Product Description

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first-ever crossing of the Antarctic continent. He sailed into the Weddell Sea aboard the Endurance, while a ship called the Aurora sailed into the Ross Sea to create a lifeline of vital food and fuel depots to supply the epic crossing. Yet all went tragically wrong when the Aurora broke free of her moorings in an Antarctic gale and stranded ten men ashore. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and scavenged equipment, the men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile the rest of the Aurora crew, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled for survival. The lost men struggled to save themselves and carry out their mission with little hope of rescue.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38251 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Nail-biting this previously forgotten part of the expedition at last achieves the recognition it deserves' History Today 'A gripping story embracing both tragedy and triumph and Tyler-Lewis tells it well' New York Times Book Review 'Compelling and compassionately written' The Times 'The Lost Men tells in absorbing detail the story of what happened when the plan's weaknesses were exposed' Magnus Mills, Independent on Sunday

About the Author
Kelly Tyler-Lewis is an historian and filmmaker. A Senior Member of Wolfson College and a Visiting Scholar of the Scott Polar Research Institute, both of the University of Cambridge,Tyler-Lewis is also a consulting historian for the BFI. As a film producer and writer, she received an Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary for Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance, a film for the PBS series NOVA also nominated for Best Documentary of 2002.

Customer Reviews

An excellent, gripping read
This is an remarkable tale that is well told. Kelly Tyler-Lewis has produced a scholarly and comprehensively researched history of the Ross Sea Party, but this is in no way a dry book - it's an amazing ripping yarn that brings to life the realities of Antarctic exploration in the early 20thC. Shackleton is a peripheral player to the main events of the book but for me it did bring some new insights (good and bad) into the man.

Well researched, well written and recommeded...
A vivid and compelling account of an all but forgotten event in Antarctic history, Kelly Tyler-Lewis tells the harrowing story of the Ross Sea party's irrevocable determination to lay food depots for Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition at any cost. Having lost their ship, the Ross Sea Party find themselves scavenging for food and supplies before embarking on the most cruel and gruelling depot journey ever undertaken in Antarctic history.

Though such dedication to their leader came at a heavy price in the death of Arnold Spencer-Smith, the most tragic irony comes after the depot laying has finished when Aeneas Macintosh and Victor Hayward walk to their death.

The book is incredibly well researched and extremely well written and I guarantee the reader will find it an absorbing and thrilling read.

If you like true, adventurous, passionate stories that give a frank and honest account of the characters and events, written in a style not entirely unlike a thrilling novel, then I have no hesitation in highly recommending this book.

A tale of endurance and human fortitude
Once I had started this book I could not put it down. I felt for the men who were stranded and gained a further insight into the chaotic way that private polar expeditions were organised. New insights are gained into Ernest Shackleton that show another side to this great man. Kelly Tyler Lewis is a masterful writer whose research has been thorough and painstaking with the result that no stone is left unturned.Buy it and read it because once started you won't want to put it down.