I second this. A very good book and great story.

Was given the book as a gift some time back. Really enjoyed it but would have no desire to do what those guys did. Get cold just thinking about it, lol

dcbowers said:

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The Endurance is an amazing story.

A recent book with a similar theme is "The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder" by David Grann.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-wager-david-grann/1141813906

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I read the wager as well, both great books, the thing that stuck out to me as the delta between the two books is how far deep water navigation had come in the 180 between The Wager and Endurance, in terms of the number of seaman required and deep water navigation technology, specifically longitudinal accuracy.

The part of the book where they take the dingy, rig a mast to it and then sail it 860 miles through the Drake Passage to St Georgia island is simply out of this world.


I guess the only letdown of the story is what happened to A) the other party that was setting the food caches to support the navigation across the continent and B) what happened to some of the crew of the Endurance when they returned to England.


The other really good read is "Labyrinth of Ice" about the disastrous Greeley expedition

Endurance is an amazing book and story. What those guys went through and (yes) endured, only to rescue themselves… edge of the seat reading.

One of my favorites. This was "failure is not an option" long before Apollo 13.

The explorers podcast has a great series on Shackleton

It looks like there is one book called "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing.....and another called "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" by Caroline Alexander

Which author is recommended better?

AgRyan04 said:

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It looks like there is one book called "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing.....and another called "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" by Caroline Alexander

Which author is recommended better?

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Lansing

thanks! I'll add it to my list

The Wager is very good. You should also try "Madhouse at the End of the Earth" by Julian Sancton. One of the best books of this genre I've read.

Sanctons book is excellent with it being Amundsen first polar trip. One can visit Shakletons first expedition hut. Still has stacks of seal blubber stacked inside to be rendered for heat. Saw a bicycle but that could be Scotts Cape Evans

Just downloaded on Audible. Looking forward to it.

In the 1980s PBS televised a BBC series called The Last Place on Earth. It is the story of the quest 1910-1913 to be first at the South Pole, switching points of view between the English expedition (Robert Falcon Scott) and the Norwegian one (Amundsen). It is an excellent series that holds up today. It spurred my interest in South Polar exploration and I have read numerous books on the subject.

When I visited the British Library in summer 1990 I was able to see Scott's diary found on his body, open to the last page.

The series is based on an excellent book by Roland Huntford in which he scathingly dismisses the lionization of Scott at the expense of the Norwegian Amundsen.

Several books have come out fairly recently that try to reclaim Scott's legacy. Scott of the Antarctic by David Crane seems very fair to me.

One of the very finest books to come out of that race to the Pole is The Worst Journey in the World, written by a young man (Apsley Cherry-Garrard) who was inexperienced in Polar expeditions but who wound up being the last person who had something like a reasonable chance to save Scott and his party.

Most of the book is the story of how Cherry and two other men (both of whom accompanied Scott all the way to the Pole) made a crazy journey in the Arctic WINTER to find the nesting place of Emperor penguins.

Shackleton of course was a member of an earlier Polar expedition with Scott and was sent home in something like disgrace for almost dying on the return trip from setting the then record for closest to the Pole ("Furthest South").

It is all a series of amazing journeys and men, much worthy of being delved into in depth.

As Cherry says in the conclusion to his book,

Quote:

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And I tell you, if you have the desire for knowledge and the power to give it physical expression, go out and explore. If you are a brave man you will do nothing: if you are fearful you may do much, for none but cowards have need to prove their bravery. Some will tell you that you are mad, and nearly all will say, "What is the use?" For we are a nation of shopkeepers, and no shopkeeper will look at research which does not promise him a financial return within a year. And so you will sledge nearly alone, but those with whom you sledge will not be shopkeepers: that is worth a good deal. If you march your Winter Journeys you will have your reward, so long as all you want is a penguin's egg.

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chick79 said:

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The Wager is very good. You should also try "Madhouse at the End of the Earth" by Julian Sancton. One of the best books of this genre I've read.

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This was a great read- it read as a what-not-to-do guide when compared to Shackleton. More concerned about national makeup of the crew vs. who was best for the job.

Also gave a great insight into how Roald Amundsen got his legendary career kicked off.

aalan94 said:

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The worst part was the people who survived this ordeal, got home to England and then were drafted and sent to France in WW1, with almost no time to recover.

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yea, very true indeed. Also, Ernest died of a heart attack headed out to his next Antarctic mission. I do wonder if running on pure adrenalin for almost two years broke him. They mention several times how much he was riddled with anxiety AFTER he was finally rescued.

Excellent book and movie!

I think the movie is called The 12th Man and the book it is based on is called We Die Alone