AustLit

'Cameras were banned at the Western Front when the Anzacs arrived in 1916. Only official photographers were permitted to take propaganda pictures. Fearing the Anzacs would be ignored, correspondent Charles Bean continually argued for Australia to have a dedicated photographer. He was eventually assigned an enigmatic polar explorer—George Hubert Wilkins.

'Within weeks of arriving at the front Wilkins’ exploits were legendary. He did what no photographer had previously dared to do. He went ‘over the top’ with the troops and ran forward to photograph the actual fighting. He led soldiers into battle, captured German prisoners, was wounded repeatedly and twice awarded the Military Cross—all while he refused to carry a gun and only armed himself with a bulky, glass-plate camera. Wilkins ultimately produced the most detailed and accurate collection of World War I photographs in the world, which is now held at the Australian War Memorial.

'After the war Wilkins returned to exploring and, over the next forty years, his life became shrouded in secrecy. His work at the Western Front was forgotten as others claimed credit for his photographs. Throughout his life Wilkins wrote detailed diaries and letters, but when he died in 1958 these documents were locked away. Many were only discovered in 2013. Jeff Maynard follows a trail of myth and misinformation to locate Wilkins’ lost records and reveal the remarkable true story of Australia’s greatest war photographer. ' (Publication summary)

'With the rise of aviation at the beginning of the twentieth century, daring men were finally able to explore the Earth's final frontiers - the Arctic and Antarctic wildernesses.

'Hoping to resurrect his fading career, the legendary Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen desperately wanted to fly over the North Pole. American naval commander Richard Byrd was determined to beat Amundsen to the prize. An Australian adventurer, George Hubert Wilkins, also joined the competition, initiating a rivalry with Byrd that would last years and take them to the ends of the Earth.

'The world watched in fascination as the air race to the North Pole escalated, until in May 1926 Byrd claimed to have reached it in his Fokker Trimotor, the Josephine Ford. But did he really succeed?

'In 1928, while Amundsen was involved in the bitter dispute that would cost him his life, Byrd announced he would fly to the South Pole. Wilkins was hired by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst to beat him. The competitors unloaded their planes on opposite sides of Antarctica and prepared for the last great race in polar history.

'In a carefully researched and thrillingly written narrative, author Jeff Maynard recounts the breathtaking 'Race to the Poles', restoring the remarkable aviator and explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins - an exceptional but forgotten Australian hero - to his rightful place as a pioneer of scientific exploration. Wings of Ice also examines Admiral Richard Byrd's much-disputed claim to have flown to the North Pole, providing the definitive solution to an intriguing eighty-year-old mystery.' (From the publisher's website.)