Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Host Justin McAfee

Amazing! Highly educational.

Endurance is an apt name for this book. What an amazing story of fortitude, attitude and surviving. I don't like it when I have to be out in the cold (think 40 degrees) for just a short time -- these guys ALL lived through two years of being outside in below freezing weather facing unimaginable obstacles.

2016 is the centennial of this party's rescue. I'm so glad I read this book this year to commemorate.

In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest Shackleton boarded the Endurance and set sail for Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent on foot. In January 18,1915, after battling its way through a thousand miles of pack ice and only a day's sail short of its destination, the Endurance became locked in an island of ice and begins drifting with the ice pack. Thus began the legendary ordeal of Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men. When the ship was finally crushed between two ice floes on October 27, 1915 abandon ship was ordered, (Endurance sank November 21, 1915). The crew attempted a near-impossible journey over 850 miles of the South Atlantic's heaviest seas, riding ice floes and open ocean to the closest outpost of civilization. At the mercy of the powerful ocean currents Shackleton hoped the ice floe would travel north to safety. The climate was cold and unforgiving; the crew camped on ice floes, surviving on local wildlife and eventually even ate their own dogs to survive. April 15, 1916: Crew launches lifeboats and travel over ice floes and ocean to finally reach Elephant Island after 497 days out of contact with civilization. April 24, 1916: Shackleton and five others set sail in the 22-foot lifeboat James Caird to seek rescue. May 10, 1916: James Caird lands on South Georgia Island and successfully took a treacherous hike to the Stromness whaling station on the North coast of the island. August 30, 1916: Sir Ernest, aboard the Chilean ship Yelco rescues the 22 men on Elephant island. A very interesting journey, well documented, well written. I was able to feel the cold just as the characters did. I was quite impressed by Ernest Shackleton and his leadership skills. He spent many days stranded on ice floes at the mercy of the cold weather, the ocean currents, food issuers etc. and never did he seem flustered. I don't know if this was of the author's doing or how it really occurred. However I applaud Ernest Shackleton's leadership skills and the discipline of his crew. All 28 crew survived the journey. Without this leadership the results would not have been as favorable

I was intrigued the author had access to the survivors and diaries, etc. His descriptions are so en pointe I could imagine sights and sounds and at times feel I was there. However, his writing style is reminiscent of a different time in the evolution of language, or maybe I’m just being dramatic. On one hand the writing style meant there wasn’t a lot of emotion (or perhaps the survivor interviews and reference materials didn’t convey it), and on the other hand some ENDURANCE was required to slog through the book. As the crew slogged and fought through the experience, perhaps. The roundabout sentence construction meant I was continually highlighting to pull out and keep track of exactly what was occurring both weather-wise and people-wise. You don’t need to say both two days and 48 hours in the same sentence to convey the same length of time. I read the ebook and it was annoying to see photos in the middle of the book that preceded the action. Spoilers not appreciated! Still- highly recommend this book. I’m off to be sad they all mostly had to go to war after this and then check out the recent documentary.