The British Commonwealth - sponsored Trans - Antarctic Expedition (TAE) of 1957 - 58, under the leadership of Dr Vivian Fuchs, completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. A pioneering and hazardous journey, and not without controversial elements, it also included scientists participating in International Geophysical Year research. Jon Stephenson was a geologist on that expedition. As well as giving his account of the Expedition, its planning and its aftermath, Stephenson supplies a history of Antarctic exploration since James Cook's voyage of 1775, an account of other Antarctic exploration and scientific study contemporaneous with TAE, and an overview of subsequent expeditions.