The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

Brown fascinated by tragic Scott tale

07.08.08 Graeme Neill

Prime Minister Gordon Brown was obsessed as a child with the tragic story of Scott of the Antarctic, according to a new children's book from Scholastic.

He reveals his interest in the British explorer in Wow! 366, a collection of stories of 366 words. The embattled PM chose to write about an encyclopaedia that his parents bought him as a boy of 10. "Every time I went back to read another bit of my encyclopaedia, it was as though I had been on a journey and come back from it knowing a little bit more about the world," he writes.

Brown writes about his interest in Captain Scott, who famously froze to death just short of a food dump on returning from the South Pole in 1912. He had been beaten to the Pole by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen. "It was a sad story, but the name of his ship, Discovery, seemed right, and the rest of the book was full of discoveries too," he continues.

"But what interested me most were the people and their adventures - brave people like Scott and Shackleton, sporting heroes like Stanley Matthews, and even some politicians - though at ten it was hard to know what they actually did."

It is not the first time the Prime Minister has identified himself with a tragic hero. In an interview with the New Statesman last month, Brown said it was "absolutely correct" to compare him to the brooding anti-hero Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. "Maybe an older Heathcliff, a wiser Heathcliff."

Wow! 366 was published on Monday as part of 2008's National Year of Reading and £1 of the £6.99 cover price will go to the children's charity Childline. It also features contributions from Roald Dahl, Charlie Higson, Anne Fine and Nina Bawden. Contributors recommend good books: Brown picks Thomas The Tank Engine, and The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales.

Scholastic Graeme Neill Gordon Brown Home National Year of Reading

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