A glorious failure, Ernest Shackleton's attempt to become the first to cross Antarctica on foot turned into one of the all-time survival stories. Weaving a tortuous path through the freezing Weddel Sea, Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven came within eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, ENDURANCE, was trapped fast in the ice pack. Soon the ship was crushed like matchwood, leaving the crew stranded on the floes. Thus began the precarious retreat to civilization, highlighted by Shackleton's 800-mile voyage in an open lifeboat across the world's stormiest sea to South Georgia Island. Drawing upon previously unavailable sources, Caroline Alexander gives us an unflinching account of Shackleton's expedition - recreating the terrible beauty of Antarctica, the awful destruction of the ship, and the crew's heroic struggle to stay alive.
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