Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Softcover

Alfred Lansing

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0246123087 ISBN 13: 9780246123084

Publisher: Grafton Books, 1984

Synopsis

In August 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew set sail from England for Antarctica, where Shackleton hoped to be the first man to cross the uncharted continent on foot. Five months later, the Endurance - just a day's sail short of its destination - became locked in an island of ice, and its destiny and men became locked in history. For ten months the ice-moored Endurance drifted until it was finally crushed, and Shackleton and his crew made an 850-mile journey in a 20-foot craft through the South Atlantic's worst seas to reach an outpost of civilization. Inspired by the ordeal that Time magazine said "defined heroism," author Alfred Lansing conducted interviews with the crew's surviving members and pored over diaries and personal accounts to create his best-selling book on the miraculous voyage. In Audio Partners' abridged recording of Endurance, reader Patrick Malahide renders a masterful portrayal of these courageous men.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

'A superb account of the greatest survival story of our time' - Chris Bonington The story of Ernest Shackleton's epic journey to cross the Antarctic overland has now been turned into four hours of gripping television with Kenneth Branagh playing Shackleton.

Shackleton's mission failed, but the resulting adventure became one of the most celebrated accounts of man's survival against unbelievable odds.

In August 1914 the Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October 1915, still half a continent away from their objective, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. Twelve hundred miles away from land, drifting on ice packs, Shackleton and his men survived the next five months on a diet of dogs, penguins and seals. When the ship eventually sank they were forced to escape by lifeboat. Shackleton then travelled another 850 miles in an open boat across the stormiest ocean in the world to reach help. Every single man got home safely.

Miraculously, throughout this ordeal, the expedition's photographer, Frank Hurley, protected his negatives and photographs from destruction. It is these extraordinary photographs that are among those produced in this illustrated edition of Alfred Lansing's harrowing and inspiring classic.

About the Author

Alfred Lansing (1921-1975), a native of Chicago, was a journalist and writer. After serving in the Navy, he majored in journalism at Northwestern University. He edited a weekly newspaper until 1949, then joined the United Press, and in 1952 became a freelance writer.

Simon Prebble, a British-born performer, is a stage and television actor and veteran narrator of some three hundred audiobooks. As one of AudioFile's Golden Voices, he has received over twenty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie in 2010. He lives in New York.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grafton Books
• Publication date: 1984
• ISBN 10: 0246123087
• ISBN 13: 9780246123084
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 302