This first ever biography of Antarctic explorer Sir Raymond Priestley (1886-1974) covers his full (at times life-threatening) involvement with Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1907-1909 Nimrod Expedition and Robert Scott's 1910-1913 Terra Nova Expedition. Priestley's service with the British 46th Division during World War I won him the Military Cross for gallantry.

After the war, he played a leading role in establishing the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. He was later appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Melbourne and then of the University of Birmingham and also helped establish the University of the West Indies. He received a knighthood for his services to education.

During retirement--a misnomer in his case--he went with the Duke of Edinburgh on the Royal Yacht Britannia as an Antarctic expert and joined the American Deep Freeze IV Expedition during his tenure directing the British Antarctic Survey. Despite the demands of his career, Priestley remained an involved family man throughout.