Product Description

In August 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 set sail aboard the "Endurance" bound for the South Atlantic. Their goal was to be the first men to cross Antarctica. Caroline Alexander tells the story of Shackleton's expedition accompanied by the photographs of Australian Frank Hurley.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #129855 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 212 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