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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (078670621X)
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| In the summer of 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set off aboard the Endurance bound for the South Atlantic. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed. For five months Shackleton and his crew survived on drifting ice packs in one of the most savage regions of the world before they were finally able to set sail again in one of the ship's lifeboats. Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is a white-knuckle account of this astounding odyssey. Through the diaries of team members and interviews with survivors, Lansing reconstructs the months of terror and hardship the Endurance crew suffered. In October of 1915, there "were no helicopters, no Weasels, no Sno-Cats, no suitable planes. Thus their plight was naked and terrifying in its simplicity. If they were to get out--they had to get themselves out." How Shackleton did indeed get them out without the loss of a single life is at the heart of Lansing's magnificent true-life adventure tale. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
When the Endurance steamed south into the splitting ice pack of the Weddel Sea in the summer of 1914, she carried aboard the renowned British explorer Earnest Shackleton. The Endurance was specially designed and massively constructed by one of the world's finest shipyards, staffed with scientists and qualified volunteers and outfitted with meticulously tested equipment. Shackleton himself was an experienced polar veteran who had once come within a day's march of being the first to reach the south pole. But in spite of careful planning, the Endurance was doomed, and this expedition would be Shackleton's last Antarctic voyage. Unexpected cold weather froze the ship solidly into the ice, and 7 months later, the mounting pressure of millions of tons of ice crushed the three-foot wooden hull. The Endurance sank into the black water, and left the 30 exhausted men marooned on the treacherous melting ice flows of the storm-churned antarctic sea. For six months the poorly-equipped castaways would struggle under inconceivable hardship until the drifting ice broke up enough for Shackleton to lead his expedition in three open lifeboats through freezing open water to a lifeless bit of rock called Elephant Island. With 5 companions aboard the remaining battered lifeboat, Shackleton left his crew and stuck out across the open ocean in a desperate attempt to reach a remote whaling station to obtain help. His faithful men would remain behind to weather the winter storms sleeping under the upended wreckage of a lifeboat -- their lives dangling by the frail promise that he would someday return. Alfred Lancing is an experienced journalist whose detailed research combines with direct and perfectly-paced prose and a handful of the expedition's original photographs. It is a tale of leadership, unflagging courage, and determination in the face of impossible odds. But maybe the real definition of heroism is to be undaunted by the impossible. After sixteen days covering 900 miles of water in an amazing feat of open boat navigation, Shackleton struck land at South Georgia Island -- and after a three-day sleepless march over the 10,000 foot mountains in the huge island's interior, Shackleton and his remaining companions finally stumbled into a remote whaling outpost. And 450 days after being shipwrecked, after 5 attempts in three different ships, Shackleton managed to return to Elephant island to rescue his 22 remaining crew members in a tugboat borrowed from the Chilean government -- finally delivering all 29 of his men without the loss of a single life -- and making Endurance one of the most inspiring stories of human survival every written.
--Auralgo
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Author: Guest
The author has clearly been rigorous in piecing together diary extracts and interview notes to put together this account of an adventure, or perhaps ordeal, which required of its survivors a degree of courage, composure and determination that cannot fail to humble yet uplift and inspire the reader. The style of narrative is rather matter-of-fact, rather than dramatic, and its coverage is limited to the expedition itself without dwelling much on the lives of the key players before or after.
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Author: Guest
Alfred Lansing's book, Endurance, dramatically details the 1914 expedition to the Antarctic led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. Although a non-fiction book, Lansing manages to make it read like a thriller, adventure. He wrote his story using first person accounts, interviews of survivors, journal entries, etc. While sometimes history can be a bit dry, this novel truly makes you feel a part of the adventure and reads very quickly. Ernest Shackleton's leadership abilities ensure not only the survival of the crew, but demonstrate his character as a man. Crew and officers were treated alike and shared in the duties of survival. Order was maintained and his personality and command of the situation enabled the group to survive what could have been a disaster.
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Author: Guest
Fact is definitely more interesting than fiction. When you consider the intense physical and emotional hardship that the Endurance crew suffered, it is beyond amazing. And, when you stop to think that almost everyone survived, the story becomes almost unbelievable. But the story is true and we get all of the details thanks to the diaries of the crew, the photos taken by ship photographer Hurley, and the excellent writing of Alfred Lansing.
This is definitely a book for everyone regardless of your literary interests.
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Author: Guest
Incredible book. The fact that the author interviewed most of the participants in this adventure for his book gives you the real feeling of being there, unlike many history adventure books that are based on conjecture. A truly amazing tale in a strange and wonderful place.
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