Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Exhaustively researched withnew material, including major revelations abouthis previously unknown and secret private life, this is the first major biographyof Lawrence Edward Grace "Titus" Oates who became a dashing cavalry officer and hero in the Boer War, a successful jockey, and part of Scott's doomed South Pole expedition, before becoming a national hero for sacrificing himself to save his comrades. Substantial new information is includedfrom previously undisclosed sources, especially relating to his clashes with Scott. Having paid 1,000 to join the expedition, he was at centerstage in the unfolding tragedy, becoming a national hero for sacrificing himself to save his comrades. Fresh analysis is offeredof his military career, both as hero in the Boer War, where he was denied a VC, and later in Ireland.A different perspective from the traditional myth of Scott's heroic failure and Oates' suicide is offered here. Oates' private life is exploredand the role of his austere mother who exerted a powerful influence during his life and continued to control his memory long after his death, especially by ordering the destruction of his letters and diaries, kept hidden by her, and previously thought to have been destroyed, from her deathbed. Beautifully illustrated with maps and photographs, many previously unpublished."