Big questions on Big Ice missions

Over the 100 years since the struggle to traverse the Antarctic and reach the South Pole, the story has been told, told and told again. Where personalities, glory, recriminations, petty jealousies, reputations, blame and, some might say, incompetence are on the agenda, the whiff gets pretty heady. Thicken the plot with competing Norwegian, British, Australasian, German and Japanese aspirations, and the insinuations start to fly.

Was it science? Or geographical exploration? Surely not some mercenary search for the new El Dorado, fabulously lucrative mineral wealth awaiting discovery? Who were the sponsors? What were they expecting in return?

In 1912 - The Year The World Discovered Antarctica, Chris Turney wades into this quagmire of far more questions than answers. He writes with the dual authority of academic professorship and considerable Antarctic experience.

The facts and references are there; the verdict may often be the reader's.

The lengthy chapter on Mawson's Australasian expedition is an eye-opener.

• Clive Trotman.