Caroline Alexander
Hardcover | Pages: 224 pages Rating: 4.32 | 18818 Users | 510 Reviews
Details Epithetical Books The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
| Title | : | The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition |
| Author | : | Caroline Alexander |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 224 pages |
| Published | : | November 3rd 1998 by Knopf |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Adventure. Biography. Travel |
Chronicle As Books The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
In August 1914, days before the outbreak of the First World War, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail for the South Atlantic in pursuit of the last unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. Weaving a treacherous path through the freezing Weddell Sea, they had come within eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped fast in the ice pack. Soon the ship was crushed like matchwood, leaving the crew stranded on the floes. Their ordeal would last for twenty months, and they would make two near-fatal attempts to escape by open boat before their final rescue.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 has never before been 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 cannisters 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; he captured some of the most unforgettable images of the struggle with a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film.
Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History's landmark exhibition on Shackleton's journey, The Endurance thrillingly recounts one of the last great adventures in the Heroic Age of exploration--perhaps the greatest of them all.
Describe Books Supposing The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
| Original Title: | The Endurance: Shackleton's legendary Antarctic expedition |
| ISBN: | 0375404031 (ISBN13: 9780375404030) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Audie Award for Nonfiction, Abridged (2000), ALA Alex Award (1999) |
Rating Epithetical Books The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
Ratings: 4.32 From 18818 Users | 510 ReviewsCriticize Epithetical Books The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition
As a big fan of Alfred Lansing's version of the story, I had to read this one too. It is a worthy complement to Lansing's "Endurance" and contains a great deal more detail on some situations, interpersonal relations and the psychological impact on the men who went through this incredible experience - all stuff that Lansing tactfully omits. Added to that, there are many more of Frank Hurley's dazzling photographs. I would recommend reading this in addition to Lansing's work.I first read Capt. Frank Worsley's first-hand account of the expedition & was thoroughly fascinated by his telling of this amazing & actually horrifying ordeal in the Antarctic. Wanting to know more, I then began Shackleton's "South" as an e-book -without photos- & was wishing there were photos to show me what they were talking about. Then I chanced upon this book by Caroling Alexander at my neighborhood public library. Bullseye! In this book, Alexander has compiled all the pictures
Endurance is certainly the word that should be used to describe the way Shackleton and his men kept going in the most difficult of conditions.He and a crew of 27 set sail in the ship 'Endurance' in August 1914 bound for the South Atlantic with the intention of being the first men to cross Antartica. Within 80 miles of their destination the ship became trapped in the pack ice and their endurance began. The 'Endurance' itself was a safe haven for them for some time but then it was crushed in the
For some reason, I find myself obsessed with books about Antarctic and Arctic exploration in the final years before radio and telegraph. This story is thrilling. The photos taken on the expedition (included in the book) are amazing. I really felt like I got to know these guys. Reading their story made me appreciate the abundance of food in our kitchen, hot water in our bathroom, and clean clothes! Shackleton was an incredible leader, evidenced by the fact that he didn't lose a single member of
Although my favorite book on Shackleton's expedition is Alfred Lansing's account, this is also an excellent version. Focusing on the diverse members of the crew, Alexander creates vivid portraits of each man, revealing the camaraderie and toughness that undoubtedly contributed to their survival. The main narrative is interspersed with extracts from the crew's journals, and there is of course a portrayal of Shackleton himself, a truly gifted leader. As the author noted, "At the core of
the only reason that i'm giving this 4 stars instead of 5 is because i'm comparing it to alfred lansing's version. that is the version to read for an intimate telling of the ordeal. alexander's version is amazing, but more of a bird's eye approach. i loved that she included so many background details. her story started before the ship set sail and ended long after the men were rescued - telling what happened to each man, individually, for the remainder of their lives. i also loved how many
There have been a lot of books on the Shackleton expedition - including Alfred Lansing's 1959 classic Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - but this is an absolutely outstanding addition to that list, for at least two excellent reasons. But first, let's just reconsider exactly what we're talking about here. Shackleton's story is not just one epic tale of survival - it's more like six separate and equally incredible tales linked back to back:- Surviving the antarctic winter trapped aboard
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