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 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 Beautifully illustrated with maps and photographs, many previously unpublished.