Alone on the Ice
The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration
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Alone on the Ice
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Narrated by:
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Matthew Brenher
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By:
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David Roberts
About this listen
His two companions were dead, his food and supplies had vanished in a crevasse, and Douglas Mawson was still 100 miles from camp.
On January 17, 1913, alone and near starvation, Mawson, leader of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, was hauling a sledge to get back to base camp. The dogs were gone. Now Mawson himself plunged through a snow bridge, dangling over an abyss by the sledge harness. A line of poetry gave him the will to haul himself back to the surface.
Mawson was sometimes reduced to crawling, and one night he discovered that the soles of his feet had completely detached from the flesh beneath. On February 8, when he staggered back to base, his features unrecognizably skeletal, the first teammate to reach him blurted out, “Which one are you?”
This thrilling and almost unbelievable account establishes Mawson in his rightful place as one of the greatest polar explorers and expedition leaders.
©2013 David Roberts (P)2013 BlackstoneListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"Painting a realistic portrait of Aussie explorer Douglas Mawson and his arduous trek through some of the most treacherous icy Antarctic terrain, Roberts gives the reader a very close look at the huge risks and preparations of the nearly impossible feat…Harrowing, exciting and brutally real, Roberts provides a chilling backstory to polar explorer Mawson’s bold solitary survival tale." (Publishers Weekly)
"Mountaineer and prolific author Roberts returns with a vivid history of Australian explorer Douglas Mawson and his 1912 exploration of Antarctica…. Roberts creates a full portrait of Mawson and does justice to what famed mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary would later call 'the greatest survival story in the history of exploration.'" (Kirkus Reviews)
"Douglas Mawson is not as well-known as Amundsen, Scott, or Shackleton, but as this intense and thrilling epic shows, he deserves a place on the pedestal next to these other great explorers of the Antarctic…. This fast-moving account earns for Mawson and his team a well-deserved place of honor in the so-called heroic age of Antarctic exploration." (Booklist)
What listeners say about Alone on the Ice
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- 2teirah
- 05-04-22
Exceptional
Good narration, terrific story. Mawson's lone feat will likely never be equalled and his group leadership throughout sustained hardship is admirable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ness
- 27-08-23
Incredible
I adore this book! having excerpts from the diaries of the men mixed with the authors research made the book SO incredibly intriguing as I got some sense of what these men were like and not only facts.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Rose
- 22-12-17
Great expectations that peter out in a welter of dawdling and bad writing
I’d like to say I enjoyed this book but that would be a lie. I had high hopes for this ook at the start due to its title, summary and description of text. However, even at the beginning I could see that I’d be disppointed. It dawdles, rambles and digresses all over the place. One gets the sense that somebody is writing this from a distance which is true of course but disappointing that a better job could not be made to really convey the difficulties of the polar expedition so that one never leaves the armchair in which one might be sitting to read this book. it isn’t helped by poor naration and pronunciation. It’s written, or so it seems, by an American since the words and emphasis is very much indicative of that region of the world. It’s written like a journalist’s account of something he never took part in and so I can say nothing positive about this book. If you want atmosphere and real sense of adventure avoid this one and stick instead to books which are better written though not necessarily any better read. I’ll finish it but never again will I open this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 18-02-23
What a story!
The story is not always easy to follow, one has to really pay attention to the names of all the people involved as well as the different expeditions. Had to go back a few times and took some notes, but this amazing story was worth the effort.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- catfish
- 08-02-24
Endurance and bravery
This is an amazing account of exploration and an heroic struggle against the elements, I recommend this book if you like story’s about polar exploration
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kenneth
- 09-03-24
remarkable
a remarkable true story of men facing unbelievable conditions.
Suffering such horrific mental and physical pain. A well narrated book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-12-21
Smashing listen
Starts a little slow, but expands into a wonderful telling. Great narration and does the adventure's scope justice
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- sinbad4england
- 28-10-21
a real adventure story...
The courage and determination of some of our explorers are inspiring, none more so than Douglas Mawson . In this book the author and narrator bring that arctic story alive. A rattling interesting and informative account.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- nicolette king
- 27-03-22
Gripping
Could barely believe the heroism and camaraderie of these men whose names i had never heard before. Well
constructed story tho there was some repetition but this could have been editing. I remain impressed by the courage and determination and mental stamina of the explorers in the book. The narrator was fine but mispronounced some words like brusque and McLean among others.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr. J. M. Young
- 30-09-21
Amazing story of survival, but...
Amazing story of survival, but not told quite so amazingly. The interesting quotes were from 'The Heart of the Blizzard' so I probably have just read that. The survival story is incredible and so 'Alone on the Ice' is worth a credit if you are into polar or survival stories.
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