London, 1961, 1st UK edition. 255 pp, b/w photos, maps. Hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.
Hillary's personal account of the Trans-Antarctica expedition. This is one of Hillary's scarcer titles.
From the inside flap: In this exciting book, Sir Edmund Hillary, who won fame as one of two men to reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1953, tells of his experiences as leader of the first party ever to drive tractors to the South Pole.
Sir Edmund's New Zealand group - part of the Commonwealth Trans-Arctic Expedition headed by Sir Vivian Fuchs - was originally assigned the task of setting up a supply depot for the use of Sir Vivian's party, which was to cross Antarctica by way of the pole. But when Fuchs was delayed, Hillary and his party pushed on toward the pole. Driving three battered farm tractors, Sir Edmund and his companions fought their way along the treacherous route to the pole, overcoming the dangers and hardships of crevasses which almost engulfed both men and vehicles, mile after punishing mile of serrated ridges of iron-hard ice, blinding 'whiteouts' that deprived the explorers of all sense of direction. Finally, after crossing more than 1,250 miles of snowy, icy wasteland, Sir Edmund and his party reached the actual South Pole.
Told with Sir Edmund's flair for vivid narrative and vigorous writing, No Latitude for Error fully describes the New Zealand party's contribution to the Trans-Atlantic Expedition, and provides a splendid account of Antarctic exploration and adventure.
