Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage Paperback – March 19, 1999
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
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. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
"And after hearing Endurance, mismatched socks and traffic snarls suddenly don't seem quite so terrible." -- USA Today, December 12, 2002
"Diary excerpts and interviews with the men contribute to an account which comes to life in audio format." -- Library Bookwatch, February 2003
"Forget other audios on the expedition – this is the definitive." -- Today’s Librarian, February 2001
"Lansing's detailing words and Shackelton's exploits roll off of Pigott-Smith's tongue like vivid poetry." -- Erick Mertz, Cosmik Debris, January 2003
"The publishers couldn't have found a better reader than Tim Pigott-Smith." -- AudioFile 2000 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"Diary excerpts and interviews with the men contribute to an account which comes to life in audio format." -- Library Bookwatch, February 2003
"Forget other audios on the expedition – this is the definitive." -- Today’s Librarian, February 2001
"Lansing's detailing words and Shackelton's exploits roll off of Pigott-Smith's tongue like vivid poetry." -- Erick Mertz, Cosmik Debris, January 2003
"The publishers couldn't have found a better reader than Tim Pigott-Smith." -- AudioFile 2000 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
253 of 263 people found the following review helpful
By
Nathan
on February 9, 2000
Format: Paperback
2 Comments
Sending feedback...
This is an absolutely amazing and true accounting of the 1914 Antarctic expedition gone to hell. It is clear that the author did an incredible amount of research, and though this book doesn't read like a novel, its presentation is much more powerful this way, giving a panoramic view of the whole terrible and desperate situation of these men.
I don't have any experience even comparable to what these men went through, the closest I've ever come is rowing down the coast of Maine in the summer in a 30 foot pulling boat, and I'll tell you, this guy gets every detail.
Anyway, an absolutely incredible look at human endurance, at what a person will go through if he must. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.
One note...make sure the version you buy or get at the library has expedition photographer Hurley's photographs in it. Some paperback editions don't, and you're really missing part of the experience without them.
I don't have any experience even comparable to what these men went through, the closest I've ever come is rowing down the coast of Maine in the summer in a 30 foot pulling boat, and I'll tell you, this guy gets every detail.
Anyway, an absolutely incredible look at human endurance, at what a person will go through if he must. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.
One note...make sure the version you buy or get at the library has expedition photographer Hurley's photographs in it. Some paperback editions don't, and you're really missing part of the experience without them.
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97 of 98 people found the following review helpful
By
Jess Hayes
on January 6, 2014
Format: Paperback
Comment
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Within the genre of real life adventure books, Endurance is definitely a stand out. I am lucky to have a brother who regularly reads about explorers and wilderness adventures and recommends to me only the best of the best. Other must-reads in the genre are The Long Walk (though that turns out to be most likely fiction so I no longer recommend it), Into the Wild, and Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North. Endurance tells the true story of Ernest Shakleton and his crew's ill-fated and legendary expedition to Antarctica. It was likely one of history's best outcomes for what was essentially a disaster.
At the time of launching, Shakleton's expedition was history's most extensively planned exploratory trip to Antarctic, complete with a photographer, scientists, carpenters and engineers (a crew of 27 in total). Shakleton's goal was to transverse and study Antarctic. When they set off in 1914, this expedition was the pride of the United Kingdom. Shakleton was the toast of the town for his bravery and expertise. For his bravery he is still toasted, but his polar expertise proved to be lacking. The ship he guided was no match for the South Pole's crushing cold and ice. Soon after arriving, the Endurance was stuck in ice, absolutely unable to move. The crew salvaged what it could and was forced to make do with dwindling supplies and provisions, eventually eating some of their beloved dogs.Read more ›
At the time of launching, Shakleton's expedition was history's most extensively planned exploratory trip to Antarctic, complete with a photographer, scientists, carpenters and engineers (a crew of 27 in total). Shakleton's goal was to transverse and study Antarctic. When they set off in 1914, this expedition was the pride of the United Kingdom. Shakleton was the toast of the town for his bravery and expertise. For his bravery he is still toasted, but his polar expertise proved to be lacking. The ship he guided was no match for the South Pole's crushing cold and ice. Soon after arriving, the Endurance was stuck in ice, absolutely unable to move. The crew salvaged what it could and was forced to make do with dwindling supplies and provisions, eventually eating some of their beloved dogs.Read more ›
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122 of 127 people found the following review helpful
By
A. Woodley
on August 13, 2002
Format: Paperback
2 Comments
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This book is one of the few exceptional -absolutely execptional- tales of survival and it proves the maxim that nothing is so bad that it can't get worse. But also it proves that you can know the end of a story - it is a well known fact that Shackleton brought all his men through this arduous trial and all survived - and it doesn't spoil the story at all. Truth is not only stranger than fiction, but it is a good deal harder.
The bare-bones of the story are that Shackleton and his team left civillisation in 1914 in the Endurance to travel to attempt to reach the South Pole - a trip he had tried and failed by only a couple of hundred miles or so to achive in 1908. Amundsen had already reached the pole first but for Shackleton it was unfinished business. The Endurance had been built to push through the pack ice, but conditions proved too much and it was trapped in pack ice. Summer wore on and there was no escape - the winds were in the wrong direction - then winter hit and they were trapped in their boat. They settled in to a routine until the ice went against them and cracked the Endurance. Shackleton realised the only way out was on their own, so they abandoned the boat and made for the pack ice at first dragging the boats, then relying a floe to carry them north where they might find more supplies, or be rescued.
In the end they had to rescue themselves and this is the story of their indomitable courage and strength to survive under incredibly harsh conditions and in grave discomfort. We are talking about camping out in antartica - in less than adequate shelter, with essentially starvation rations, no heating, barely adequate clothing.
Lansing tells this story in a sparing style and it really works.Read more ›
The bare-bones of the story are that Shackleton and his team left civillisation in 1914 in the Endurance to travel to attempt to reach the South Pole - a trip he had tried and failed by only a couple of hundred miles or so to achive in 1908. Amundsen had already reached the pole first but for Shackleton it was unfinished business. The Endurance had been built to push through the pack ice, but conditions proved too much and it was trapped in pack ice. Summer wore on and there was no escape - the winds were in the wrong direction - then winter hit and they were trapped in their boat. They settled in to a routine until the ice went against them and cracked the Endurance. Shackleton realised the only way out was on their own, so they abandoned the boat and made for the pack ice at first dragging the boats, then relying a floe to carry them north where they might find more supplies, or be rescued.
In the end they had to rescue themselves and this is the story of their indomitable courage and strength to survive under incredibly harsh conditions and in grave discomfort. We are talking about camping out in antartica - in less than adequate shelter, with essentially starvation rations, no heating, barely adequate clothing.
Lansing tells this story in a sparing style and it really works.Read more ›
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77 of 82 people found the following review helpful
By
Misha Weidman
on November 26, 2001
Format: Paperback
Comment
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I first became interested in Shackleton's incredible story after seeing photos and a short version of Caroline Alexander's book in the National Geographic a couple of years ago. Since then, I've read and reread Lansing's account, as well as Alexander's, and twice seen the new Butler documentary which incorporates the photos and early film of the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley.
This is quite simply one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Survival in the face of incredible hardship. Astonishing bravery, persistence, and resourcefulness, all in the face of unimaginable bad luck. This story should have ended in death at least five times. Instead, after 16 (or 20, depending on who you're counting for) months marooned in the antarctic circle, not a single member of Shackleton's crew was lost.
Lansing's account is creditable and more interesting than Alexander's, though her book has the better pictures. I'd suggest buying both.
This is quite simply one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Survival in the face of incredible hardship. Astonishing bravery, persistence, and resourcefulness, all in the face of unimaginable bad luck. This story should have ended in death at least five times. Instead, after 16 (or 20, depending on who you're counting for) months marooned in the antarctic circle, not a single member of Shackleton's crew was lost.
Lansing's account is creditable and more interesting than Alexander's, though her book has the better pictures. I'd suggest buying both.
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