The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

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Summary: A taught, concise account of Shackleton's journey..
Review: Alexander has written a taught concise account of the last great Anarctic journey. She describes each of the men on the trip in enough detail for the reader to understand their subsequent behavior. She looks honestly at Shackleton's actions, his character, and his extraordinary courage. Shackleton was an astonishing leader who brought back every man under his command under circumstances so appalling that the reader struggles to believe. Alexander makes excellent use of the men's own journal entries and of Hurley's photographs.

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Summary: Could have been better
Review: The story of Shakleton's Endurance expedition is my all-time favorite, having discovered it after I found out that my ancestor was one of the heros (Tom Crean). This book's highlights were the extra unpublished photographs and the details of the lives of the survivors after they made it back to civilisation. However this books fault (and a major one) is that it details the time on the Endurance and on the ice floes at the expense of the stories about the two boat journeys and the crossing of South Georgia. The crossings of Drake passage and South Georgia are almost rushed through (I can't even remember Drakes Passage even being mentioned). All the drama of the voyage of the James Caird, probably the greatest boat voyage ever undertaked, and the brilliance of Worsley's navigation are completely lost in the authors effort to tell us about the lives of the men on Elephant Island, especially Hurley of whom she is particularly fond. Frank Worsley's 'Shackleton's Boat Voyage' conveys all the drama and excitement of the voyage of the James Caird in vivid detail, while Alfred Lansings' 'Endurance' is without a doubt the best book written on the subject, a book I couldn't put down for a second, and I knew how it ended.

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Summary: Both audiobook versions are excellent
Review: This pertains to the audiobooks published by HighBridge (Abridged) and Books on Tape (Unabridged). I did a comparative review of these two taped versions and found both excellent. Both are 6 hours long, and I could determine no differences between their texts. (I didn't do a word by word comparison.) The reading in both is clear and empathetic to the ordeal of the men, but the rich voice and style of the HighBridge reader, Michael Tezla, makes the story a bit easier to track. A second reader, Martin Ruben, reads diary entries in the accent of the writer. The Books on Tape case is sturdy and the text on the case is easy to read; HighBridge editors should NOT have printed black on dark brown and white on black on the cardboard case. Pictures are missing from the audiobooks, of course, but the quality of both the story and the reading is so excellent that either version will make an excellent choice for libraries or for gifts or for reading on a daily commute.

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Summary: a classic true story
Review: The sharp photography of Hurley truly amazes. The photos look like they were taken yesterday, but the scenes and circumstances are extraordinary. This is a bit of history that should always be remembered and celebrated. It particularly struck me that several of these people, saliing wooden ships among the icebergs of the antartic, lived to see the landing on the moon and the exploration of our solar system by the Voyager Space Probes!

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Summary: Haunting photographs of an incredible adventure by heros.
Review: This book will satisfy any desire to escape from the mundane existance we all endure. You get to journey with them, and the story will captivate you. I only wish there was an index, as all through the book I had to constantly thumb through previous pages to figure out who was who. There never is a list of who the crew is and who does what. This aspect has to be pieced together. The only shortcoming. Don't let that deter you. The photographs alone are worth the price, and the first and the final photograph (the same one) is quite remarkable for the insight the author provides. To get to know these men and their dogs is quite satisfying.

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Summary: Amazing adventure!
Review: If you think you have had or would enjoy a great adventure, read this book! If you think you have endured or or could endure great hardship, read this book! The photographs accentuate rather than detract from the vivid mental pictures created by the factual but always exciting narrative.

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Summary: AMAZING SURVIVAL STORY + STRIKING PHOTOS
Review: If this story were fiction, a reasonable complaint would be that it was simply unbelievable. An absolutely amazing tale of the human spirit and body achieving the near impossible in a time of crisis. I knew the story (and how it ended) before reading this book, but I still throughly enjoyed it. If you are lucky enough not to know the details, the book will be that much more suspensful. The text is well written, but the photos used extensively throughout the book are outstanding! It makes this book a special treat.

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Summary: A great adventure, and great example of leadership.
Review: This book combines page turning true life suspense with great lessons. Thinking about what these men went through in the course of their survival is incredible. Shackleton's leadership is what made the difference between life & death. I liked that the book didn't show him as perfect or heroic. We saw his mistakes, and mental & physical challenges. All leaders experience challenges - it's how they handle them that matters. This is a great out-of-the-box book on leadership, dealing with teams, motivation, respect, loyaly, discipline etc. Great photos too!

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Summary: FANTASTIC VOYAGE
Review: This is one of the best, most exciting and unbelieveable books I have ever read (and I read A LOT!) I could not BELIEVE what happened to these people, page after page! I read this right after reading INTO THIN AIR which I loved, but this this is BETTER and MORE EXCITING! You do NOT have to be a lover of adventure books to be enthralled by this epic story.

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Summary: Makes Today's Adventurers seem like Weekend Warriors
Review: Great Book! The story is well told -- frequently by the men themselves. The stark beauty of Antartica is both well described and beautifully presented in some of the most striking black and white photography I have seen.

This is a page turner. Ms. Alexander's excellent writing, the stunning photography and the absorbing prediciment the men of the expedition find themselves in make for a great read.