The Shackleton Voyages

This pictorial anthology celebrates the life of Ernest Shackleton, a major protagonist in the heroic age of Antarctic exploration at the beginning of the twentieth century. He is best known for his legendary third expedition 'Endurance', but Shackleton also undertook three other expeditions. each enthralling in its own way but none achieving the goal it set out to reach. Charm, charismatic leadership and dogged determination ensured Shackleton became a hero in his own lifetime.Each chapter explores a period of Shackleton's life and is introduced by Roland Huntford's illuminating text and accompanied by a host of photographs, drawings and diary extracts, many hitherto unpublished. Shackleton's restless, independent spirit suffered early and his wit and courage captivated and inspired financial backers as well as his 'men' during the bleakest of moments. When he lost the race to the South Pole, first to the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen in 1911 and then to his arch rival Captain Scott in 1912, he set his sights on crossing Antarctica. Once again he failed, but he turned disaster into success by returning with all the men under his command alive. After a couple of years of slaving lecturing and writing to pay off his debts in the downbeat post-war years, he raised the funds and enthusiasm for a final expedition 'Quest'. A romantic to the end, as 'Quest' reached South Georgia, he died of a heart attack, aged only forty-seven.However, his death lacked the glory of Scott's death; only recently has Shackleton's reputation emerged from Scott's shadow. Shackleton never forgave Scott for invaliding him home after their attempt to reach the South Pole in 1902-3; in part this anger was the driving force behind Shackleton's repeated expeditions to Antarctica. Shackleton proved he could endure severe climates and wild, inhospitable terrain, but above all he displayed an exceptional talent for leadership and a fanatical determination which led him, as he put it, 'to go on going till one day I shall not come back',