I Am Just Going Outside

Exhaustively researched with new material, including major revelations about his previously unknown and secret private life, this is the first major biography of 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 included from 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 offered of 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 explored and 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 Beautifully illustrated with maps and photographs, many previously unpublished.