Shackleton's Forgotten Men: The Untold Tale of an Antarctic Tragedy (Hardcover)

~ Lennard Bickel (Author), Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton K.C. P.C. O.B.E. (Foreword), Rt. Hon. Lord Shackleton (Author) "Young Dick Richard's adventure in the white wastes of Antarctica began on the sparkling summer waters of Sydney Harbor..." (more)
Key Phrases: veteran sledger, bluff depot, snow cloth, Hut Point, Cape Evans, Dick Richards (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ernest Shackleton, an undeniably brave explorer, labored under a terrible ambition for nearly two decades: the desire to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Repeatedly thwarted by the elements, then finally beaten by the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen, Shackleton revised his objective in 1912. He would be the first, he decided, to complete "the crossing of the South Polar Continent, from sea to sea."

Shackleton planned to take his ship, Endurance, to the Weddell Sea and from there set out on foot across the polar plateau; he and his party would be supplied at depots set out by another exploring party. Shackleton never arrived at those depots; Endurance was crushed by sea ice, its sailors marooned for months of endless winter. Unaware of Endurance's fate, the 10-man supply party set out on the other side of the continent and discharged their duties without complaint. In the process, three of them died after crossing hundreds of miles of unforgiving, storm-blasted ice.

"Their sacrifice," writes Lennard Bickel, "became a footnote in history and was forgotten, even though Shackleton himself summed up their long agony by saying that 'no more remarkable story of human endeavour has been revealed than the tale of that long march'." Bickel's thoughtful history gives these courageous explorers their due, and it provides a valuable addition to the library of Antarctic travel. --Gregory McNamee

From Publishers Weekly

Ernest Shackleton's 1915 attempt to cross the Antarctic continent and his dramatic 800-mile open boat journey to find help when his ship was crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea, have been thoroughly chronicled (e.g., by Shackleton himself in South and by Roland Huntford in Shackleton). But Shackleton's fame has overshadowed the efforts of men who risked, and even gave, their lives to help him attain it. Drawing on research and reporting, Bickel (Mawson's Will) tells of the small party that set out from the other side of Antarctica that year to lay invaluable food depots for the explorers who would never come. Marooned when their ship was ripped from its moorings by a fierce polar gale, the group had to haul hundreds of pounds of food for themselves and the six members of Shackleton's party across 2,000 miles of frozen wasteland without proper equipment or any idea if they would be rescued. Bickel draws on the men's personal diaries and on lengthy interviews recorded in the late 1970s with the only survivingmember of the group in order to infuse the book with staggering details of the party's fight with scurvy and subzero cold. The characters, ranging from the prudent Ernest Joyce to the group's impetuous one-eyed captain, Aeneas Mackintosh, are surprisingly well developed, and Bickel graphically paints their plight, describing "haggard, dirty men, faces black from weeks of hugging the blubber stove, beards matted, here and there the scars of recent frostbite, and their clothes reeking of the smelly fat of the seals that had saved their lives." Balanced, vivid and informative, Bickel's work ensures that the duress endured by these men will not soon be forgotten. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; illustrated edition edition (February 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560252561
• ISBN-13: 978-1560252566
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,048,745 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just as powerful as Endurance, March 18, 2000

By	Robert P. Klawans (Buffalo Grove, IL USA) - See all my reviews

I have read many Artic and Antartic books and this is very high on my list. Bickel's style is compelling without being overly technical. The saga that these men went through to lay depots for their "boss" (Shackleton) is just as amazing as the Endurance story.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping story of endurance and courage wasted, June 10, 2000

By	Susan Paxton (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

Although modern writers discussing the events of the Endurance expedition have indeed pretty much forgotten this side of the expedition, it should be pointed out that Sir Ernest Shackleton himself covered it in his own book "South." Bickel has used recently found documentation and other materials to put together the complete tale of the Ross Sea Party of the Endurance expedition. After their ship Aurora was pulled away from her moorings by a storm, the men left on shore brilliantly improvised stores and equipment to lay the depots required for the planned crossing the Antarctic continent. During their sledging journeys one man died, and the survivors had to struggle to save two more (who ultimately were lost through their own foolishness in crossing sea ice when a storm threatened). All in all this is a valuable contribution to the story of the Endurance expedition. I also very highly recommend "Mawson's Will" by the same author.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Chilling Tale of the Endurance Saga, April 24, 2000

By	Steve C (Charlotte NC) - See all my reviews

A well written work that reads like a novel about the members of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party whose mission it was to lay food and supply depots for Shackleton's crossing of Antarctica. The brave men united by adversity, experience such unimaginable hardships, that as the reader I found myself rooting for these brave and courageous men to abandon their mission and save themselves. Their persistance to carry on and complete their mission while enduring every suffering possible of the Antarctic is testament to the true character and grit of these men. For anyone who has read any of the published "ENDURANCE" works this book is a must read. The adventure will not be complete until you read this bone chilling tale of the human spirit, unbroken.