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Books and Videos by and about Ernest Shackleton

This section contains books and video by and about Ernest Shackleton, Galambos held him in very high esteem. As a man of supreme competence. I mention him often in writings and have proposed that the Shackleton become the unit of competence. With competence being defined as:

Competence

"A measure of the number of things completed successfully as related to the total attempted."

While keeping 28 men alive under arduous & apalling conditions for—as I reembmer—about eighteen months. For this he set the standard of competency at 10 Shackletons.

Shackleton links to pursue:

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If you don't have an MP3 player for the Audio files or a Video player for the videos, click on the left image for Apple iPod information and the right image for portable video player information.

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Directory

  1. South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914–1917 - Shackleton
  2. South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage - Shackleton
  3. South - Audio Casette
  4. Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure - Worsley
  5. Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy - Bickel
  6. Shackleton's Boat Journey - Worsley (Paperback)
  7. Shackleton's Boat Journey - Worsley (Hardcover)
  8. South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914–17 - Shackleton
  9. Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure - Worsley
  10. Shackleton - The Greatest Survival Story of All Time - 3 DVD Logo Video, starring Kenneth Branagh
  11. The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition - DVD Logo Video, starring Liam Neeson
  12. The Last Place on Earth - DVD Logo Video
  13. Elephant Island: An Antarctic Expedition - Furse
  14. Leading at the Edge : Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition - Reed Business Information
  15. Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure - DVD Logo Video, Kevin Spacey
  16. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Lansing (Paperback)
  17. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Lansing (Hardcover)
  18. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Lansing (Audio)
  19. Frank Wild - Mills
  20. Shackleton's Boat Journey — The Story of the James Caird - DVD Logo Tape
  21. Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica - Shackleton & McKenna (2005)

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South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914–1917 (Paperback)
by Ernest Shackleton

Book Description
When we read accounts of polar exploration today, we are impressed. When we read of the exploits of men such as Ernest Shackleton we are astounded. To survive under the conditions that he and his men experienced, with equipment deemed primitive by today's standards, is almost beyond our ken. Shackleton tells the story of his last expedition (1914-1917) when his ship, the Endurance, was crushed by pack ice. He went on to complete an 800-mile open boat journey and then a twenty-mile hike through the mountains in order to save his men. And he did.

Excerpted from South!: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917 by Ernest Henry Shackleton. Copyright © 2001.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
This is one of the books that you must read. Shackleton, like Scott and Byrd, seems more like a hero from ancient myth than a mere mortal. The story of his adventure will forever be one of the most thrilling and astounding ever told. And yet it is told in the plain style of a man who felt that he only did what any man would do.

Sir Ernest Shackleton had been to the Antarctic twice before: once with Scott's first expedition (from which he was sent home with scurvy), and once on his own expedition, when he had made it to within 90 miles of the South Pole. Both Amundsen and Scott later beat him to the pole and by the time Shackleton returned on the Endurance, he was determined to be the first to complete a transpolar journey.

He left England on the eve of the First World War, after offering his ship and men to the war effort, to be turned down by Winston Churchill. When he reached the island of South Georgia off the coast of Argentina, he learned from whalers that ice had moved far north into the Weddell Sea. By the time Shackleton reached Antarctica, the pack-ice was turning quickly impassible. They forced their way through as much of it as they could, but the Endurance became trapped. When they could no longer keep the ice from the sides of the ship it was crushed. Shackleton quotes one of his men:

"November 21, 1915. This evening, as we were lying in our tents we heard the Boss call out, 'She's going, boys!' We were out in a second and up on the look–out station and other points of vantage, and, sure enough, there was our poor ship a mile and a half away struggling in her death–agony. She went down bows first, her stern raised in the air. She then gave one quick dive and the ice closed over her for ever. It gave one a sickening sensation to see it for, mastless and useless as she was, she seemed to be a link with the outer world. Without her our destitution seems more emphasized, our desolation more complete… I doubt if there was one amongst us who did not feel some personal emotion when Sir Ernest, standing on the top of the look-out, said somewhat sadly and quietly, 'She's gone,boys.'"

And in spite of it all, they retained a sense of optimism:
"… after a year's incessant battle with the ice, we had returned, by many strange turns of fortune's wheel, to almost identically the same latitude that we had left with such high hopes and aspirations twelve months previously; but under what different conditions now! Our ship crushed and lost, and we ourselves drifting on a piece of ice at the mercy of the winds. However, in spite of occasional setbacks due to unfavourable winds, our drift was in the main very satisfactory, and this went a long way towards keeping the men cheerful."

They lived drifting, struggling to survive the cold, the splitting ice, and the killer whales who cruised along under the ice looking for seals:

"These aggressive creatures were to be seen often in the lanes and pools, and we were always distrustful of their ability or willingness to discriminate between seal and man. A lizard-like head would show while the killer gazed along the flow with wicked eyes. Then the brute would dive, to come up a few moments later, perhaps, under some unfortunate seal reposing on the ice...Wordie, engaged in measuring the thickness of young ice, went through to his waist one day just as a killer rose to blow in the adjacent lead. His companions pulled him out hurriedly."

The ice cleared long enough for the men to finally make the journey to Elephant Island in the three surviving lifeboats. But the effort did not stop there for Shackleton. With five others, he undertook the perilous 800 mile journey across the South Atlantic to the whaling station on South Georgia island to get help. At one point he thought he saw day breaking only to realize that a wave of unimaginable proportions was bearing down upon their open boat; he had seen the white of the spray.

Shackleton's story is full of prodigious feats, but none so compelling as his final journey: when they reached South Georgia, he, Worsley, and Crean were forced to walk through frozen mountains hitherto unexplored to reach the whaling station. This journey alone, with descents down ice crevices, waterfalls and a trek across the dangerous thin crust of an ice lake, would be adventure enough for anyone.

We can't recommend this book more highly; read it to see true courage in action. Also, take a look at Shackleton's Boat Journey, also available from The Narrative Press.

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South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage [Bargain Price] (Paperback)
by Ernest Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton
"I had decided to leave South Georgia about December 5, and in the intervals of final preparation scanned again the plans for the voyage to…"

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Amazon.com
Soon after the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, his Anglo-Irish rival, Sir Ernest Shackleton, sought to top the feat by making his way from one end of Antarctica to the other on sledge. He set off with a crew of 28, including scientists and a movie cameraman, but the voyage turned disastrous when Shackleton's ship, the Endurance, became hopelessly stuck in pack ice, throwing the men (and the dogs brought to pull the sledges) into a desperate battle for survival. South is Shackleton's own account--one of the critical sources for Alfred Lansing's bestseller Endurance--of what it was like to be "helpless intruders in a strange world," a vivid narrative in which tales of Edwardian pluck are counterpointed with lyrical accounts of whales, penguins, and bizarre mirages. This story of a group of men who beat nearly impossible odds to escape death and make their way home is one of the all-time great survival stories. --Robert McNamara --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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South (Audio Cassette)
by Ernest Shackleton, Sean Barrett (Unknown)
Rating: ∗∗∗∗ (31 customer reviews)

From AudioFile
One might expect this story told by a Victorian explorer about his own exploits in Antarctica to be a little tedious. To the contrary, it's filled with fascinating developments and details and doesn't shrink from the stark realities of the story, as evidenced by the description of shooting and eating the sled dogs to prevent their and the humans' starvation. Sir Ernest Shackleton writes mostly in the first person. The audio publisher uses a "different acoustic" (a hollow and reverberant sound) for quotes and letters from others, which is an interesting, but disconcerting, technique. However, Barnett's reading remains at all times sober, straightforward and undramatic, as befits the seriousness of the subject. J.D.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure (Paperback)
by Frank Arthur Worsley, F.A. Worsley, Patrick O'Brian
"Sir Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, his Second in Command, and I were sitting in Shackleton's cabin in the Endurance…"

Amazon.com
"If we were killed, at least we had done everything in our power to bring help to our shipmates. Shackleton was right. Our chance was a very small one indeed, but it was up to us to take it."

The voyage of HMS Endurance is legendary in the annals of polar exploration. In August 1914 the ship set sail for Antarctica, where she became trapped in the pack ice and eventually sank. The last of her stranded men were not rescued until August 30, 1916. Originally published in 1931, this tale by F.A. Worsley, captain of the Endurance, captures all the tension of the doomed expedition. Written in the first person, Worsley's prose makes you feel as if you were struggling alongside him as he watches two icebergs plowing their way through the pack ice toward their camp; desperately slides down an icy mountainside in pitch darkness, traveling some 3,000 feet in less than three minutes; and wrestles with the admiralty bureaucracy when trying to rescue the remainder of the crew. His relief is palpable when, after a series of setbacks, triumphs, and narrowly avoided disasters, all hands survive the two arduous years.

While this book is filled with adventures, its real strength is the highly affectionate portrait of Sir Ernest Shackleton, leader of the expedition to cross Antarctica, by his "good old Skipper." In Worsley's words, Shackleton "did the most dangerous things but did them in the safest way"--and his leadership and careful planning saved the lives of his men. Patrick O'Brian, author of the popular Aubrey-Maturin saga of the 19th-century English navy, has written a new introduction for this edition. Worsley's tale of survival against all odds will thrill sea dogs and landlubbers alike. --C.B. Delaney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy (Hardcover)
by Lennard Bickel,
Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton
"Young Dick Richard's adventure in the white wastes of Antarctica began on the sparkling summer waters of Sydney Harbor…"

Amazon.com
Ernest Shackleton, an undeniably brave explorer, labored under a terrible ambition for nearly two decades: the desire to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Repeatedly thwarted by the elements, then finally beaten by the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen, Shackleton revised his objective in 1912. He would be the first, he decided, to complete "the crossing of the South Polar Continent, from sea to sea."

Shackleton planned to take his ship, Endurance, to the Weddell Sea and from there set out on foot across the polar plateau; he and his party would be supplied at depots set out by another exploring party. Shackleton never arrived at those depots; Endurance was crushed by sea ice, its sailors marooned for months of endless winter. Unaware of Endurance's fate, the 10-man supply party set out on the other side of the continent and discharged their duties without complaint. In the process, three of them died after crossing hundreds of miles of unforgiving, storm-blasted ice.

"Their sacrifice," writes Lennard Bickel, "became a footnote in history and was forgotten, even though Shackleton himself summed up their long agony by saying that 'no more remarkable story of human endeavour has been revealed than the tale of that long march'." Bickel's thoughtful history gives these courageous explorers their due, and it provides a valuable addition to the library of Antarctic travel. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly
Ernest Shackleton's 1915 attempt to cross the Antarctic continent and his dramatic 800-mile open boat journey to find help when his ship was crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea, have been thoroughly chronicled (e.g., by Shackleton himself in South and by Roland Huntford in Shackleton). But Shackleton's fame has overshadowed the efforts of men who risked, and even gave, their lives to help him attain it. Drawing on research and reporting, Bickel (Mawson's Will) tells of the small party that set out from the other side of Antarctica that year to lay invaluable food depots for the explorers who would never come. Marooned when their ship was ripped from its moorings by a fierce polar gale, the group had to haul hundreds of pounds of food for themselves and the six members of Shackleton's party across 2,000 miles of frozen wasteland without proper equipment or any idea if they would be rescued. Bickel draws on the men's personal diaries and on lengthy interviews recorded in the late 1970s with the only survivingmember of the group in order to infuse the book with staggering details of the party's fight with scurvy and subzero cold. The characters, ranging from the prudent Ernest Joyce to the group's impetuous one-eyed captain, Aeneas Mackintosh, are surprisingly well developed, and Bickel graphically paints their plight, describing "haggard, dirty men, faces black from weeks of hugging the blubber stove, beards matted, here and there the scars of recent frostbite, and their clothes reeking of the smelly fat of the seals that had saved their lives." Balanced, vivid and informative, Bickel's work ensures that the duress endured by these men will not soon be forgotten. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Shackleton's Boat Journey (Paperback)
by Frank Arthur Worsley
"The Weddell Sea might be described as the Antarctic extension of the South Atlantic Ocean…"
∗∗∗∗∗ 11 customer reviews

The New Yorker
This remarkable book… shows [Shackleton] both luckless and lucky, and supremely cool and courageous throughout. Worsley writes without heroics… but makes us feel to the marrow the conditions that the party endured before all hands were rescued.

San Francisco Chronicle, Paul McHugh, 17 September 1998
[L]ucid prose leavened by dry British wit.

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Shackleton's Boat Journey (Hardcover)
by Frank Arthur Worsley
"The Weddell Sea might be described as the Antarctic extension of the South Atlantic Ocean…"

The New Yorker
This remarkable book… shows [Shackleton] both luckless and lucky, and supremely cool and courageous throughout. Worsley writes without heroics… but makes us feel to the marrow the conditions that the party endured before all hands were rescued.

San Francisco Chronicle, Paul McHugh, 17 September 1998
[L]ucid prose leavened by dry British wit.

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South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914–17 (Hardcover)
Author: Ernest Shackleton

Book Description
Sir Ernest Shackleton's South is one of the great books of exploration. It is a harrowing account of what he called "the last great journey on earth"--the Antarctic expedition in which his ship, the Endurance, was crushed by ice, forcing Shackleton and his men to make a 600-mile trek across the ice to land, a 700-mile journey in an open boat to South Georgia, followed by an epic crossing of the uncharted mountains and glaciers of the island. His story is superbly written, and from its first publication in 1919, it has never ceased to enthrall readers. Since that time, however, Shackleton's life--and his account of the expedition--have been dramatically re-evaluated by scholars and biographers. In this edition, journalist Peter King presents highly revealing annotations to Shackleton's text, offering a more detailed picture of what actually occurred and shedding new light on what still remains a magnificent drama of leadership. South is complete with 120 compelling photographs by Frank Hurley, the expedition's official photographer

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Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure (Hardcover)
by Frank Arthur Worsley
"Sir Ernest Shackleton, Frank Wild, his Second in Command, and I were sitting in Shackleton's cabin in the Endurance…"

Amazon.com
"If we were killed, at least we had done everything in our power to bring help to our shipmates. Shackleton was right. Our chance was a very small one indeed, but it was up to us to take it."

The voyage of HMS Endurance is legendary in the annals of polar exploration. In August 1914 the ship set sail for Antarctica, where she became trapped in the pack ice and eventually sank. The last of her stranded men were not rescued until August 30, 1916. Originally published in 1931, this tale by F.A. Worsley, captain of the Endurance, captures all the tension of the doomed expedition. Written in the first person, Worsley's prose makes you feel as if you were struggling alongside him as he watches two icebergs plowing their way through the pack ice toward their camp; desperately slides down an icy mountainside in pitch darkness, traveling some 3,000 feet in less than three minutes; and wrestles with the admiralty bureaucracy when trying to rescue the remainder of the crew. His relief is palpable when, after a series of setbacks, triumphs, and narrowly avoided disasters, all hands survive the two arduous years.

While this book is filled with adventures, its real strength is the highly affectionate portrait of Sir Ernest Shackleton, leader of the expedition to cross Antarctica, by his "good old Skipper." In Worsley's words, Shackleton "did the most dangerous things but did them in the safest way"--and his leadership and careful planning saved the lives of his men. Patrick O'Brian, author of the popular Aubrey-Maturin saga of the 19th-century English navy, has written a new introduction for this edition. Worsley's tale of survival against all odds will thrill sea dogs and landlubbers alike. --C.B. Delaney

Patrick O'Brian, author of "Master and Commander" and "Blue at the Mizzen"
Worsley was continually at Shackleton's side, and he, in this long, very highly detailed book, is the man to write about him.

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Shackleton - The Greatest Survival Story of All Time
(3-Disc Collector's Edition) (2002)
Edition: DVD Logo

Amazon.com
Shackleton is not a biopic of the great Anglo-Irish explorer but a dramatization of the failed trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-1916. As written and directed by Charles Sturridge (Longitude), the production, filmed on real ice floes in Greenland, stays remarkably close to the facts, capturing the look of the surviving expedition photos by Frank Hurley (collected in the book South with Endurance) with great fidelity. Kenneth Branagh makes no attempt at an authentic accent but otherwise gives a powerful impression of a most commanding personality. When the expedition ship Endurance became locked in the Antarctic ice, Shackleton vowed to bring every man home alive, and against virtually impossible odds, including a 700-mile journey in an open boat through some of the worst seas in the world, he did just that. This superlative miniseries realizes the story with production values and cinematography that would not disgrace a big-budget feature (South, Hurley's 1919 silent movie featuring some motion-picture footage from the expedition, is also available on video). Intense physical drama, strong performances, and Adrian Johnston's fine score combine here to deeply moving effect, marred only a little by a rushed conclusion. With Roland Huntford, author of the definitive Shackleton biography, as production advisor, this easily stands as the benchmark for all future comparable films. --Gary S. Dalkin

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The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition (2000)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Julian Ayer
Director: George Butler
Rating: General Rating Symbol

Storyline
Genres: Documentary, History
Plot Synopsis: A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton 's ill–fated expedition to Antarctica in 1914–1916, featuring new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of key expedition members, plus archived audio interviews with expedition members, and a generous helping of the footage and still photos shot on the expedition.

Theatrical Release Information MPAA:General Rating Symbol
Production Company: Discovery Channel Pictures, FilmFour, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, NOVA/WGBH Boston, Outward Bound, Shackleton Schools, Sveriges Television (SVT), Telepool, The American Museum of Natural History, White Mountain Films, Zegrahm Expeditions
USA Box Office: $2 Million
Also Known As: The Endurance
Filming Locations: Antarctica| Elephant Island, Antarctica| South Georgia Island, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Amazon.com
Several films have documented or dramatized the incredible saga of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated trans-Antarctic expedition, but The Endurance offers the most comprehensive one-source reference. Originally presented as a PBS Nova special and narrated by Liam Neeson, this excellent film--based on Caroline Alexander's acclaimed book, also titled after the ironic name of Shackleton's doomed ship--chronicles the astonishing events of 1914-16, when Shackleton and 27 crewmen survived against all odds after their ship was crushed in the polar ice floes. This is the only "Shackleton" film to incorporate new footage, expert interviews, dramatic recreations (without dialogue), and expedition photographer Frank Hurley's archival film and photographs. The cumulative effect of this extensive material gives the viewer an almost palpable sense of the expedition's hardship and unlikely survival, made possible in part by a man who had precisely the required experience and leadership skills, and in part by what can only be described as divine intervention. No matter how you interpret it, this is rightly called "the greatest survival story ever told." --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
A retelling of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica in 1914–1916, featuring new footage of the actual locations and interviews with surviving relatives of key expedition members, plus archived audio interviews with expedition members and a generous helping of the footage and still photos shot on the expedition. Narrated by Liam Neeson.

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The Last Place on Earth (1994)
Starring: Martin Shaw, Sverre Anker Ousdal
Director: Ferdinand Fairfax
Edition: DVD Logo

Storyline
Genres: Drama
Tagline: Scott and Amundsen both wanted to be first to the Pole. One of them was. The other became a hero.
Plot Synopsis: Scott vs. Amundsen. It wasn't meant to be a race, but race it becomes, as the world awaits news of the first to reach the Pole. What follows is a tale of heroism, foolhardiness, selflessness and self–delusion, in a land where victory must be secondary to survival.

Theatrical Release Information
Production Company: Central Independent Television PLC, Renegade Productions
Filming Locations: Greenland

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Elephant Island an Antarctic Expedition (Hardcover)
by Chris Furse

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Leading at the Edge : Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition (Hardcover)
by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, Catherine McCarthy (Contributor)
"Leaders who take their organizations to The Edge must channel energy toward two equally important goals…

From Publishers Weekly
Although their experiences may sometimes seem torturous, most managers arent facing dangerous or life–threatening conditions. Even so, argues consultant Perkins, they would do well to learn from both triumphant and failed expeditions. A former Marine lieutenant, Perkins introduces 10 key concepts he believes are essential to productive leadership with lively anecdotes from the adverse but ultimately successful expedition to the South Pole led by Ernest Shackleton in 1914 (his entire crew survived on the ice with almost no supplies or hope for rescue after their ship drifted off course and was crushed), which he contrasts with a disastrous Canadian expedition launched at almost the same time. Among the principles in the book's first half: "Minimize status differences and insist on courtesy and mutual respect"; "Take care of yourself, maintain your stamina and let go of your guilt"; "Set a personal example with visible, memorable symbols and behaviors." He also suggests that managers can benefit by keeping an "expedition log" in which they write about their current work situations. The second half of the book consists of four business case studies, including one of Malden Mills, a family7ndash;owned company that remained open despite fires that virtually shut down its operations. General readers are likely to find these studies less compelling, though experienced executives may identify with some of the management issues. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times, May 28, 2000
Perkins has distilled 10 principles from [Shackleton's] survival experiences he offers them as a guide for business leadership at the edge.

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Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (Large Format) (2001)
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Conrad Anker
Director: George Butler

Storyline
Genres: Documentary, Short
Tagline: The greatest survival story of all time.
Plot Synopsis: Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure is a giant—screen film that tells the dramatic true story of explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's now–legendary 1914–1916 British Imperial Trans–antarctic Expedition. A testament to heroism and human endurance, the 28–man crew survived nearly two years in the Antarctic when its ship, the Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by pack ice.

Amazon.com
Of the many films that have chronicled Ernest Shackleton's team's legendary trans–Antarctic expedition and their struggle for survival, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure is the only documentary that traces the actual steps of the explorers' blessed journey. While providing a concise summary of the Shackleton team's 1914–16 expedition, this breathtaking IMAX feature employs exacting re–creations and flyover footage (from 1999 and 2000) of the same harsh landscapes that Shackleton and his men traversed, by land and sea, during their ill–fated voyage. As with most IMAX films, climactic moments are driven by a bombastic score (how many swollen crescendos can one movie handle?), and the harshest facts of the Shackleton journey (e.g., sacrificing beloved dogs for food and euthanasia) are omitted for family viewing. That's a condescending compromise, and the gravitas of Kevin Spacey's narration is a bit overstated. What matters here are the visuals (both vintage and contemporary), and they're absolutely magnificent, conveying the sheer horror—and divine beauty—of the greatest survival story of all time. --Jeff Shannon

Attention:

The initial shipment of the DVD release of Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure had a defective Dolby Digital track, which was corrected for all subsequent manufacturing. The DTS track was always properly synched.

Some used copies with the defect may be circulating, but all of Amazon.com's new inventory is of the corrected edition. You can distinguish the corrected edition from the defective because the corrected edition has a blue dot under the "Image Entertainment" logo on the lower left corner of the back cover. If you have a defective edition, please return it to the retailer where it was purchased for replacement with a corrected version.

The VHS edition never had any synching issues, so none of the above applies to the VHS edition.

Product Description
One of the greatest survival stories of all time comes to life in this extraordinary true story of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1916 British Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a testament to heroism and human endurance. All 28 men survived nearly two years in the barren, frigid Antarctic when their ship was caught in pack ice and eventually crushed. Featuring stunning Antarctic images and recreations plus original still photography and 35mm motion picture footage by Rank Hurley, the official photographer for the expedition, this is a voyage you'll want to relive again and again.

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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Paperback)
by Alfred Lansing
"The order to abandon ship was given at 5 P.M.…"

Amazon.com
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 the Paperback edition.

From AudioFile
This is the awesome tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's abortive 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. His ship, Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by sea ice, leaving Shackleton and 27 men adrift on ice floes. The story of how Shackleton saved all of them and reached South Georgia Island is one of the epics in the history of survival. The publishers couldn't have found a better reader than Tim Pigott–Smith. His accent and low-key approach vibrate with subtle emotional strain as he takes us through the week–by–week, month-by-month ordeal, exuding an intensity that keeps the listener on the edge of the seat. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Hardcover)
by Alfred Lansing
"The order to abandon ship was given at 5 p.m.…"

Amazon.com
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 he Paperback edition.

From AudioFile
This is the awesome tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's abortive 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. His ship, Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by sea ice, leaving Shackleton and 27 men adrift on ice floes. The story of how Shackleton saved all of them and reached South Georgia Island is one of the epics in the history of survival. The publishers couldn't have found a better reader than Tim Pigott–Smith. His accent and low-key approach vibrate with subtle emotional strain as he takes us through the week–by–week, month-by-month ordeal, exuding an intensity that keeps the listener on the edge of the seat. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (Audio CD)
by Alfred Lansing
Tim Pigott–Smith (Narrator) Rating: ∗∗∗∗∗ Based on 354 customer reviews

From AudioFile
This is the awesome tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's abortive 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole. His ship, Endurance, was trapped and then crushed by sea ice, leaving Shackleton and 27 men adrift on ice floes. The story of how Shackleton saved all of them and reached South Georgia Island is one of the epics in the history of survival. The publishers couldn't have found a better reader than Tim Pigott-Smith. His accent and low-key approach vibrate with subtle emotional strain as he takes us through the week-by-week, month-by-month ordeal, exuding an intensity that keeps the listener on the edge of the seat. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine.

See Paperback Review for addional comments.

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Frank Wild Unknown Binding
by Lwif Mills
OUt of Print — Limited Availability
Click on Amazon graphic to check current availability

Customer Review
Reviewer: Kati Baker (kgbaker@lucent.com) from U.S.A.
Leif Mills' excellent biography of Frank Wild provides long overdue insight into the man who was much more than "Shackleton's right-hand man." Mills draws on many letters and diaries to illustrate the family background, values and experiences that made Wild who he was: a remarkably brave, stolid and popular explorer who was a leader in his own right. Antarctica enthusiasts will find this book a valuable addition to their collections.

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Shackleton's Boat Journey - The Story of the James Caird (1999)
Availability: Usually ships in 1–2 days

Amazon.com
Sir Ernest Shackleton's attempt to cross Antarctica in 1916 has become a legendary tale of human survival, and one of the most remarkable aspects of that troubled expedition—Shackleton's journey in a small boat to seek help for his stranded crew—is told in this documentary. With virtually no chance of success, Shackleton and three crewmen set out across some of the most violent seas on earth in a boat that was only 23 feet long. This documentary, produced by an organization dedicated to Shackleton's memory, seems to have had a modest budget, but what it lacks in fancy production it makes up for with dramatic and concise storytelling. The difficulties of navigating in perilous weather, on a tossing sea where the sun is seldom visible, is told by excerpts from Shackleton's own writings. Having miraculously reached the island they sought, Shackleton still had to traverse a mountain range before finally walking into a whaling camp and arranging for the rescue of his men who had been left behind in Antarctica. At the end of this video the actual small boat used by Shackleton on this remarkable voyage is shown, and seeing the small boat on display makes the great feat of seamanship and survival all the more remarkable. This is a very interesting little film, and those who can't get enough of the Shackleton legend will find it fascinating. --Robert J. McNamara

Description
Shackleton's Boat Journey focuses on the amazing odyssey of the James Caird. This story was also the subject of Caroline Alexander's best-selling book, Endurance, published in 1999.

April 1916. Twenty–eight men in desperate condition are stranded on a barren island. Even the whalers of the South Atlantic never venture this far. All are doomed unless their leader can perform another miracle.

Fifteen months earlier, their ship, the Endurance, had been trapped in pack ice in the Antarctic's Weddell Sea. For ten months they had lived aboard ship, until the ice crushed and sank her. For five months the men drifted on ice floes before making a perilous sea voyage north to land -- the lifeless and uninhabited Elephant Island.

Facing the most savage ocean on earth, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men had only one escape — an unthinkable and impossible journey of 800 miles in an open 23–foot–long boat, the James Caird. There was no chance of success, yet there was no choice.

It became the most courageous and extraordinary achievement in exploration history.

This is the story of that amazing voyage, produced by the James Caird Society and Shackleton's alma mater, Dulwich College, home of the James Caird. Extraordinary scholarship and insight, combined with original photographs from the expedition, make this a marvelous addition to Shackleton lore

Product Details

  • Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
  • Rated: NR
  • Studio: Milestone Video
  • Video Release Date: January 8, 2002
  • VHS Features:
  • NTSC format (US and Canada only. This VHS will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about VHS formats.)
  • Black & White, Color, NTSC
  • ASIN: 6305942536

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    Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica (Hardcover)
    by Jonathan Shackleton, John Mackenna

    Book Description
    By endurance we conquer

    Eighty years after Ernest Shackleton's death, his legend and the extraordinary story of the Endurance South Pole expedition still hold a grip on the public imagination.

    Trapped in drifting polar pack-ice for ten months, Ernest Shackleton and his crew fought for survival against all the odds. When the Endurance was finally crushed, they were stranded on ice floes for more than a year before reaching Elephant Island. From there Shackleton and five of his men embarked on the most remarkable rescue mission in maritime history, sailing in a small open boat to South Georgia Island across eight hundred miles of the world's roughest seas to bring help to the others.

    Though he failed to reach the South Pole, Shackleton's story lives on because of his unique qualities of leadership and the extraordinary fact that all of his men survived. This compelling narrative probes the profound influence of Shackleton's Irish and Quaker roots in the making of a great leader. It offers a vivid portrait of a man at odds with the world and with himself, whose ambition was tempered by his flawed humanity and egalitarianism. Here too are the untold stories of Shackleton's upbringing in Kildare, his time in the Merchant Navy, his 1901 voyage on the Discovery with Robert Falcon Scott, his 1907 Nimrod expedition, his marriage and love affairs, his life as a public figure and politician, and the haunting story of his final, fatal expedition on the Quest.

    Drawing on family records, diaries, and letters-and hitherto unpublished photographs and archive material-this mesmerizing book takes us beyond the myth to Shackleton the man, for whom "optimism is true moral courage," and whose greatest triumph was that of life over death.

    Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica is lavishly illustrated with more than a hundred photographs, maps, and engravings, some of them appearing in print for the first time.

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