Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

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First edition
(publ. Hodder & Stoughton)

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, is a 1959 book written by

Sir Ernest Shackleton, in its attempt to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914.[1]

Synopsis

The book details the almost two-year struggle for survival endured by the twenty-eight man crew of the exploration ship

South Georgia Island
650 nautical miles away, their boat barely making landfall in a sinking condition. Shackleton then led two of those men on the first successful overland crossing of South Georgia. Three months later, he was finally able to rescue the remaining crew members they had left behind on Elephant Island.

Development

Virtually every diary kept during the expedition was made available to the author, and almost all the surviving members at the time of writing submitted to lengthy interviews. The most significant contribution came from Dr. Alexander Macklin, one of the ship's surgeons, who provided Lansing with many diaries, a detailed account of the perilous journey the crew made to Elephant Island, and months of advice.[2]

Publication history

  • Lansing, Alfred. (1999) 2nd ed. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage.
    ISBN 0-7867-0621-X

Accuracy

The carpenter, Harry McNish, was a crucial part of the expedition and a member of the six men crew that sailed to South Georgia for help. Lansing consistently calls him “old McNish”, giving his age at the start of the expedition, in 1914, to be 56 years. Some months later it is informed to be 57. Lansing also states that McNish was more than twice the average age of the rest of the crew. However, McNish was 40 years old when the expedition started.[3][4][5][6] Five of the Personnel of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition were older, including Shackleton. The average age was 31.

See also

References

  1. ^ Sullivan, Walter (April 19, 1959). “The Hero Was Man". The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  2. ^ Preface, acknowledgements, Basic Books, 2007.
  3. ^ "The Greenockian: Harry McNish, Port Glasgow Hero". 18 August 2016.
  4. ^ "HMS Endurance Tracking Project". Archived from the original on 9 February 2006.
  5. ^ "Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge » Meet the pioneers".
  6. ^ Harry McNish grave nzhistory.govt.nz

Further reading

  • Pritchett, V., & Lansing, A. (1959). “Review”. Scientific American, 201(1), pp. 167–168. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
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