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Roland Huntford (born 1927) is an author, principally of biographies of Polar explorers.

He has written biographies of Robert Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Nobel Peace Prize winner Fridtjof Nansen. Huntford's The Last Place on Earth (originally titled Scott and Amundsen) had a tremendous impact on public interest in Polar matters. Part of the interest was because of Huntford's unflattering treatment of the iconic Captain Scott, and his adverse comparison of the planning and execution of the British expedition against the Norwegian one led by Roald Amundsen. Huntford attempted to re-invent much of what he saw as Scott mythology, and at the same time increase the stature of Amundsen. The historical roots for the book's structure range from Plutarch (Lives) through Alan Bullock (Hitler and Stalin). The two books which followed, biographies of Shackleton (Shackleton) and Nansen (Nansen) were also widely acclaimed. Nansen claims to be^{[is it or isn't it?]} the first full-length biography in English of the great explorer and statesman using original sources, previously untapped.

in 2004, Ranulph Fiennes, a British adventurer, was among a number of authors who attempted to refute Huntford's 1979 research on Scott. Fiennes asserts that Huntford, who lacks direct experience of Polar travel and man-hauling, is not qualified to draw the conclusions he does on Scott's alleged technical deficiencies. In his book, Fiennes offers a rebuttal of some of Huntford's assertions of Scott's deficiencies by relating to Fiennes' own experience and knowledge, ultimately encouraging the reader to form their own conclusions.^[1]

A New York Times reviewer wrote that Fiennes work "while including some unpleasant personal attacks on Huntford, was ultimately based on the idea that [Fiennes'] own experience as a polar explorer made him almost the only person who could write authoritatively on the subject." [[1]]

Huntford's other books include The New Totalitarians (a study of Swedish Socialism), Sea of Darkness and The Sayings of Henrik Ibsen. He lives in Cambridge, and was formerly Scandinavian correspondent of The Observer, also acting as their winter sports correspondent. He was the Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony's College, Oxford.

References

^ Ranulph Fiennes (2003). Captain Scott. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5.

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[1] Ranulph Fiennes (2003). Captain Scott. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5.

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-'''Roland Huntford''' (born 1927) is an author, principally of biographies of Polar explorers. He lives in Cambridge, and was formerly Scandinavian correspondent of ''[[The Observer]]'', also acting as their winter sports correspondent. He was the Alistair Horne Fellow at [[St Antony's College, Oxford]].
+'''Roland Huntford''' (born 1927) is an author, principally of biographies of Polar explorers.
-Huntford produced important biographies of [[Captain Scott|Robert Scott]], [[Ernest Shackleton]] and [[Fridtjof Nansen]]. Huntford's ''[[The Last Place on Earth]]'' (originally titled ''Scott and Amundsen'') had a tremendous impact on public interest in Polar matters because of its unflattering treatment of Scott, and an adverse comparison of Scott with the polar work of [[Roald Amundsen]].
+He has written  biographies of [[Captain Scott|Robert Scott]], [[Ernest Shackleton]] and [[Nobel Peace Prize]] winner [[Fridtjof Nansen]]. Huntford's ''[[The Last Place on Earth]]'' (originally titled ''Scott and Amundsen'') had a tremendous impact on public interest in Polar matters. Part of the interest was because of Huntford's unflattering treatment of the iconic Captain Scott, and his adverse comparison of the planning and execution of the British expedition against the Norwegian one led by [[Roald Amundsen]]. Huntford attempted to re-invent much of what he saw as Scott mythology, and at the same time increase the stature of Amundsen. The historical roots for the book's structure range from [[Plutarch]] (''Lives'') through [[Alan Bullock]] (''Hitler and Stalin''). The two books which followed, biographies of Shackleton (''Shackleton'') and Nansen (''Nansen'') were also widely acclaimed. ''Nansen'' claims to be{{fix|text=is it or isn't it?}} the first full-length biography in English of the great explorer and statesman using original sources, previously untapped.
+in 2004, [[Sir Ranulph Fiennes|Ranulph Fiennes]], a British adventurer, was among a number of authors who attempted to refute Huntford's 1979 research on Scott. Fiennes asserts that Huntford, who lacks direct experience of Polar travel and man-hauling, is not qualified to draw the conclusions he does on Scott's alleged technical deficiencies. In his book, Fiennes offers a rebuttal of some of Huntford's assertions of Scott's deficiencies by relating to Fiennes' own experience and knowledge, ultimately encouraging the reader to form their own conclusions.<ref>{{cite book | author = Ranulph Fiennes | title = Captain Scott | year = 2003 | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton Ltd | isbn = 0-340-82697-5 }}</ref>
-The historical roots for the book's structure range from [[Plutarch]] (''Lives'') through [[Alan Bullock]] (''Hitler and Stalin''). {{fact}}
-A New York Times reviewer  wrote in 2001 that Huntford's 1979 work had
-"comprehensively demolished Scott, and it's a pity that over 20 years on, most authors are more focused on agreeing or (more often) disagreeing with [Huntford] than they are on formulating original arguments and covering new ground." [[http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/02/books/great-scott.html?scp=3&sq=great%20scott&st=cse&pagewanted=2]]
-But this trend continued in 2004, when the British adventurer and fund raiser Sir [[Sir Ranulph Fiennes|Ranulph Fiennes]] <ref>{{cite book | author = Ranulph Fiennes | title = Captain Scott | year = 2003 | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton Ltd | isbn = 0-340-82697-5 }}</ref>  A reviewer wrote that Fiennes' work "while including some unpleasant personal attacks on Huntford, was ultimately based on the idea that [Fiennes'] own experience as a polar explorer made him almost the only person who could write authoritatively on the subject." [[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/review/Dore.t.html?scp=2&sq=ranulph%20fiennes%20and%20scott&st=cse]]
+A New York Times reviewer wrote that Fiennes work "while including some unpleasant personal attacks on Huntford, was ultimately based on the idea that [Fiennes'] own experience as a polar explorer made him almost the only person who could write authoritatively on the subject." [[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/review/Dore.t.html?scp=2&sq=ranulph%20fiennes%20and%20scott&st=cse]]
+Huntford's other books include ''The New Totalitarians'' (a study of Swedish Socialism), ''Sea of Darkness'' and ''The Sayings of Henrik Ibsen''. He lives in Cambridge, and was formerly Scandinavian correspondent of ''[[The Observer]]'', also acting as their winter sports correspondent. He was the Alistair Horne Fellow at [[St Antony's College, Oxford]].
-At least some later works produced by historical scholars have sought to incorporate Hunford's insights into an appreciation of Scott's achievements.[[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/03/books/review/Dore.t.html?sq=ranulph%20fiennes%20and%20scott&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=2&adxnnlx=1238428913-VmfHGiG8VVpGe/ELNFd2ng]]
-Other works include ''The New Totalitarians'' (a study of Swedish Socialism), ''Sea of Darkness'' and ''The Sayings of Henrik Ibsen''.
 ==References==