Endurance- Alfred Lansing
Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage
After failing to be with the first expedition to reach the South Pole, Ernest Shackleton committed himself to be the leader of the first expedition to walk across the Antarctic continent.
Setting off in a ship called the Endurance in 1914, Shackleton and his crew found themselves in serious trouble when they become trapped in the ice floes of the Weddell sea. Eventually the power of the ice crushed the ship and members of the expedition were forced to watch their makeshift home sink to the bottom of the ocean, leaving the men stranded on the ice.
After living on the ice floes for over a year the expedition was finally able to paddle to Elephant Island where the men were happy to be on solid ground but were still in grave danger as they were surrounded by shear cliffs and glaciers.
Understanding their perilous situation Shackleton and a small crew of five sailed through the treacherous Drake Passage and landed on South Georgia Island. After finding themselves on the opposite side of the island from the inhabited whaling station, Shackleton and two of his men made the first successful land crossing of the island.
After rescuing the two men on the far side of South Georgia Island it took Shackleton three more months to complete a successful rescue mission to his 20+ men on Elephant Island. Miraculously, after 1 year and 9 months of being lost at sea and living stranded on the rocky inlet of an almost uninhabitable island the expedition came to a joyous end with zero casualties.
Ernest Shackleton was an incredible leader and felt a great sense of responsibility for his men and the expedition’s financial sponsors. Without his will and determination they may have never been heard from again.
I love books that demonstrate the strength of the human will to live. This theme is well illustrated in books like Endurance, Year of Wonders, The Dove Keepers, The Long Walk, 127 hours, Unbroken, Down River, and Adrift.
Historical Value- 4
Emotional Value- 3
Entertainment Value- 3
Personal character value- 4
Age recommendation- Adult
Emotional Value- 3
Entertainment Value- 3
Personal character value- 4
Age recommendation- Adult
