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Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922)

Author of South: The Endurance Expedition

27+ Works 2,610 Members 54 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Disambiguation Notice:

Please do not combine this author page with the E. H. Shackleton author page, (as there is another author called E. H. Shackleton), nor with any form of the name Lord Shackleton, as that refers to Ernest's son Edward.

Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)

Works by Ernest Shackleton

South: The Endurance Expedition (1919) 1,939 copies, 43 reviews
Aurora Australis (1986) 64 copies, 1 review
Shackleton (1983) 35 copies
Shackleton's Antarctica 19 copies, 2 reviews

Associated Works

The Mammoth Book of Travel in Dangerous Places (1991) — Contributor — 183 copies, 1 review
Ice: Stories of Survival from Polar Exploration (1999) — Contributor — 62 copies
The Book of the Sea (1954) — Contributor — 38 copies
The Best Sea Stories (1986) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Penguin Book of the Ocean (2010) — Contributor — 20 copies
Great Sea Stories of Modern Times (1953) — Contributor — 6 copies
Stories of the Sea — Contributor — 4 copies

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Legal name
Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry
Other names
Shackleton, Sir Ernest
Birthdate
1874-02-15
Date of death
1922-01-05
Burial location
Norwegian Cemetery, Grytviken, South Georgia
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Country (for map)
Ireland
Birthplace
Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland, UK
Cause of death
atheroma of the coronary arteries
Places of residence
County Kildare, Ireland, UK
Dublin, Ireland, UK
Sydenham, England, UK
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
London, England, UK
Education
Dulwich College, London
Occupations
Antarctic explorer
mercantile marine
Lieutenant, Royal Naval Reserve
Major, British Army
Master Mariner
journalist (show all 7)
public lecturer
Relationships
Leadbeater, Mary (great-greataunt)
Shackleton, Edward (son - Lord Shackleton)
Organizations
British Army
Royal Navy Reserves
National Antarctic Expedition
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
British Antarctic Expedition
Imperial Trans-Arctic Expedition (show all 8)
North Russia Expeditionary Force
Shackleton-Rowlett Expedition
Awards and honors
Royal Victorian Order, 4th class (1907), Commander (1909)
Knighthood (1909)
Polar Metal ( [1904, 1909, 1917])
Vega Medal (1910)
Royal Geographical Society, Gold Medal (1909)
Order of the British Empire (1919)
Short biography
Wrote "O.H.M.S. An Illustrated Record of the Voyage of S.S. Tintagel Castle" as a young man. Served under Scott on Discovery on the British National Antarctic Expedition and accompanied Scott to attain the then furthest south. Attained a new furthest south, commanding his own expedition in the Nimrod, and recorded his experiences in "The Heart of the Antarctic" and edited and contributed to a book printed in the Antarctic "Aurora Australis". His best known expedition was to be a transcontinental traverse of Antarctica but his ship, the Endurance, was crush in the ice and he never made landfall. He and his men lived on ice floes and eventually took a perilous journey in small boats to make landfall. Shacklton then led a much smaller party in a single small boat through the roughest seas on earth and crossed an uncharted mountainous island to reach help. His record of this epic struggle for survival is presented in his book "South".

Served as an officer under Captain Scott on the Discovery expedition (British National Antarctic Expedition) in which he accompanied Scott to the then furthest south. Organized his own expedition on the ship Nimrod and attained a new furthest south record and his story of the expedition was published as "The Heart of the Antarctic." Then, after Scott died on his return trip from the south pole, Shackleton organized his best known expedition on the Endurance to attempt a first transcontinental crossing of Antarctica. The Endurance was crushed in the polar ice, he never reached land, but he brought his men through a brutal and dangerous test of endurance living on ice floes. Eventually he survived an epic small boat trip through the roughest seas on earth and a crossing of uncharted mountains to bring help to his stranded men and tells his tale in the book "South." Also edited and contributed to "Aurora Austrialis" printed in the Antarctic and as a young man wrote "O.H.M.S. An Illustrated Record of the Voyage of S.S. 'Tintagel Castle'.
Disambiguation notice
Please do not combine this author page with the E. H. Shackleton author page, (as there is another author called E. H. Shackleton), nor with any form of the name Lord Shackleton, as that refers to Ernest's son Edward.

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New LE: Aurora Australis in Folio Society Devotees (March 2022)

Reviews

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/south-the-illustrated-story-of-shackletons-last-...

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1915-18 ended in failure, but gloriously documented failure. Ernest Shackleton planned to lead a party across Antartica via the South Pole, from the Weddell Sea south of the Atlantic to the Ross Sea south of the Pacific, to meet up with a second group based there. Disaster struck; both ships got stuck in the ice and were eventually destroyed; Shackleton led his own crew to precarious shelter on Elephant Island, off the Antarctic coast, and then undertook a 1300 km journey in an open boat to South Georgia to secure rescue; amazingly, all of the Weddell Sea group survived. (All of the humans, that is; the dogs and the ship’s cat were not so lucky.) Another rescue party then had to go and find the Ross Sea party, three of whom had died in the meantime. They returned to civilisation to find that the war, which had broken out just before their departure with promises that it would end quickly, was still raging, and most of the expedition members dispersed to join the forces.

The 100th anniversary edition of Shackleton’s expedition report is beautifully illustrated with the many photographs taken on the spot, including the poignant moment when the Edncurance slipped below the ice of the Weddell Sea (to be found 106 years later). Shackleton’s diaries, always intended for publication, are vivid about the difficulties faced by his group, and the extraordinary challenges of the punishing environment. The Ross Sea group’s records are less detailed, and it’s pretty clear that Aeneas Mackintosh, the leader, lost his nerve at quite an early stage, and eventually died in a futile attempt to cross the ice of McMurdo Sound. But these were very tough circumstances.

What really struck me was the confidence that Shackleton in particular had about navigation. The South Pole is really just a dot on the map, but he was sure that if he had landed he would find it, and there was no doubt in his mind that he would find the Ross Sea team once he crossed the continent. He writes of supply depots left by previous expeditions that he locates and uses. In particular, I’m stunned by the navigational feat of finding South Georgia in the vast ocean.

One does have to wonder what it was all for? The scientific advances made were minimal, and the expenditure of resources huge, not to mention the fact that lives were lost. Fifty years later, the space race attracted greater resources and press coverage, but one senses the same kind of drive for exploration behind it. Shackleton himself died on South Georgia in the early stages of another expedition in 1922 aged 47, of a heart attack brought on by stress. I guess the story of the expedition, doomed as it was, is a compelling record anyway.
… (more)
 
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nwhyte | 42 other reviews | Nov 16, 2024 |
 
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tinabuchanan | 42 other reviews | Nov 13, 2024 |
 
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tinabuchanan | 42 other reviews | Oct 4, 2024 |
As I am building the model of the Endurance, I must at least try to read this account of the entire expedition including the amazing survival story of the whole crew.
 
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derailer | 42 other reviews | May 6, 2024 |

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Works
27
Also by
10
Members
2,610
Popularity
#9,844
Rating
4.0
Reviews
54
ISBNs
185
Languages
8
Favorited
1

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