New York, 1930, 1st edition, 3rd printing, (one month after the first). 422 pp, photos. SIGNED by R.E. Byrd on a front endpaper. The official narrative of Byrd's initial Antarctic expedition. For many it marks the end of the heroic age in Antarctic exploration and its replacement by the mechanical age. The use of the aeroplane, the aerial camera, the radio and the snowmobile were all brought to bear on Antarctica's vastness.The book is named for the base camp "Little America" from which Byrd conducted his expedition, setting up radio towers and airstrips, which revolutionized arctic exploration. Byrd was perhaps the most famous American polar explorer despite scandals regarding some of his heroic claims. However, many believe his introduction of aerial, snowmobile and radio technologies marked the end of the "heroic age" of Antarctic explorations, which was replaced by the "mechanical age." No DJ, Very Bright and Fine

Chapters: Notes from a Journal; The Plan, the Preparation and the Problem; Through the Pack; We Establish a Base; The Battle to Unload; Discovery By Flight; Discovery of a New Land to the Eastward, Incident of the Rockefeller Mountains, Winter-Birth of a City; Civilization Does Not Matter; More Plans and Preparations; The Start of the Southern Parties; The Bas-Laying Flight; Flight to the South Pole; Eastward Beyond the Horizon; Death of a City; The Geological Sledge Trip; Appendix; Index.