Shackleton's forgotten expedition : the voyage of the Nimrod /

Much has been written about Shackelton's Antarctic expedition, during which his ship, Endurance, was trapped in the ice of the Weddell Sea and crushed, and about his open-boat journey to South Georgia, his crossing of that island's mountains, and the rescue of his men. What Riffenburgh believes were Shackelton's most significant geographical accomplishments, greatest deeds, and most momentous decisions were attained on the first expedition that he led--the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907-9, aboard Nimrod, a former whaler. The members of this expedition not only achieved remarkable scientific results but also became the first to climb Mount Erebus and first to reach the South Magnetic Pole. It was for these exploits that Shackleton was knighted and received his greatest acclaim during his lifetime. Riffenburgh's book is based on original sources-- diaries, journals, letters, and papers of the expedition's members--and is the first study of that expedition since Shackleton's account, The Heart of the Antarctic, published in 1909. --George Cohen Copyright 2004 Booklist

Ernest Shackleton's fame has been restored due to renewed interest in the heroic tale of the Endurance expedition, but his original celebrity status stemmed from an earlier voyage to the Antarctic from 1907 to 1909, during which he led a small group of men to within 97 miles of the South Pole. Riffenburgh (The Myth of the Explorer) recounts this journey in riveting detail, describing how Shackleton and his crew survived under harrowing conditions, sometimes brought on by their own tactical misjudgments, like the decision to rely heavily on ponies to carry supplies across the frozen landscape. The story also offers vital clues to Shackleton's personality, revealing how he first went to the Antarctic in order to impress his girlfriend and, more importantly, examining the competitive rivalry between Shackleton and fellow explorer Sir Robert Scott. Scott had sent Shackleton home from an earlier expedition for health reasons, and when Shackleton vowed to return to Antarctica in part to prove he was strong enough to make it, Scott viewed it as a threat to his own plans and unfairly extracted a promise from his former crewman not to use "his" base camps, adding further complications to the journey. For those who thrilled to the Endurance saga, Riffenburgh offers an equally gripping adventure, which laid the foundations of Shackleton's capacity for brilliant leadership under pressure. Agent, A.M. Heath. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A sometimes glacially paced but admirably complete account of the polar exploration that foregrounded Ernest Shackleton's better-known voyage on the Endurance. Riffenburgh (Scott Polar Research Institute) acknowledges that Shackleton himself has been far from forgotten, thanks in part to Caroline Alexander's The Endurance (1999), and for good reason. His 1908 effort to find reach the South Pole, however, has been treated as something of a footnote, and Riffenburgh does a fine job of assembling the scattered records of the voyage from logs, diaries, and other accounts--including the dismissive reports of Robert Scott, who didn't much care for Shackleton, and other gainsayers. Riffenburgh places Shackleton in the great tradition of late Victorian British imperialism, even if he was treated as less than a real English hero by virtue of his Irish background. As Riffenburgh resoundingly writes: "There were many distant places where all but Britons feared tread or sail, and Ernest Shackleton was going to seek them out." Shackleton found them with a vengeance, leading an underfunded and ill-equipped expedition overland across huge expanses of Antarctic ice and over great mountain ranges, battling illness, privation, and occasional outbursts of dissent and frequent expressions of woe from his put-upon crew. (One recorded: "For three days we marched to a monotonous repetition of blasphemy every few steps from Adams, his favorite being 'Jesus f . . . g God Almighty!'" The race to the pole also took on personal stakes as Shackleton vied to break Robert E. Peary's claim of having reached the farthest latitude, which his crew did, having to scale an 11,000-foot range in the bargain. And more, Riffenburgh concludes: "Not only did Shackleton and his companions attain a phenomenal farthest south, members of the expedition also made the first ascent of Mount Erebus, reached the South Magnetic Pole, carried out an extensive scientific program, and brought back glory to the Empire, all with no loss of life." Just the thing for Antarctic travelers, and a worthy addition to the little library devoted to the ever-deserving Shackleton. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.