Rear Admiral Dufek was Commander U.S. Naval Support Force Antarctica, but apart from a fairly extensive bibliography his book shows no sign of his own reading. However, there are a few references:
p. 68: Letting our enthusiasm gather headway, I asked the Navy to furnish a historian to record our operations in the Antarctic. I was informed in no uncertain military teTms just to get on with the job—and make an official report. History and destiny would take care of themselves. I did not test the tempers of my superiors further by suggesting what had been a dream of mine—to take along a good poet to record the beauty and starkness of storms, the noise of crushing ice, and the silence, the total distance and mystery of Antarctica. No beautiful poetry has ever come out of the Antarctic. But I just don’t dare write a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations and ask for a poet….
p. 70, aboard the Arneb enroute south: The thought of quiet hours of reading was very pleasant. There was a complete shelf of books on polar exploration, both north and south. They would be rich with the experiences of the great names in the polar regions, with valuable information about their operations. There was a shelf of outlines of world history. President Eisenhower’s Crusade in Europe caught my eye. I would have time to read it again in more detail. On several shelves were paperback editions of Westerns and whodunits to bring me relaxation from tension. They would help allay the boredom that comes in operations when nature’s stubbornness demands that the puny efforts of man must wait patiently for favorable conditions of winds and ice.
“The biographies in my cruise box would augment the books in the cabinet. This was my favorite kind of reading. What men accomplished and how and why they did it have always fascinated me. Why do men follow one course rather than another? Why had I?
p. 74: The library was well stocked with books to suit every taste.
p. 123: Emergency supplies for an aircrash included a Bible.
p. 146, on visiting the Russian base: We exchanged gifts; I received Russian cigarettes and autographed books, and gave Captain Solianik American cigarettes and a copy of R. B. Robertson’s Of Whales and Men.
p. 156, describing life in the winter camps: Each unit has a separate lounge set apart from their bunk rooms with table, red upholstered lounge chairs, reading lamps, books from the main library (the chaplain acts as librarian), and a record player, which can also be plugged in with earphones for a lone listener. [Only one of the seven base site plans given in the appendix shows the place of the library.]