The journey lasted over two years, during which time the crew was given up as “lost at sea” by not only those back home in England, but also by all the sea-faring whalers who made their livelihoods in the treacherous waters of the Antarctic region. There are far too many examples of the dangers and challenges the crew faced not only from day to day, but moment to moment, to mention here. From the command to abandon ship due to it being crushed by ice packs in the Weddell Sea, to all the on-the-spot decisions he made to ensure his crew’s safety as they literally leapt from one ice floe to another to stay afloat, Sir Ernest Shackleton displays the true qualities of a leader who fully understands his responsibilities and acts accordingly. The end result is a brilliant exposé of the resiliency of man and his determination to achieve success against the cruelest of odds. Macklin, who was most instrumental in providing the missing pieces of this journey. Lansing was also able to interview the few surviving men, including the surgeon, Dr.

To maintain the accuracy of this voyage, the book’s author, Alfred Lansing, spent endless days pouring over the personal diaries kept by crew members aboard the ship.

It is the account of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 attempt to cross the Antarctic continent on foot with a crew of 27 men after their ship, the Endurance, became icebound. If you are a lover of factual adventure stories, Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage is a must-read. In Endurance, the definitive account of Ernest Shackleton's fateful trip, Alfred Lansing brilliantly narrates the harrowing and miraculous voyage that has defined heroism for the modern age.Thanks to JCPL Acquisitions Clerk Michael Evanochko for sharing his thoughts on Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. Their survival, and the survival of the men they left behind, depended on their small lifeboat successfully finding the island of South Georgia,a tiny dot of land in a vast and hostile ocean. With no options left, Shackleton and a skeleton crew attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men.įor ten months the ice-moored Endurance drifted northwest before it was finally crushed between two ice floes.

In January 1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day's sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice. In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot.

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