Great Endeavour: Ireland's Antarctic Explorers - Hardcover

Michael Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1848890230 ISBN 13: 9781848890237

Publisher: The Collins Press, 2010

Synopsis

The Irish have left an indelible mark in the most hostile territory on earth, Antarctica. It was the Irish who pioneered a route to the Antarctic and whose adventures 100 years ago gripped the attention of the world. Their contribution is now told in a single volume celebrating their amazing exploits. The earliest voyages to the Antarctic ice are saluted with due consideration given to present-day adventurers who have taken up the torch. Quotations from first-hand accounts, photographs of the intrepid men, relics, medals, and sites enhance the poignant text. Explorers included are: * Cork-born Bransfield, Forde and Keohane as well as the only pair of brothers to explore the Antarctic, the McCarthys from Kinsale. * Banbridge man, Francis Crozier * Ernest Shackleton from Kildare * Kerryman Tom Crean. * Mike Barry from Kerry, the first Irishman to walk to the South Pole * Clare O'Leary, from Bandon, the first Irishwoman to do so * Mark Pollock, from Down, was the first blind person to trek to the pole. The great Amundsen wrote Shackleton's name would 'for evermore be engraved with letters of fire in the history of Antarctic exploration'. He might well have been speaking of Ireland.

About this title

Review:

'One of the most inspiring books - compulsive reading' --The Irish Times

About the Author:

Michael Smith, a former journalist, is an established authority on Polar exploration. His other books are An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor (2000, 2009), I Am Just Going Outside, a biography of Captain Oates (2202), Polar Crusader about Sir James Wordie (2004), Tom Crean - An Illustrated Life (2006, 2013), Captain Francis Crozier (2006, 2014), Great Endeavour - Ireland's Antarctic Explorers (2010) and Shackleton - By Endurance We Conquer (2014). An Unsung Hero was shortlisted for the Banff Mountain Book Festival and Tom Crean - An Illustrated Life was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards 2007. Michael contributes to TV and radio documentaries and lectures on polar history at venues such as Buckingham Palace, Royal Geographical Society and National Museum of Ireland. Before becoming a full-time writer Michael was a business and political journalist with The Guardian and The Observer. He lives in East Sussex.

About this edition

• Publisher: The Collins Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1848890230
• ISBN 13: 9781848890237
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 340