An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean • Michael Smith
After finishing No Man’s Land, I was fully in adventure mode and craving another journey to Antarctica. I’d come across An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean in the mare list quite a while ago and finally picked it up to set off on my next trip to the South Pole. Whether Tom Crean’s adventures are as gripping as the tales in No Man’s Land—that’s what I’ll tell you today.
Tom Crean was born in Ireland in 1877 and was a polar explorer who, in the early twentieth century, took part in three expeditions to Antarctica. This book traces his life from childhood through his dramatic expeditions and on into his later years. Tom himself never kept a diary and wasn’t much of a letter writer, but thanks to his feats of heroism and the fact that he was a superb companion, he’s mentioned in many of his comrades’ accounts. Michael Smith has researched the material extremely well and gathered a wealth of information from numerous sources—journals, travel reports, and interviews with Crean’s descendants. On that basis, he follows Crean’s life.
I’ve read several books about daring journeys to the poles—and they’re all genuinely thrilling. Hampton Sides’s In the Kingdom of Ice and Adwin de Kluyver’s No Man’s Land are similarly structured. They’re nonfiction, but because the adventures—with all their hardships and dangers—are retold, a highly compelling narrative emerges, much like a superb documentary. As a reader, you plunge into the inhospitable, perilous world of the eternal ice, and it’s sometimes hard to fathom what these men endured.
Michael Smith vividly conveys how the polar travelers battled the elements: temperatures down to –60°C in their tents and sleeping bags; four months of darkness; hauling heavy sledges laden with gear across the ice; frostbite; blizzards; and austere rations—because everything had to be hauled by human power. And Tom Crean stood out everywhere—not only physically but mentally, achieving feats that are hard to imagine today. He narrowly escaped death multiple times, and some of his comrades never returned alive from that unforgiving region.
The most famous expedition Tom Crean joined was that of the Briton Scott, who aimed to be the first person to reach the South Pole. At the last moment, however, the Norwegian explorer Amundsen beat him to it. The hazardous journey—and especially the perilous return from the Pole—is recounted in great detail here, and I devoured those chapters. It’s utterly gripping to read how the men fought for survival, what hardships they defied, and how grueling the venture was. Even though this is nonfiction, it reads like a suspense novel.
You can feel how carefully and thoroughly Michael Smith researched. The appendix includes extensive source notes. I especially liked the photographs reproduced in the book, which provide a visual impression, as well as the maps that let you follow the routes. It’s all superbly assembled—there’s nothing I’d change. It’s simply well done.
I also really liked the book’s design. The jacket photo of Tom Crean is perfectly chosen and wonderfully atmospheric—the weathered face, pipe in mouth, and that piercing gaze. The paper choice is, as ever with mare, excellent; the typography and image reproduction are first-rate. The blue ribbon marker is a lovely finishing touch. The case itself is plain board—this isn’t marketed as a de luxe edition (which, of course, I always secretly hope for). All told, it’s the reliably high mare quality I’ve appreciated for years.
The author, Michael Smith—born in London in 1946—was a journalist who, after his career, turned to writing about Arctic and Antarctic exploration. He’s received multiple awards for his books. Anyone who picks up this volume will quickly see why: he makes the Golden Age of Antarctic exploration vivid and immediate.
Late last year another very similar book appeared, about Alfred Wegener, who also took part in several expeditions. And this autumn The Dreamed North will be published—like No Man’s Land, it’s by Adwin de Kluyver. So there’s plenty more reading of this kind ahead, and I’ll definitely be picking up both.
Conclusion: Tom Crean’s adventures are exciting and fascinating, and following his life—reading about his polar journeys—is pure pleasure. Smith captures the dramatic moments as well as the triumphs and setbacks, and how narrowly the men escaped death. Scott’s push to the South Pole, Shackleton’s attempt to cross Antarctica, winters locked in pack ice, the grind of hauling loads across the ice desert, hostile nature, blizzards in biting cold—all of it is rendered in a way that puts you right there and lets you immerse yourself in the enthralling Golden Age of Antarctic exploration. I tore through this book and can only recommend it to anyone who loves tales of adventure and remarkable expeditions to remote places.
Book information: An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean • Michael Smith • mare Verlag • 464 pages • ISBN 9783866486577
