~ The Last Place on Earth

By Trevor Griffiths

London, 1986. First Edition in wrappers. 8vo, 305pp. Near Fine copy of a Scarce publication showing no prior ownership markings, foxing, folds or tears.

—Rosove 155.A1.b

“The acclaimed screenplay of The Last Place on Earth, a six part television series based on Huntford’s Scott and Amundsen, by ‘Britain’s leading radical playwright’. With a lengthily and engaging interview of Griffiths by Misha Glenny, revealing Griffith’s views of the two explorers, background on the screenplay, and production of the series. If you are enamored with Scott, take a tranquilizer before you read this.” Rosove.

From the rear cover: " ‘Judgement Over the Dead’ is the masterful dramatization, by Britain’s leading radical playwright, of the ill-fated British Antarctic Expedition of 1912. Launched in a blaze of imperial euphoria, that expedition ended in tragic and lonely death of its leader, Captain R.F. Scott, and four of his companions. Their deaths gave birth to an enduring national myth of endurance and courage. Griffith’s brilliant play becomes an epic allegory of national self-delusion and crisis. It evokes the hubris and egotism of the establishment that planned the expedition so ineptly, and the personal weaknesses of Captain Scott. At the heart of the dramatization is the contrast between his campaign and that of the rival Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen. The clash between different conceptions of order, authority and organization, and the relations achievable between people in pursuit of a common goal, give this tale of obsession in the Antarctic wastes a resonance that is of more than historical interest.”