Shackleton's Boat Journey

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional book; fascinating; 5 stars in my book.
Review: This was an engrossing account of a most harrowing adventure. I couldn't put it down! Now I made the mistake of loaning it out and may have to buy another copy for my library!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful writing & engrossing reading.
Review: To find yourself having no choice but to set out to sea, in the middle of a south polar winter, with the only hope of rescue 800 miles off would reduce most people to despair. It's a mark of the stuff that these men were made of that they reached their goal, intact, then went back to rescue their comrades. I find it difficult to imagine how they navigated in those low latitudes, in a roiling sea, howling gales and limited visibility; Worsley tells you how... He also has the writers' gift of transporting you from your comfortable chair to the freezing, wet, cramped conditions of their boat - and yet still bringing to life the thoughts and feelings of this rare breed of men. As Olivia Tsosie says, it should be recommended reading for all teenagers, so they understand what life can dole out and yet you can still turn the tables on fate, instead of sitting back and letting life ride roughshod over you.