Shackleton, Huntford - B+, Inc.

                      Ernest Shackleton was born on Feb. 15, 1874 to an Anglo-Irish family in County Kildare. He moved to a London suburb when he was a boy. He went to sea at 16. He sailed in a square-rigger and signed up for the officers' apprenticeship program. In 1894, he shipped out for five years in the Far East as a 4th mate. When back in London in 1899, he signed up for the National Antarctic Expedition. He was ambitious and bored in the mercantile service. The 'Discovery' sailed under the command of Robert Scott in August, 1901. At 77. 50 S, the ship set in for the Antarctic winter. Scott chose Shackleton and the ship's physician, Edward Wilson, to accompany him south in the spring. They were woefully unprepared, unfamiliar with snow, unable to ski, and incapable of managing dogs. They headed south on Nov. 2. Their diet was inappropriate and their clothing ill designed. Suffering from scurvy and with Scott and Shackleton bickering, they turned back on Dec. 30. They had achieved 82. 15 S. It took a month to return to the ship. All three were ill, but Shackleton was close to death. Scott invalided him home on a visiting whaler while the 'Discovery' stayed another year. Shackleton's goal was to get rich quickly and he participated in a number of failed endeavors. Thankfully, in 1907, he was able to raise the funds and organize another venture to the Antarctic. He believed that fame would bring fortune. He consulted with noted Norwegian explorer, Fritzhof Nansen, and ignored all of his advice. He planned on man-hauling, eschewed skis and dogs and decided to bring horses and a car. The 'Nimrod' sailed in August 1907 one step ahead of growing list of creditors. Five wearying months later, the ship dropped off the shore party at Discovery Point and returned to New Zealand. Winter passed and the two month preparation for the march to the pole began in August. On Oct. 29, he and three hand picked colleagues headed south. In less than a month, they surpassed Scott's furthest south. In early December, the last horse perished. They were now on the polar plateau, having climbed up the 10,000 foot mountain, but were fading. Their clothes and equipment were failing to keep them warm. They had reduced their daily caloric intake, and were suffering from altitude sickness.  They were three-quarters of the way to the pole on New Years' Day. They knew they could not make it and return in time. So they decided to push on in an attempt to get within 100 miles of their objective. On Jan. 9, 1909, at 88. 23 S and 97 miles from the pole, they turned back and faced a 730 mile race to safety. Weakened and traveling from depot to depot, they once went 40 hours without food. They reached safety on Feb. 28. Shackleton returned home a national hero, was knighted by the king, and the government granted him twenty-thousand pounds to defray the expedition's  debts.

                  Most of the rest of this book deals with the incredible tale of the 'Endurance' and like many others, I read a magnificent book on that about a decade ago. Furthermore, I am reading a paperback with very small print that blurs after about an hour. Consequently, this volume will not be completed by me. 

                 Shackleton's leadership after the 'Endurance' sank is the reason for his fame and renown a century later. A television show of it with Kenneth Branagh was released in 2002. That same year, Shackleton was voted the 11th greatest Briton in a BBC poll. He led the crew in an epic struggle to survive. They camped out on an ice floe for two months. They launched their lifeboats and sailed 346 miles to Elephant Island. They then sailed 720 miles to South Georgia Island. Shackleton marched across the island to find the help necessary to rescue his crew. Every man survived. They returned home to the UK in the spring of 1917. He died a few years later of a heart attack on another trip to South Georgia. Ironically, part of the reason for the resurgence of Shackleton in the public eye isa  book written by this author in the 1970's. In 'The Last Place On Earth', Huntford treated Scott's failed expedition that led to his death with such disdain in contrast to Amundsen's successful outing, that Scott's popularity in the UK plummeted and Shackleton's rose in its place.