‘Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew make today’s hightech adventurers look like dilettantes. Their interminable voyage across frozen land and open sea is one of the most harrowing survival stories of all time.’ Sebastian Junger, author of the bestselling The Perfect Storm.

In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men set sail for the South Atlantic on board the Endurance. The object of the expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland. In October 1915, still half a continent away from their intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in ice. For seventeen months Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs and then on the stormiest seas on the globe, were castaways in this most savage region of the world.

Frank Hurley, the photographer of the expedition, documented their struggles, miraculously saving his negatives and photographs from destruction at each stage of their journey. His photographs illustrate the dramatic, terrible beauty of the lands with which they were contending. They also provide an unsurpassable insight into the extraordinary spirit of Shackleton and his crew, and their extraordinary indefatigability and lasting civility towards one another in the most adverse conditions.

Lansing’s gripping narrative, based on firsthand accounts of crew members and interviews with survivors, vividly describes how the men lived together in camps on the ice until they reached land, how they were attacked by sea leopards, ate sea lion and polar bear, developed frostbite (an operation to amputate the foot of one member of the crew was carried out on the ice), and finally embarked on a 850-mile voyage in a 22-foot open lifeboat to find help.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Wet Sleeping Bags
Comment: Like almost every other reviewer here, I regard Shackleton's odyssey has one of the most incredible tales of human endurance...ever. His men...survive months of exposure to the Antarctic cold, on the floating, shifting ice pack...and nobody dies. If it weren't thoroughly documented it would be an unbelievable tale. As it is, it is a tale both remarkable and wonderful and is a testament of Shackleton's leadership and the grit of a remarkable crew.

Still for me, there was one thing that it is difficult to regard as literally possible...wet sleeping bags. If I can remember rightly the author states that most of the men's sleeping bags...bed rolls...were wet during most of the ordeal. I just don't believe this. I was stranded in Alaska in conditions far less horrific than the one's encountered by Shackleton's expedition. Nevertheless, the thing I feared the most was getting my sleeping bag soaked [it rained most of the time]. I truly believe that...although the temperatures were in the 30's and 40's...that I could not have survived 2 nights in a wet bag. All the sleeping bag's insulative properties would be lost and there would be nothing to protect me from the cold.

In the case of Shackleton's men, their sleeping equipment was reported as uniformly wet from their dousings in the frigid sea. Yes, given the extreme low temperatures, these bags would have frozen right up and it would have been possible to knock some of the ice from the surfaces of the bags but internal ice would have stayed and thawed on contact with warm human bodies. The crew would indeed have 'slept wet'...for months. It's scarcely credible unless their's something I'm unaware of...

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great!
Comment: I can't believe I didn't read this book earlier in life. I'm recommending it to everybody!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good delivery and quality
Comment: came on time and in good condition! And very inexpensive compared to about 15 dollars at the book store!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Remedy
Comment: Aptly named, this is a stunning story of courage, strength and perseverance. Good medicine for a nation of whiners.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Just Incredible Account ,Absolutely Incredible
Comment: This account of Shackelton's expedition to Antarctic is a read like no other. I could not put this book down,nor could I believe the constitution each person on the crew had to continue forth under such insurmountable odds. The author, Lansing has provided a compelling book. His research of events are smoothly seamed together captivating the reader. Even if ones interest usually doesn't lean toward the topic of explorer, I promise you this book will consume you. Its message is especially good for any of us who may be feeling "overwhelmed" by what our lives are tossing our way... you will be giving thanks at the comforts you have by comparison to this expeditions minimal articles to provide their continued existence. As another reviewer mentioned, buy the hard or soft-cover not paperback version as these include all of Hurley's photographs which are essential to this book-seeing is believing and you won't believe what this photographer captured. Enjoy, you will share the events of this book over and over with many.

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