Overview

In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men set sail for the South Atlantic on board a ship called 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 five months Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways on one of the most savage regions of the world. This utterly gripping book, based on firsthand accounts of crew members and interviews with survivors, describes how the men survived, how they lived together in camps on the ice for 17 months until they reached land, how they were attacked by sea leopards, had to kill their beloved dogs whom they could no longer feed, the diseases which they developed (an operation to amputate the foot of one member of the crew was carried out on the ice), and the extraordinary indefatigability of the men and their lasting civility towards one another in the most adverse conditions conceivable.

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9780753809877

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Reviews

One of the most remarkable tales of human courage and determination. The story is gripping and the book is a classic of its kind -- Sir Ranulph Fiennes A superb and very readable account of the greatest survival story of all time -- Sir Chris Bonington One of the most harrowing survival stories of all time -- Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm

The demand for good true adventure is insatiable- and here is a good candidate. Based on diaries and interviews, this is an absorbing account of Ernest Shackleton's third expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton had tried and failed twice before, in 1901 and 1907, to reach the South Pole. His third attempt involved sailing the Endurance as far into Antarctica as possible, then finishing the expedition on foot. But almost from the beginning the expedition was beset by difficulties. The ship had to be abandoned because of the ice-crush and the party had to camp on a drifting ice floe, their only goal now being rescue. They had to kill their own dogs for food but they did manage, eventually, to hunt seals, sea leopards and penguins. Their greatest danger was always the weather. They were finally forced back to the Endurance when their ice floe began to break up. After they reached the island of South Georgia, they formed two groups, one to maintain a camp, the other to look for help. The expedition which began in 1914 took 17 months and Shackleton's goal was only achieved last year by Vivian Fuchs, whose book The Crossing of Antarctica (see p. 892) should spark some additional interest in this one. Here too is adventure handled with professional deftness. (Kirkus Reviews)

Endurance is the true story of Shackleton's incredible voyage in 1914 to cross the Antarctic overland. His ship the 'Endurance' was beset by ice in early 1915 and then crushed ten months later. Shackleton and his men were 1200 miles away from the nearest outpost of humanity. The fact that the crew managed to survive, once Shackleton and five others had sailed 650 miles across the 'Raving Fifties' and the 'Screaming Sixties' to the south-east of Cape Horn, is the stuff of legend vividly told in Shackleton's own account 'South'. What Lansing adds are the perspectives from other members of the crew and the trivia that goes along with any expedition. These are drawn from diaries, private papers and personal interviews. It is a fantastic story brilliantly told. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Alfred Lansing as a native of Chicago. After serving more than five years in the Navy, he enrolled at North Western University, Illinois and majored in journalism. Until 1949 he edited a weekly newspaper in Illinois. He then joined the United Press and in 1952 became a freelance writer. Endurance was his first book. He died in 1975.

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