Product Description

The story of the expedition across Antarctica led by Ernest Shackleton, illustrated by the photographs taken by Frank Hurley. The text covers the crushing of their ship "Endurance" by ice, their two-year struggle to stay alive and their eventual rescue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #467665 in Books
• Published on: 1998-11-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Melding superb research and the extraordinary expedition photography of Frank Hurley, Endurance, by Caroline Alexander is a stunning work of history, adventure, and art that chronicles "one of the greatest epics of survival in the annals of exploration." Setting sail as World War I broke out in Europe, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, hoped to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But their ship, Endurance, was trapped in the drifting pack ice, eventually splintering and leaving the expedition stranded on floes--a situation that seemed "not merely desperate but impossible."

Most skillfully Alexander constructs the expedition's character through its personalities--the cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crew--with aid from many previously unavailable journals and documents. We learn, for instance, that carpenter and shipwright Henry McNish, or "Chippy," was "neither sweet-tempered nor tolerant," and that Mrs. Chippy, his cat, was "full of character." Such firsthand descriptions, paired with 170 of Frank Hurley's intimate photographs (comprehensively assembled here for the first time), penetrate the hulls of the Endurance and these tough men, revealing the seldom-seen domestic world of expedition life--the singsongs, feasts, lectures, and camaraderie--so that when the hardships set in, we know these people beyond the stereotypical guise of mere explorers and long for their safety.

Alexander reveals Shackleton to be an inspiring optimist: "A leader who put his men first." Throughout the gruelling ordeal, Shackleton and his men show what endurance and greatness are all about. Endurance is an intimate portrait of an expedition and of survival. Readers will possess a newfound respect for these daring souls and know better their unthinkable toil and half-forgotten realm of glory. --Byron Ricks, Amazon.com

Review
The superbly reproduced photographs take equal place with the written word in this remarkable story of survival. The entire company of Sir Earnest Shackleton's Trans Antarctic expedition was stranded on the shifting, drifting pack ice that had destroyed their ship 'Endurance' in November 1915. The 27 men had little food or protection and no means of communication or hope of outside help. They were to remain isolated for 22 months. Only Shackleton's robust, confident leadership ensured the group's survival in the face of such bleak conditions and it was his cool courage that enabled him to undertake an incredibly hazardous 800 mile voyage in a tiny, battered boat to find help. He and his small crew achieved the impossible and continued to do so until the entire expedition was rescued. Not a man was lost. Alexander has placed the events in the context of their time and quotes frequently from the letters and diaries of members of the party. This approach to the story, together with Hurley's amazing photographic reportage of the entire adventure, gives a wonderfully individualized picture of the disparate group of people that Shackleton led in this, the final and arguably the greatest exploit of this heroic phase of polar exploration. (Kirkus UK)

The saga of the Endurance and her crew - Shackleton's Antarctic fiasco turned heroic melodrama - is discovered anew through the expedition's previously unpublished photos and Alexander's (The Way to Xanadu, 1994, etc.) well-turned storytelling. The Heroic Age was coming to a close when Sir Ernest Shackleton took off in pursuit of one of exploration's last prizes: the crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. But his boat never made its intended southernmost harbor. Instead, it got stuck in ice in the Weddell Sea, abode of 200-mile-per-hour winds and 100-degree-below-zero temperatures. Thus began two years of chilly misfortune, met by the crew's perseverance, and conveyed by Alexander in an elegant, subdued manner: The eerie portents of the ice close ever tighter around the Endurance, the helpless, hopeless, endless days follow one another on the ice pack, and finally Shackleton makes an outrageous bid to reach South Georgia Island, 900 miles distant, in one of the abandoned mother ship's small boats - through a hurricane, no less. Accompanying the expedition, luckily, was photographer James Hurley, who was to chronicle the exploit visually both for scientific purposes and entertainment value. His images, which miraculously survived the ordeal, give the story an added palpability in time and space. Many of the photographs are not only quite beautiful, particularly of the Endurance as it sits icebound yet under desperate full sail, but also moving, with crew members putting on their best faces as death sat waiting just outside the picture frame. Published in conjunction with an exhibition about the expedition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, this book occupies a prize spot in the already abundant literature of polar exploration. (Kirkus Reviews)

Customer Reviews

An Incredible Photographic Account!
In the quest to cross the Antartic Continent in 1914, brave-hearted soul Captain Ernest Shackleton and his twenty-seven man crew set sail on a perilous, nearly deadly journey. Less than 100 miles from their destination the "Endurance" became hopelessly trapped in an ice floe; slowing breaking apart. Their ordeal of living on this drifting berg for months, only to be stranded on a solid piece of land later for nearly two years is mind-boggling.

The personal accounts of the crew members daily treacherous turmoils, coupled with an undefeatable and inspired leader (Shackleford) is devastating. Photographer Frank Hurley supplied some of the most breathtaking and dynamic pictures of the saga of the trip, one can only become overwhelmed with the enormity of the dilema. It is simply too real and too heartbreaking.

This beautfully crafted "coffee table" book is one of many released regarding the extraordinary plight of this team against nature. Although author Caroline Alexander borrows heavily from previous accounts and repeats some of the adventures from her earlier "Mrs. Chippy's Last Expediton", "Endurance" is the classic adventure tale of the last Century.

A wonderful coolaboration of writer/photographer, this makes a great gift. A 'beyond Hollywood' story that many have never heard, much less seen in this manner makes it extraordinary!

Gripping, spell binding, breathtaking pictures, WOW!
I am a slow reader, and rarely finish books because my mind wanders, having A.D.D. but I'm on my 3rd read of THE ENDURANCE. I've always loved sailing ships, I nearly cried when "she died." Frank Hurley's pictures are breathtaking. The fact that he was able to save them through the ordeal is remarkable. Also the fact that Shackleton was able to keep his crew's morale up, and that they all survived. He truly cared for his men. Rare indeed. God was truly with them all. Caroline Alexander has done the world and history buffs a great service putting the story and the pictures together in one volume. I salute you lady. Frank Haley fhhaley@juno.com

This account is from the heart
At some point in our lives, the story of the achievement of the crew of the Endeavour passes from inconsequential history-lesson to life-enriching inspiration of a truly human kind. For me, that moment was reading Lansing's 'Endurance'. And in Lansing's book, as with this one, it is the diaries of the men that command the attention and convey the almost unbelievable hopefulness of the human spirit. Here, that strength and that hope is brought to life through the beauty of Hurley's photographs. The diary accounts and the almost impossibly detailed images together capture a sense of the struggle that neither words or images alone could convey. Alexander uses the words to tell us what the public face of the images could never say, and the images to express a humanity deeper than words could convey. Together, the balance generates a sense of true, unabashed wonder. As we look into the eyes of those yet to suffer so long against such impossible odds, we wonder how could they endure so long? And unable to resist the terrible thought: in their place, could we?