The Last Place on Earth - Scott and Amundsen (1979. rev. upd. ed. 1999)

Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain's beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out. 

THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford's masterly trilogy of polar biographies (the two others dealing with Shackleton and Nansen). It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise and update this edition.