Pin-sharp and taken with a true photographer’s eye, the shots (many slides had to be left on the Endurance) capture the fiendishly cold bleakness of Antarctica, and it’s easy to see that here was a force to be reckoned with. The story alone is beyond wonder, and has the line that if someone had made it up, it wouldn’t have been thought possible.īut what makes this story – and this book – are the wonderful photographs taken by appointed photographer Frank Hurley. “Wonderful photographs”īlame the ice, not the leader of the expedition, as it was much worse than had been anticipated, and there was no choice but to abandon the venture and make for home.
Packed into the steam-powered ship Endurance, which was little more than 140 feet long, the 22-strong crew pooled their talents and propelled South, but caught in seriously heavy ice – much more than had been expected – had to abandon their vessel. The journey, by sea to the Antarctic ice floes was an expedition in itself, a mix of classes, backgrounds and skills united in the desire to be the first to conquer the South Pole. Psychologists would no doubt have a field day in studying the man who was able to get so much out of his crew.
Shackleton’s failure to reach the South Pole has never truly been seen as anything near a disaster, thanks to the truly heroic rescuing of his crew as they battled their way home. Exploring Antarctica & Surviving Drake Hurricane Crossing Travel Guide
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