The Quiet Land: The Antarctic Diaries of Frank Debenham
(By Frank Debenham)
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Tragedy always holds centre stage in the memory, and it is the fate of Scott and the Polar Party which has come to epitomize for many the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration. The myths associated with failure have largely obscured the value of the scientific work undertaken and the remarkable careers of some of his surviving men.
Out of the depths of disaster a phoenix may rise. So it did with this expedition. The world-wide impact of the death of the Polar Party was immense, and the public gave generously to the Appeal. It was Debenham who saw the potential for the future and who seized the opportunity. Using his ideas for a Polar Institute, conceived while sitting in Shakleton’s hut at Cape Royds during the Antarctic winter, he persuaded the Appeal Trustees to use the remaining money to found a living memorial to Scott - the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI). On 26 November 1920 it came into being in Cambridge with Debenham as its first director. The book describes the development of SPRI under his guidance until his retirement in 1946, and ends with a bibliography of his writings.
He made a major contribution to the development of geography as a discipline. But his lasting contribution to polar science is the SPRI and its achievements in both the Arctic and the Antarctic over the past 72 years. Its genesis lies in his Antarctic experiences, described so clearly in these diaries.”
