Roald Amundsen records his race to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Amundsen's expertise enabled him to succeed where his predecessors, and competitors, did not. His rival Captain Robert F. Scott not only failed to reach the Pole first, but-due to poor preparation and miscalculation-died with the rest of his party on their return trip. The South Pole remains one of the greatest and most important books on polar exploration.