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Shackleton

Explorer. Leader. Legend.

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Brought to you by Penguin.
The enthralling new biography of Ernest Shackleton by the world's greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes.
To write about Hell, it helps if you have been there.
In 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton's attempt to traverse the Antarctic was cut short when his ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice.
The disaster left Shackleton and his men alone at the frozen South Pole, fighting for their lives.
Their survival and escape is the most famous adventure in history.
Shackleton is an engaging new account of the adventurer, his life and his incredible leadership under the most extreme of circumstances. Written by polar adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes who followed in Shackleton's footsteps, he brings his own unique insights to bear on these infamous expeditions. Shackleton is both re-appraisal and a valediction, separating the man from the myth he has become.
Praise for Sir Ranulph Fiennes:
'The World's Greatest Living Explorer' - Guinness Book of Records
'Full of awe-inspiring details of hardship, resolve and weather that defies belief, told by someone of unique authority. No one is more tailor-made to tell [this] story than Sir Ranulph Fiennes' - Newsday
'Fiennes' own experiences certainly allow him to write vividly and with empathy of the hell that the men went through' - The Sunday Times
© Ranulph Fiennes 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 25, 2021
      Explorer Fiennes (Cold) draws on his own experiences in Antarctica in this sympathetic if somewhat dry biography of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1921). Fiennes contends that Shackleton's first two expeditions to Antarctica "helped pave the way for Amundsen and Scott to reach the South Pole," and recounts in detail the 1914-1917 Endurance expedition, when Shackleton's ship was crushed by ice and he saved his entire crew by sailing a lifeboat across 800 miles of "grey and desolate sea" and traversing South Georgia island to get help. Fiennes also defends Shackleton against accusations of being a poor planner, and notes that his own journey across the Antarctic continent in 1993 followed the route Shackleton intended to take on the Endurance expedition. Details of Shackleton's early life in Ireland and England reveal how he dreamed from a young age "of becoming a hero... feted far and wide," while discussions of the challenges he faced in raising funds and finding crew members showcase his fierce will and powers of persuasion. Though Fiennes's admiration shines through, frequent asides about his own expeditions are more distracting than insightful, and the prose doesn't quite capture the drama of polar exploration. Still, this is a thorough record of Shackleton's successes and failures.

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  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

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