The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

This is a great book, but I recommend reading it after you have already gotten it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Shackleton himself writes two great books, The Heart of the Antarctic (admittedly dull in the beginning but it really picks up!) and South. South is awesome and is not at all boring. I would recommend reading Alexander's book after you have already read Shackleton's, because she offers further insight into the details of the trips, so it is a great add on.

This is such a good book, because of the way it is written, and also because of the incredible adventure it describes. It is the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton had been to the Antarctic twice before. The first time he accompanied Robert Falcon Scott in 1901 in an attempt to reach the as yet unclaimed South Pole and claim it for Great Britain. They were unsuccessful and came very close to losing their lives. The significant problems that went with traveling in the Antarctic were that no one lived there (and so no one was there to help if you got into trouble), nothing lived in the interior (no plants or animals to feed on), and the climatic conditions were horrific (snow, ice, wind speeds of up to 200 miles an hour and temperatures as low as -100 degrees Fahrenheit). Scott proved to be a very difficult man to travel with -arrogant, abusive and not particularly competent, which is not what you are looking for in the leader of such an expedition. The next time he journeyed south, in 1908, Shackleton, as the leader, chose his own men, and made his own mistakes, such as taking a team of ponies that were supposed to pull the sledges. The ponies were very ill-suited to such an environment and were eventually shot and eaten. This expedition was also a failure, but Shackleton had again learned a lot from the experience. By the end of 1912 the South Pole had been conquered by the Norwegian Amundson, and Shackleton's rival, Scott, had perished with all of his men only eleven miles from a supply depot that would have saved their lives. Now the only significant prize left to be achieved in the Antarctic was the traversing of the continent from one side to the other. Thus Shackleton's 1914 expedition was called the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, left England and headed south on August 8, 1914. It stopped in Buenos Aires to pick up the last of its crew members and 69 Canadian sled dogs. One of the crew members who came on in Buenos Aires was an Australian photographer by the name of Frank Hurley. One of the best features of this book is the multitude of spectacular black and white photographs that he took and preserved all through the tremendous hardships to follow. The pictures really make the book come alive. The author, Caroline Alexander, also supplements her story with excerpted passages from the journals of the expedition crew. Again, this adds a lot to the book; it's as if the men are talking directly to you from across a gulf of almost 100 years.

After running into the worst pack ice conditions on record, the Endurance was iced in before making landfall on the Antarctic continent. The adventure then changed from one of exploration to one of survival under the most harrowing of circumstances.

This book reads like a work of fiction and is full of improbable episodes, tragedies and triumphs. I will not give any more details so as not to spoil the suspense if you choose to read it, as I hope you do. It is also studded with wonderful quotations from the above mentioned diaries. Here is one of my favourites from the diary of the ship's Captain, Frank Worsley:

'When men were as tired as we were, their nerves are on edge, and it is necessary for each man to take pains not to irritate the others. On this march we treated each other with a good deal more consideration than we would have done in normal circumstances. Never is etiquette and good form observed more carefully than by experienced travelers when they find themselves in a tight place.'

The topic of leadership is a popular one in business and government these days, with seminars, programs and books proliferating. A lot of money is being made but I wonder how much true leadership is resulting. I suspect that a reading of this book would be worth as much as 80% what the leadership industry grinds out. True leadership was what got the members of the Endurance through their incredible ordeal. One could do worse when confronted with a personal challenge of any sort than to remember Shackleton and his men, and what they went through with such intelligence, resolve, and good grace.

It's a book that takes you to an incredible adventure. Photogrpahs make it even more exciting !

I don't know why I keep reading these sagas of sufferring and adventure about polar expeditions,but I do.Of course, Shackleton's Anarctic expedition is one of the best of the bunch.
A much told tale, but it just never gets old. Ms Alexander's book is definitely one of the better ones on the subject.Not only does she cover the well told tale of Shackleton's and his men's heroism, but she includes all those wonderful pictures of the characters. And in a twist I hadn't see elsewhere, she covers what eventually happenned to all of the men. Just an outstanding book.

In reading this book I am amazed at the needless hardships these men have endured and even thou they failed how much you can learn about leadership in this book. The lack of common since surely hurt them to no end. I felt Shackleton even thou always optimistic among the men did not learn from his past failures or obtain very much common since but put his own desire to succeed before the safety or well being of the men.

Overall it is a very interesting story and I enjoyed the pictures immensely it really brings the story to life.