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Welcome to the new William Lashly website!
Apart from the rare limited edition of William’s Terra Nova Expedition diary, only two other authors have written about William specifically. The most detailed was Commander A.R.Ellis who edited William’s two diaries and published them with the title Under Scott’s Command - Lashly’s Antarctic Diaries in 1969. This has been out of print for many years but second-hand copies appear from time to time (expect to pay £30+). The second is Leslie Quartermain who included William in his collection of short biographies Antarctica’s Forgotten Men published in 1981. George Skinner wrote a paper, drawing on unpublished letters to Lt Skelton, for Polar Record to celebrate William's 150th anniversary in 2017.
Apsley Cherry-Garrard drew on the field notes William sent to him for parts of The Worst Journey in the World (perhaps the best of all the early books on Scott’s last expedition) frequently reprinted and also freely available as a Gutenberg Project ebook.
Admiral Evans, who survived thanks to William and Tom Crean’s care and bravery, went on to write several books about the Antarctic including South with Scott which he dedicated to them.
General books on Antarctic exploration include Captain Scott’s diary from the Discovery expedition and his posthumously published Terra Nova diary, available in various versions (the Terra Nova diary may be viewed online at SPRI). Of the many publications which appeared in recent years exploring the life and personality of Captain Scott the best for objectivity and pace is David Crane’s Scott of the Antarctic.
Next: To watch and hear
An interesting and very readable fictional (though based very closely on the historical records) account of the five who reached the Pole is Beryl Bainbridge’s The Birthday Boys. Sara Wheeler’s Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica is a brilliant modern travel book full of history, humour and serious reflection.
For those particularly interested in the ships William sailed on to the Antarctic, Ann Savours’ Voyages of the Discovery and Michael Tarver’s S.S.Terra Nova (1884–1943) are well-researched and beautifully presented. And for the young at heart, Ladybird have recently reprinted Captain Scott: A Ladybird Adventure from History.
In July 2013 a new 60 page book called The Life and Adventures of William Lashly was published by the William Lashly website creators George and Valerie Skinner. This was revised and reprinted in July 2017, the 150th anniversary of the year of birth of William. Printed copies are available on ebay.
Specialist Book Dealers
In Britain, Paul Davies runs Kingsbridge Books which has an excellent range of items available for sale at exibitions and online. Paul also issues a regularly updated catalogue of polar material. In the USA, Greg Glade runs Top of the World Books, an internet-based store of books on mountaineering and polar regions. Both dealers, of course, carry copies of The Life and Adventures of William Lashly!
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