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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by [Alfred Lansing]

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage Kindle Edition

by Alfred Lansing (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The astonishing saga of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton's survival for over a year on the ice-bound Antarctic seas, as Time magazine put it, "defined heroism." Alfred Lansing's scrupulously researched and brilliantly narrated book -- with over 200,000 copies sold -- has long been acknowledged as the definitive account of the Endurance's fateful trip. To write their authoritative story, Lansing consulted with ten of the surviving members and gained access to diaries and personal accounts by eight others. The resulting book has all the immediacy of a first-hand account, expanded with maps and illustrations especially for this edition.

Print length

309 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

March 3, 2008
File size

2116 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B006L74DMC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 2nd edition (March 3, 2008)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2008
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2116 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 309 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Customer Reviews:
734 ratings

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4 star		17%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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RetireeTop Contributor: Photography

Achieving the Impossible--a Great Story

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2015

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This is a very gripping, spell-binding story. What these men endured was actually quite unbelievable. They did survive,and many of them recorded their plight in their diaries, which also survived. This story is pieced together from those diaries. They set out on a super-human journey. They intended to be the first to cross Antarctica on foot and with dog sleds. What they actually experienced made that task seem like a piece of cake. They became ice-bound before they ever even reached Antarctica. They spent a winter on their ice-bound ship before it was destroyed by the pressure of the ice. Then they survived on ice, making several vain attempts to make it to open sea. When they finally found open water, they had only small boats, and they were on the most treacherous seas on the planet, hundreds of miles from civilization. Miraculously, a subset of these survivors made it a whaling station where their leader organized a rescue party to rescue the rest of the crew.

Each challenge these men, set out in great detail, was obviously impossible to meet. But after meeting each challenge, they faced an even greater challenge.

7 people found this helpful

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Gettysburg Girl

Thrilling Story and Brilliantly Written

Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2014

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I don't know how the telling of Ernest Shackleton's attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914 could be told any better than this. Shackleton and his crew lost their ship, Endurance, when they became trapped by pack ice which eventually crushed the ship and sank her. They lived on ice floes for over a year before attempting a long and dangerous sea voyage in lifeboats. It was their only hope of rescue and survival. The entire story is thrilling from beginning to end and how they endured such hardship is almost unbelievable. There was minimal shelter, horrendous weather, and they lived primarily on seals and penguins, accompanied by diminishing supplies they had removed from the ship. One crew member was almost dinner himself for a Leopard seal (they grow to twelve feet and can jump completely out of the water and chase their prey on ice). Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men survived. Sadly, the teams of sled dogs with them did not...but that really was impossible. Almost all of the men kept journals of some sort which contributes to the fact that there is so much detail in the book.

I loved this book. Would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

4 people found this helpful

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Alexandria L. Burton

Endurance!!!

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2014

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The best example of endurance, courage, fortitude & tenacity I've ever read! So inspiring that my husband & I have decided that no matter what trials we encounter as we sail through life, our new catch phrase will be "it's not as bad as Shackletons!"
I'm not much of an adventurer - and quite honestly, not much of a boater - in fact the first time we ran into a storm with measly 12 ft. Waves on Lake Erie was also my last time on our boat! So I'm not sure what possessed me to even read this book- but once,I started. I couldn't' put it down. Incredible story, & just as incredibly recounted through Mr Lansing' s eyes.
The only reason l didn't give this book 5 stars was the somewhat abrupt ending.. After living through so much with these men, I felt kind of cheated when the climax came in the form of a brief epilogue. Maybe that story will be Mr. Lansing' s next book? I hope so. It just seems like there's so much more to tell! Nevertheless, a great read!

3 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Makes Ice Road Truckers look like little girls at a tea party.

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2012

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Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage is a great story and a great read. The sheer strength of will exhibited by Shackleton and his expedition are the stuff of legend. The legacy of their "failed" expedition so exceeds the intent of the original endeavor to make the reality of their adventure greater than any conceived plot device or television game format. That is to say, "You can't make this stuff up"!

Alfred Lansing's treatment is a superb and objective story telling from the real life accounts of participants. The story is rendered with great skill and relates the big picture of the events without any forced drama or exploitation other than the true facts of the story. Such is the depth and thrill of their tale. The only negative may be the lack of details provided as to the fates of most of the expedition members. However, I believe the author refrained from the inclusion to allow the story to stand on its own as a tribute to the collective effort of the men and Shackleton's leadership.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book in the hot sun with an endless supply of cold cervaza in Cancun, Mexico. The juxtaposition of my own condition with that of the of cold terror of the ice floes and endless penguin hoosh made for a great vacation read and I cannot give a higher recommendation.

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Courtney LeBlanc

An excellent, mesmerizing read

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2012

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Admittedly I tend to gravitate toward fiction and only like nonfiction when it's written like a novel - this book did not disappoint! Once I started reading it I literally couldn't put it down! From the moment Shackleton's ship is locked in ice, to them living on an ice floe, to them trekking across land and sea and they're eventual and dramatic attempt to sail away in search of a rescue party.

The book is incredibly well written, the story is mesmerizing and it's amazing what this group of men lived through, endured, and accomplished while stuck in Antartica. I cannot even imagine what it was like but this book gives an excellent account of the events as they unfolded.

For a history buff looking for a good read, snatch this book up. For someone like me who prefers fiction, snatch this book up. I'm an avid reader (averaging 5-6 books a month) and this one ranks high on my list of must reads and must tell everyone else to read. You'll be amazed at the strength, determination, attitude and fortitude of Shackleton and his men as they set out to do the impossible and survive against all odds.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Eleanor

Good God! A true story!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2012

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I picked up this book 4 years ago, thinking it was a work of fiction, only to then read Shackleton's "South" and realise it was all true! Also try Worsleys "Shackletons Boat Journey" for another dimension.

MR R GILLESPIE

Astonishing.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 12, 2012

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I can't put into words how good this is. It gave me shivers down my spine at the end. Read it.

Caracalla

Größenwahnsinnig oder ein Held ?

Reviewed in Germany on December 25, 2014

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Als er 1914 aufbricht, hätten wir ihn aus heutiger Sicht als gescheiterte Existenz betrachtet. Alles was Shackleton bisher begonnen hat, ist mehr oder minder misslungen. Mit einer wohlhabenden Frau verheiratet, ist er selbst mittellos, aber steckt voller Geschäftsideen, zu denen unter anderem die Teilnahme und die Organisation von Reisen in die Antarktis zählen. Aber selbst dort ist er nur Zweiter, seinem Traum, den Südpol zu erreichen, kommt Amundsen zuvor.

1914 unternimmt er deshalb den waghalsigen Versuch, den antarktischen Kontinent zu durchqueren und startet die Endurance-Expedition. Von dieser handelt das vorliegende Buch.

Bereits in den 50er Jahren veröffentlicht, hatte Lansing noch die Möglichkeit mit Zeitzeugen und Expeditionsteilnehmern zu sprechen. Den Rest seiner Informationen hat der Autor den zahlreichen Tagebüchern von Teilnehmern der Expedition entnommen.

Wir erfahren bis ins kleinste Detail und durchsetzt mit sehr persönlichen Schilderungen den Ablauf der Expedition von der Organisation über die Zerstörung der Endurance im Packeis bis hin zur dramatischen Rettung. Das Buch befasst sich nicht mit dem Schicksal des zweiten Teils der Expedition, der Ross Sea Party, die den Kontinent von der gegenüberliegenden Seite in Angriff nehmen und Lebensmitteldepots anlegen sollte.

Auch diese scheitert, hier kostet schlechte Organisation und unfähige Führung allerdings mehrere Männer das Leben.

Obwohl Lansing sich persönlicher Urteile über Shackleton enthält, gewinnt der Leser das Bild eines überehrgeizigen, aber letztendlich unfähigen Menschen, der des persönlichen Erfolgs willen das Leben vieler völlig skrupellos aufs Spiel setzt. Von Anfang an ist die gesamte Expedition überstürzt vorbereitet, schlecht geplant und leidet unter der autoritären aber unfähigen Führungsarbeit Shackletons. Das geht bis hin zum - heute würde man sagen "Mobbing" - einzelner Teilnehmer, bis hin zum Ausschluss von der Verleihung von Auszeichnungen.

Nichtsdestoweniger muss man als Leser vom Optimismus und dem unglaublichen Durchhaltewillen der Expeditionsteilnehmer überwältigt sein. Was diese Männer ausgehalten haben, ist unglaublich und würde manch anderen in den Wahnsinn oder gar den Tod getrieben haben.

Was bleibt ist eine tolle, wenn auch etwas konservativ verfasste, dokumentarische Erzählung, ein wichtiges Zeitdokument und natürlich ein kurzweiliges und spannendes Lese-Erlebnis.

5 people found this helpful

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Carol A Seffelaar

Wonderfully written book

Reviewed in Canada on May 6, 2015

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Wonderfully written book. I now have vivid mental pictures of ships, icebergs, endless miles of snow and ice. I feel like I felt the chill of the ice, heard the creaks of the ship, learned to exist in frozen woolens ....

I hated to see the book come to a close. I felt like I had gone through so much with these men, and then they were wrenched from my life! I would have loved to have followed them back to their homes and readjusted to civilization.

Greaser

Amazing True Story of Survival

Reviewed in Canada on February 5, 2014

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Lansing has accurately and faithfully recounted a tale that, were it fiction, might seem to be too incredible to be true. He avoids the common trap of over romanticizing his characters or over embellishing the details of this amazing journey. This is one of the best historical books I have read and will stay with me for a long time.