Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, is a 1959 book written by Alfred Lansing, about the failure of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, in its attempt to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914.[1]
(publ. Hodder & Stoughton)
Synopsis
The book details the almost two-year struggle for survival endured by the twenty-eight man crew of the ship Endurance. The ship was beset and eventually crushed by ice floes in the Weddell Sea, leaving the men stranded on the pack ice. All in all, the crew drifted on the ice for just over a year. They were able to launch their boats and somehow managed to land them safely on Elephant Island. Shackleton then led a crew of five aboard the James Caird through the Drake Passage, and miraculously reached South Georgia Island 650 nautical miles away. He then took two of those men on the first successful overland crossing of the island. Three months later, he was finally able to rescue the remaining crew members they had left behind on Elephant Island.
Development
Virtually every diary kept during the expedition was made available to the author, and almost all the surviving members at the time of writing submitted to lengthy interviews. The most significant contribution came from Dr. Alexander Macklin, one of the ship's surgeons, who provided Lansing with many diaries, a detailed account of the perilous journey the crew made to Elephant Island, and months of advice.[2]
Publication history
- Lansing, Alfred. (1999) 2nd ed. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-0621-X
See also
References
- Sullivan, Walter (April 19, 1959). “The Hero Was Man". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
- Preface, acknowledgements, Basic Books, 2007.
Further reading
- Pritchett, V., & Lansing, A. (1959). “Review”. Scientific American, 201(1), pp. 167–168. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
