Scott’s Last Expedition

Record summary

Scott’s Last Expedition publishes Robert Falcon Scott’s journals and associated expedition material from the 1910–1913 Terra Nova expedition, ending with the deaths of Scott and his polar party. The source is a major example of a documented Antarctic catastrophe later transformed into national legend, commemorative ritual and competing moral narratives. It offers comparison with disaster traditions through themes of ordeal, failed return, weather, death and heroic memory. The journals were edited after Scott’s death, and the published arrangement can influence interpretation of chronology, intention and self-presentation.