scott and his companions. This biography has been written with new material and the full co-operation of Cherry's family.

Reviews

Accomplishes what only the best biographies can * The Times *
Beautiful...written with unfailing eloquence and grace, and great admiration for its subject * Independent *
Brilliantly succeeds not only in bringing this modest man disarmingly to life but also in recreating the England of his time and social setting...a formidable accomplishment * Sunday Telegraph *
Beautifully written... Wheeler's vocabulary to evoke this luminous and cruel continent appears limitless * New York Times *
With this wonderful biography Sara Wheeler has now vaulted into the front rank of modern British writers...this volume is so much more than a story of one remarkable man. It is among other things an exploration of the mind, a tour through the notions of national identity and pride, and a celebration of the tensile strength of the human spirit -- Simon Winchester

Author Bio

Sara Wheeler's books include the international bestseller Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica, of which the Telegraph reviewer wrote, 'I do not think there will ever be a better book on the Antarctic.' The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle, was chosen as Book of the Year by Will Self, Michael Palin, A. N. Wilson and others. She has published two biographies of travellers: Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and Too Close to the Sun: The Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton, and was immensely relieved to write about women at last in O My America!. She lives in London.