Flaws in the Ice: In search of Douglas Mawson

Description

In Flaws in the Ice, prize-winning historian David Day searches for the real Douglas Mawson. After travelling south on his own six-week odyssey to the Antarctic, the author answers the difficult questions about Mawson that have hitherto lain buried - from questions about his intimate relationship with Lady Scott, and his leadership of the ill-fated Australiasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14, to his conduct during the legendary trek that led to the death of his two companions. He also explores how Mawson subsequently concealed his failures and deficiencies as an expedition leader, and created for himself a heroic image that has persisted for a century. For many decades, there has been only one published, first-hand account of the expedition - the one written and orchestrated by Mawson himself. Only recently have alternative accounts become publicly available. The most important of these is the long-suppressed diary of Mawson's deputy, Cecil Madigan, who is scathing in his criticisms of Mawson's abilities, achievements, and character. At the same time, other accounts have appeared from leading members of the expedition that also challenge Mawson's official story. In this compelling and revealing new book, David Day draws upon all this new evidence, as well as on the vast research he undertook for his international history of Antarctica, and on his own experience of sailing to the Antarctic coastline where Mawson's reputation was first created. Flaws in the Ice will change perceptions of Douglas Mawson forever. Praise for Antarctica- 'Day's antarctica is an impressive piece of work, an impartial and deeply researched account of the politics of polar annexation.' The Time Literary supplement 'Day has done a remarkable job of collating information from rich and varied international sources. Thanks to Day, the intrigues and posturing that saturate the history of this distant land have now been exposed.' Nature

David Day, born in 1949, is an Australian historian and author. Day has written widely on Australian history and the history of the Second World War. Among his many books are Menzies and Churchill at War and a two volume study of Anglo-Australian relations during the Second World War. His prize-winning history of Australia, Claiming a Continent, won the prestigious non-fiction prize in the 1998 South Australian Festival Awards for Literature. An earlier book, Smugglers and Sailors, was shortlisted by the Fellowship of Australian Writers for its Book of the Year Award. John Curtin- A Life was shortlisted for the 2000 NSW Premier's Literary Awards' Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.