Nancy Robinson Flannery has done a fine job of editing these unabridged letters. They make poignant reading and are a reminder that even heroes suffer the same doubts and frailties as the rest of us. (Elizabeth Dean, Australian Book Review, June 2000) Dark-eyed beauty Paquita Delprat, 17, first noticed the dashing Douglas Mawson, 27, at a function in Adelaide in 1909. By the end of 1910 they were engaged to be married. The only cloud on the horizon was Douglas's impending expedition to Antarctica. He expected to be away for fifteen months, but they did not count on the disastrous trek from...