For me, one of the most fascinating stories to appear in the news recently is the discovery to the wreck of the Endurance in Antarctica. The Endurance belonged to explorer Ernest Shackleton. He and his crew of 27 were stranded after the ship became trapped and then crushed by the ice in 1915. The pictures and the videos of the remains of this ship, which currently sits over 3000 meters (almost 10,000 feet) below the surface of the Weddell Sea are stunning. Here is a link to one of them: (I hope it works)
The reason I found this story so fascinating was because I had read the book Endurance, by Alfred Lansing. It is one of those STORIES that stay with you. I certainly never forgot it. Here is the publishers blurb:
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. 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. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When their ship was finally crushed between two ice floes, they attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic’s heaviest seas to the closest outpost of civilization.
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.
I can’t remember why I picked up this book. Something piqued my interest in the Shackleton episode so I ordered it online to satisfy my curiosity. What a book! The most amazing thing about this adventure is that every man survived. How they survived with none of the equipment and cold-weather clothing that modern explorers have today is well worth the read. I remember a description of their deerskin sleeping bags that were so wet and cold all the deer hair had fallen off. Yet they all lived. Their survival attributed to the leadership skills of Ernest Shackleton.
Shackelton was an adventurer at heart. His first trip to Antarctica was with Robert Falcon Scott in 1901. He was knighted by King Edward VII for being part of the Antarctica team who broke major exploration records between 1907 and 1909. He didn’t fair well when not exploring and while back in England after the fated Endurance expedition. He was restless and decided he wanted to go to war in 1917. Too old to be sent to the French front, which was where he wanted to be, he performed other duties for the government during the war years. Shackelton died of a heart attack in 1922, heavily in debt but heading off on another Antarctic adventure.
The actual photos of the expedition included in the book and seen online were taken by Frank Hurley. They are haunting black and white prints that indicate a talented eye for detail. After surviving the expedition, Hurley went on to be the official photographer with Australian forces for both world wars. He died in 1962.
I don’t know if you will find this as fascinating as I did; but if you did, I highly recommend the book. It is a much better read than the dry stuff on Wikipedia. There are details that you won’t find anywhere else and that you could have never have imagined yourself. It is a true story that is almost unbelievable. It is also a story that will make you appreciate all the comforts we take for granted. So if you do decide to read it, let me know what you think.
Thank you for reading.
Photos: Header – Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust; Ship in ice – Frank Hurley, expedition photographer; Book Cover – Chapters/Indigo
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I read this book a while ago, but I think I need to read it again. You, on the other hand, need to get into book reviews, you do it very well!
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Thanks. Perhaps I will start tossing in a book review every once in a while. Especially for good books.
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I’m with you – I wouldn’t even want to go there with modern clothing. Ugh!
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Yes very brrrrr! I have such a narrow comfort zone when it comes to temperature. I wouldn’t survive at the equator either.
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Talking to Number 2 son in Toronto, I wouldn’t do well in Canada either. -)
In my first winter in Africa I noticed how cold I felt and then realised that it was 70F/21C – summer in UK and I was wearing a jumper after just six months of acclimatisation.
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My brothers and I talked about this last weekend on our Zoom call. I’m going to send them this post, Jenn. Thank you for doing the legwork to research the Shackleton story.
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You’re welcome. Thanks for reading and sharing it.
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I found this fascinating as well. Watched a documentary about it a few years back and now to find the wreck in such perfect shape? Haunting…
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Very haunting.
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I agree; Endurance was a fascinating book. those were some tough guys, and as you note, they had a great leader…
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It was quite the adventure.
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You should also look for the book ‘The Worst Journey in the World’ by Cherry Garand ( I might have the spelling wrong). It’s not always well written, but the first person story takes you through some incredible experiences. Maggie
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Thanks. I will look into it. I am always looking for a new and interesting read.
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Hasn’t she survived well at the bottom of the sea after all these years!
I have the book ‘South’ about the same expedition – in fact, I’ve just re-read it. It also covers what happened to the other team who were part of the expedition but not on the Endurance. Fascinating tale indeed – and they must have been really tough both physically and mentally to endure what they did for more than a year! I hate even the thought of severe cold and I’m sure I wouldn’t survive it for long – cold really weakens me.
It was sad to read at the end of ‘South’ how many of those brave men died just after in the war!
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I couldn’t imagine surviving those conditions for a week let alone a year. I am a wimp. They were certainly brave. It is sad about so many lost to the war after all that.
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I felt really sorry for them – they went more or less as soon as they got back from their ordeal in the Antarctic! But they did ‘choose’ to go I suppose (although they would have felt that they ought to).
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I’m agreeing with “Back Roads” (above), in that you should do more book reviews. This was nicely intriguing, drawing us in with salient points, without getting as dry and snooty as some book reviewers do. (I don’t care about the use of “third-person transgressive” or whatever in the third chapter; I just want to know if it’s a good read or not.) Well done.
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Thanks. I may consider more book discussion posts since I always have a book on the go.
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Oh yes. They would have to be books I like. I wouldn’t want to get snooty.
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This is fascinating. I was sort of aware of the Endurance and its discovery. I didn’t know the details, but now I’m curious of course. Thanks for posting this.
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You’re welcome. I is very interesting. The book was also very interesting. .
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