Product Description

The epic firsthand account of the Endurance expedition. As the first world war broke out in Europe, Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole became trapped by ice. Their ship, the Endurance, was crushed and the men were forced to survive in and escape from one of the world's most hostile enviroments. Traversing glaciers, scaling cliffs and crossing treacherous seas in open boats, all the time threatened by cold and hunger, the men, through their own strength and Shackleton's leadership, all made it to safety.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #186595 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

About the Author
Sir Ernest Shackleton, 1874-1922, is the archetypal British hero; a legendary figure in the history of polar exploration.

Customer Reviews

Unbelievable true tale of human endurance
I have always heard parts of Shakletons voyage to the antartic and did not fully understand the remarkable tale of hardship endured by the crew. Even after reading this book I found it hard to beleive that the whole crew returned alive. As a mountaineer myself, I find it incredible that after all the hardships that Shakelton went through, crossing the southern ocean to South Georgia, that they still found the strength to cross problably the most glaciated terrain on earth on a small island that bears the brunt of problably the worst weather on earth! Not only that but wearing Rags and carrying what little food they had in a sock. This book is beautifully written in problably the most honest, matter-of-fact and colorfull language I think that I have ever read. Recommended.

The best survival story ever ?.
I have now read this book about 4 times and each time I do I became more 'captured' by it.
The book starts slow and it took me a while to get 'into' it but then it starts to grip you. It is such an amazing story of survival and courage that will never be repeated.
It has a variety of pictures which help set the scene.
Best read one evening in front of a log fire with the wind blowing outside !. Enjoy.

A gripping account of incredible leadership and survival.
Ernest Shackleton' own account of a disasterous expedition to the antarctic aboard the Endurance. Despite a somewhat dull start, the book launches into excitement once the expedition starts to get into trouble. Then it blossoms into an extremely exciting account of increasing misfortunes which are overcome one by one, as they occur.
It is a tribute to the natural leadership skills of Ernest Shackleton, a man who instictively made the right decisions in every situation and created his own incredible luck.
Despite being stranded on the ice hundreds of miles from any help, he lead his team across the ice and sailed in small boats to the comparitive safety of Elephant Island. He then set out in the miniscule "James Caird" to cross the Southern Ocean to South Georgia in order to get help. Landing on the uninhabited side of the island, he then tranversed the mountainous centre to reach civilisation. He then made a number of attempts to sail back to Elephant Islandand rescue his team. He was eventually successful and rescued them all.
Shackleton has been hailed as the greatest natural leader of all time and this account re-inforces this claim.
An excellent book which is more exciting than a good many fictional stories.