This story is based on the life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, member of Scott's expedition to the Antarctic and writer of "The Worst Journey in the World," where he recounts being pushed to the edge of human endurance, all to retrieve a few penguin eggs. Although they all survived the penguin egg Winter Journey, his companions Bill Wilson and Birdie Bowers were two of the five men picked by Scott to make the final push for the pole. They died in the attempt, leaving Cherry to return to England as the sole survivor of the egg journey.
I found one of the most moving scenes in the book was his account of trying to get the Natural History Museum in London to take the eggs, which was actually more long and torturous than I depicted here!
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