Rating: 
Summary: Wow.
Review: What an amazing history Alfred Lansing shows us in this book. I knew the general story before reading the book, but as I was reading it never really believed that all of the men would survive for that long under those conditions. Telling you that doesn't ruin the story -- it just enhances it -- the suspense is in understanding how they survived. Lansing's descriptions are amazingly and agonizingly detailed.
Rating:
Summary: Don't destroy the set of the movie "The Perfect Storm"
Review: I could not put this book down.I'm 49 years old and have never before heard of Ernest Shackleton. In a world that is so short of heroes, I can't understand why I was never made aware of the bravery and endurance of this great leader of men and all the members of his crew. Alfred Lansing - "Well done".
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down
Review: When discussion turns towards books, this is one of the first I recommend to everyone I know. Clearly the best adventure story I've read, better than any fictional account of survival. I found this to be a remarkably emotional book, frightening, dreadful and triumphant.
Rating: 
Summary: A fantastic story about a fantastic journey.
Review: A fantastic story about a fantastic journey....the aborted attempt by Shackleton and crew to cross the continent of Antartica in 1915. I gave it only three stars because I found the writing to be a little dry and repetitive, especially in comparison to other great non-fiction stories I have read. Also I thought the book ended too abruptly, without much followup on the characters I had come to care about. However, the story itself is so strong that I would recommend the book. It about the triumph of Shackleton's leadership and his crew against unimaginable conditions. It demonstrates what can be achieved with spirit and discipline, even when pitted against the most inhospitable landscape on our planet!
Rating: 
Summary: Enduring Religious Proselytizing
Review: Although Lansing's text is excellent, I could hardly get past the forward written by James C. Dobson, who somehow got limitied publishing rights for this book and had it published by Tyndale. It appears that he could not tolerate Lansing's failure to provide overwhelming evidence that these men constantly and frequently turned to God in their travails. The forward and the afterword are nothing short of Christian proselytizing. As a Jew I am not interested in Dobson's religious beliefs and in his comparisons of the heroism of Shakelton and the rescue of his crew to the 2nd coming of Christ. Nor am I interested in purchasing a book that has been "edited in content for a Christian audience". What the hell does that even mean? Did they eliminate "dirty words" from the diary quotes? And why are we not told by Amazon.com that of the two paperback editions, the Tyndale had this offensive (to some) Christian forward and afterword - and who knows what editing in between? Please inform your customers! How do I get my money back for this edition so I can order the Carroll and Graf (a secular publisher) edition?
Rating: 
Summary: A Gripping Quick Read
Review: One of the best-known of the many books about Englishman Shakleton's 1915 expedition to cross the South Pole, this is essentially a quick, easy-reading adventure story. Aptly titled, it's a pretty gripping and amazing story, and will put to shame any bad camping story of one's own. I guess what one emerges with is sheer amazement that anyone managed to survive the conditions these men were exposed to. A nice modern companion book to this is "North to the Night."
Rating:
Summary: Reading in it's amazing best
Review: This is a superbly written account of an Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shakleton on a ship named Endurance. It is trapped by ice and eventually crushed by it. In order to survive, the crew look toward it's leader for answers and the only chance at rescue is to make it to a whaling station that is more than 1500 miles away. Everything is frozen, the weather is the worst on earth and thats just the begining. It's all here, the amazing spirit that some humans show when pushed to the brink of death, starvation, freezing, thirst, tiredness to the deepest parts of one's existence, humor, friendship, respect, leadership, etc. How it must have been for these men to survive such a harrowing experience is beyond belief. If not because it was so well documented by the individual crew members who kept journals, indeed no one would beleive it. To have survived so many months floating on a moving, cracking, shifting, crushing ice floe only to have to undertake an 800 mile sea voyage in a 22 foot lifeboat in the most brutal ocean in the world where winds rarely fall below huricane force, find and land on a hellish coast of a small island easily missed. Then on foot and starving have to coss it on ground so treacherous that no one had crossed it before, or would dare again for another 50 yrs. A brutal reading that will leave you exhausted. Pass it on and share with your friends and family.
Rating:
Summary: detailed and inspiring, but monotoneous at times
Review: A very interesting and gripping account of twenty-some seamen, explorers, and scientists stranded in the Antarctic for two winters after their ship has been crushed by forces of nature, this book is objective but does not focus on a single character - it is like a hovering lamp illuminating individual characters one at a time, briefly, and then continuing on to describe daily events. A very good read none the less.
Rating:
Summary: Endurance: Shakleton's Incredible Voyage
Review: Tremendous page-turner. I enjoyed this book immensely, yet was turned off by the off-base foreword and afterword by Dr. James Dobson. It seems he's adapted Lansing's amazing account to suit his own needs, and in the process, edited the content of the story for the "Christian" audience. I strongly urge that you read this book, but stick to the Lansing paperback rather than the doctored Dobson version. To Dobson's credit, however, the included map is helpful and adds to the reading experience.
Rating:
Summary: Offended by religious references in foreword & afterword
Review: The story of the Endurance by Lansing is a wonderful story. However, this particular book published by Tyndale contains inappropriate religious references in Dobson's foreword & afterword.
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