After the Last Dog Died: The True-Life, Hair-Raising Adventures of Douglas Mawson and His 1912-1914 Antarctic Expedition ANNOTATION
Describes the life and career of the Australian explorer, Sir Doulgas Mawson, focusing on his 1912 scientific expedition to Antarctica.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Douglas Mawson's 1911-1914 expedition to Antarctica started out as a dream come true. An Australian geology teacher turned polar explorer, Mawson was only 29 years old, and he was leading the first truly scientific expedition to the bottom of the world.
After the Last Dog Died presents one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Compelling text, historical photographs, and quotes from Douglas Mawson himself bringing his adventure to life.
FROM THE CRITICS
The Washington Post
Amazingly, Mawson lived to tell his gruesome but courageous tale. Over the years, however, he has been all but forgotten. Now, Bredeson brings Mawson's riveting story of an adventure gone awry to a new generation. The book is further enhanced by a number of eye-catching photographs, many of which were taken during the expedition, including the last photo of Mawson and his two companions as they set out on their ill-fated journey.
— Karen MacPherson
School Library Journal
Gr 5 Up-About a century ago, Australian Douglas Mawson's interest in glaciers led him to become a member of Ernest Shackleton's 1908 expedition to Antarctica. The geologist and two others made their way to the magnetic South Pole and back, gathering valuable scientific data. Mawson subsequently met with Robert Scott but decided not to join that ill-fated trip to the Pole. Instead, he organized his own Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Double-page duo-tone photos are one of several adept design details that suggest the vastness of the terrain, while the text describes how Mawson and two companions, Lt. Belgrave Ninnis and Dr. Xavier Mertz, set out to explore the ice shelf with sled dogs. Five difficult weeks out from base camp, Ninnis was lost to a crevasse along with most of the food. Over the next few days the remaining dogs were shot and butchered. Both men suffered greatly during the treacherous journey back to camp, and Mertz died. Mawson barely survived, but recovered and eventually returned home. An appendix explains that the men had inadvertently been poisoned by a surfeit of Vitamin A from the dogs' livers. A resources list includes books, interviews, and Internet sites. An enticing, attractive, and inspiring addition to adventure/exploration collections.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
This liberally illustrated survival tale makes reading as compelling as any of the recent accounts of Ernest Shackleton's contemporaneous ventures. Unlike Shackleton, Australian geologist Mawson mounted his ill-starred expedition for (mostly) scientific purposes. Having set up base camp at Cape Denison, soon discovered to be "the windiest place in the world," Mawson departed with a small party on sledges in November 1912. He returned alone and on foot the following February, having lost nearly all supplies, and both human companions (one, Bredeson hints, to vitamin-A poisoning from a forced diet of sled-dog livers), but surviving a 320-mile trek back. Supplemented by expedition photos of dim, windswept landscapes, and laced with horrifying details-at one point Mawson takes off his socks, and his soles peel off with them-this lesser-known, tragic episode from the golden age of Antarctic exploration won't fail to give readers both chills and thrills. (roster, time line, resource lists, index) (Nonfiction. 11-13)
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