Significant explorers of the Antarctic and Arctic

Roald Amundsen (Norway) first to reach the South Pole December 14, 1911
    Excellent references about South Polat travels:
        "The Last Place on Earth" (renamed from "Amundsen and Scott") by Roland Huntford; Modern Library: New York; 1999. This is a Amundsen/Scott comparison.
        "The Worst Journey in the World" by Apsley Cherry-Garrard; Adventure Library: Norwalk, CT; 1996. This is an excellent journal-based documentation from one of Scott's crew who didn't die in Scott's ill-fated attempt to reach the South Pole first.
Robert Peary (U.S.A.) first to North Pole April 6, 1909
    Excellent reference about North Polar travels:
        "The North Pole: Its Discovery in 1909 Under the Aspices of the Peary Arctic Club" by R. E. Peary; Frederick A. Stokes Co. Publisher; out-of-print; 1910.
        "Farthest North" by Fridtjof Nansen; Modern Library: New York; 1999. This abridged version of the original 1897 two volume set is from the daily entries of Nansen and 12 colleagues purposely frozen in the Arctic ice drifting north.