Synopses & Reviews
The harrowing tale of the Ross Sea party, the other side of Shackleton's
Endurance expedition.
In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed south aboard the Endurance to make history by crossing the Antarctic continent. Shackleton's story is legend, but few know the heroic epic of the Ross Sea party, Shackleton's support group dispatched to the other side of the continent to build a lifeline of food and fuel depots to bear his crossing.
"I had not anticipated that the work would present any great difficulties," Shackleton wrote. Yet everything went tragically wrong when the Ross Sea ship, the Aurora, tore free of her moorings and disappeared in a gale, leaving ten men marooned with only the clothes on their backs and few provisions. With little hope of rescue from a world embroiled in World War I, the men decided to accomplish their mission against all odds.
Long overshadowed by the mission these men bargained their lives to sustain, this heartrending story of survival against all odds now gets its due in this definitive, surprising account of the last journey of the Heroic Age of polar exploration.
Review
"[A] breathtaking yarn of survival and achievement under the most extreme conditions....A judicious, sensitive account of an Antarctic trial by ice." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"An exciting book." Booklist
Review
"Electrifying. Brutal and inspiring tale of adventure and endurance." Men's Journal
Review
"It is a gripping story embracing both tragedy and triumph, and Kelly Tyler-Lewis tells it well....Throughout her book she uses quotations judiciously, wherever possible allowing the men to speak for themselves. Her prose is a model of clarity..." Sara Wheeler, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A]n inspiring story that deserves to be told....[A] thorough and thoroughly enjoyable account." Rocky Mountain News
Synopsis
Long overshadowed by the mission Shackleton's men bargained their lives to sustain, this heartrending story of survival against all odds gets its due in this surprising account of the final journey of the heroic age of polar expedition.
Synopsis
The untold story of the last odyssey of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration Sir Ernest Shackletons 1914 Antarctic endeavor is legend, but for sheer heroism and tragic nobility, nothing compares to the saga of the Ross Sea party. This crew of explorers landed on the opposite side of Antarctica from the Endurance with a mission to build supply depots for Shackletons planned crossing of the continent. But their ship disappeared in a gale, leaving ten inexperienced, ill-equipped men to trek 1,356 miles in the harshest environment on earth. Drawing on the mens own journals and photographs, The Lost Men is a masterpiece of historical adventure, a book destined to be a classic in the vein of Into Thin Air.
About the Author
Kelly Tyler-Lewis, a historian, is a Visiting Scholar of the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge, England. Her research took her to Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica, where she spent two months with the U.S. Antarctic Program.