Forgotten Footprints Lost Stories in the Discovery of Antarctica

A mix of history, geography, myth, and personal truth, this book explores the Antarctic Peninsula, the South Shetland Islands, and the Weddell Sea—the most visited places in Antarctica. Filled with beautiful photographs by the author from his travels, this record offers a selection of anecdotal accounts of the merchantmen, navy men, sealers, whalers, and aviators who, along with scientists and adventurers, drew the first ghostly maps of the White Continent. It delves into the heads and hearts of those who were driven to discover the unknown land and is ideal for the armchair traveler who wants to explore the continent's past and present. WINNER OF BRITISH GUILD OF TRAVEL WRITERS’ BEST NARRATIVE AWARD John Harrison’s Forgotten Footprints is the untold story of the sailors, sealers and eccentrics who discovered the last continent: Antarctica. A thrilling record of lost triumph and tragedy, a saga of adventure and ambition against all odds, and a compelling insight into extraordinary personalities and the times that shaped them, Forgotten Footprints captures the fascination of this most extreme, mysterious and beautiful of environments in John Harrison’s characteristically vivid and affecting prose.

John Harrison comes from a line of aviators and seafarers. He began travel writing after a life-changing trip to Antarctica. Cloud Road won the Wales Book of the Year Award in 2011. He also won the inaugural Alexander Cordell Travel Writing Competition in 2004, and again in 2006. John is a frequent reviewer for New Welsh Review and the Mail on Sunday, and has written for Planet and the Daily Telegraph.