Ernest Shackleton

Ernest Shackleton was an Anglo-Irish explorer who is famous for his Arctic voyages, and for being a total badass. He made a number of trips south, including one in which he and his team made it a 100 or so miles from the South Pole. This was the closest anyone had gotten, and Shackleton would be knighted for his efforts. Soon enough he adventured south again on what was called the the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914-17. This disastrous and amazing tale is the focus of Shackleton's book South, a work of non-fiction whose thrilling adventure rivals the most vividly written fiction.After Shackleton's earlier voyages he had a knack for fundraising, so upon securing about $4M in today's money, he enlisted a crew of 56 men. The fated Endurance would be the main ship, while the vessels James Caird and Aurora would serve as support ships. Disaster struck the expedition when the Endurance became trapped in pack ice, and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could land.

South

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

"Shackleton's South is one of the great books of exploration. written by a national hero, about what he called 'the last great journey on earth'; his Antarctic expedition in which then Rndurance was crushed by the ice, and he and his men made a 600-mile trek across ice and ocean to solid land, and then a 700-mile journey in an open boat to South Georgia, followed by an epic crossing of the uncharted mountains of that island. His account is superbly written, and the book has never ceased to enthral readers since it was first published in 1919. Since that time, however, Shackleton's life - and his account of the expedition - have been dramatically revalued by scholars and biographers, and it emerges that South conceals much of the truth about his great feat. In this edition Peter King, who has examined the latest research on the entire episode, presents in his additional notes a mch more detailed picture of what really occurred. In addition, the book contains over a hundred beautifully produced photographs by Frank Hurley, the official photgraphers of the expedition as well as other contemporary illustrations."

The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917

Jayme Cochrane

I really got sucked into this book. It's (barely) adapted from Shackleton's journal, so much of it is the day-to-day tedium of just walking, cooking, and trying to survive. I was captivated, it's some of the best descriptions of the limits of human endurance I've ever read.

South

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