This is a story of a Royal Naval surgeon who took part in the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott RN. Surgeon Atkinson was one of sixteen men who set out towards the South Pole from which Scott and his four companions failed to return. Much of the responsibility for the aftermath of the expedition and that fateful return, fell on Atkinson as the senior naval officer left in command who led the search to find the bodies. These events were closely followed by the Great War, 1914-1918, in which Atkinson went on to serve and was severely wounded. It is a story of crisis, adventure, grit and determination shown in Antarctica and later during the Great War, by a man determined to loyally serve his country.

The Author's study of the polar regions and his visits to the Antarctic Continent has inspired into a closer research in the risks and consequences encountered by explorers of the 'heroic age'. As an offshore yachtsman he sailed from the West Country for many years. He is a member of the Scott Polar Research Institute with its many associated polar organisations and is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.