The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition - Softcover

Caroline Alexander

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1526708787 ISBN 13: 9781526708786

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing, 2017

Synopsis

Drawing upon previously unavailable sources, Caroline Alexander gives us a riveting account of Shackleton's expedition one of history's greatest epics of survival. And she presents the astonishing work of Frank Hurley, the Australian photographer whose visual record of the adventure was never before published comprehensively. Together, text and image re-create the terrible beauty of Antarctica, the awful destruction of the ship, and the crew's heroic daily struggle to stay alive, a miracle achieved largely through Shackleton's inspiring leadership. The survival of Hurley's remarkable images is scarcely less miraculous: The original glass plate negatives, from which most of the book's illustrations are superbly reproduced, were stored in hermetically sealed canisters that survived months on the ice floes, a week in an open boat on the polar seas, and several more months buried in the snows of a rocky outcrop called Elephant Island. Finally, Hurley was forced to abandon his professional equipment; thereafter he captured some of the most unforgettable images of the struggle with a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film.

About this title

Review:

Melding superb research and the extraordinary expedition photography of Frank Hurley, The Endurance by Caroline Alexander is a stunning work of history, adventure, and art which chronicles "one of the greatest epics of survival in the annals of exploration." Setting sail as World War I broke out in Europe, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, hoped to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But their ship, Endurance, was trapped in the drifting pack ice, eventually to splinter, leaving the expedition stranded on floes--a situation that seemed "not merely desperate but impossible."

Most skillfully Alexander constructs the expedition's character through its personalities--the cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crew--with aid from many previously unavailable journals and documents. We learn, for instance, that carpenter and shipwright Henry McNish, or "Chippy," was "neither sweet-tempered nor tolerant," and that Mrs. Chippy, his cat, was "full of character." Such firsthand descriptions, paired with 170 of Frank Hurley's intimate photographs, which are comprehensively assembled here for the first time, penetrate the hulls of the Endurance and these tough men. The account successfully reveals the seldom-seen domestic world of expedition life--the singsongs, feasts, lectures, camaraderie--so that when the hardships set in, we know these people beyond the stereotypical guise of mere explorers and long for their safety.

Alexander reveals Shackleton as an inspiring optimist, "a leader who put his men first." Throughout the gruelling ordeal, Shackleton and his men show what endurance and greatness are all about. The Endurance is a most intimate portrait of an expedition and of survival. Readers will possess a New-found respect for these daring souls, know better their unthinkable toil and half-forgotten realm of glory. --Byron Ricks, Amazon.com

About the Author:

CAROLINE ALEXANDER is a professional writer who has contributed to many of the world s most prestigious magazines. She is also the author of four previous books, and was the curator of an exhibition on the Shackleton expedition that toured the USA to great acclaim.

About this edition

• Publisher: Seaforth Publishing
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1526708787
• ISBN 13: 9781526708786
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224