Synopses & Reviews
On New Year's Day 1908, Ernest Shackleton, a little-known adventurer determined to find fame and fortune by becoming the first man to reach the South Pole, took his tiny ship, Nimrod, south to the mysterious regions of the Antarctic. In the coming year, Shackleton would record the greatest achievements of his career and engage in his most daring adventures, returning home a hero.
Lacking funds and plagued by hunger, cruel weather, and unpredictable terrain, Shackleton and his party accomplished some of the most remarkable feats in the history of exploration. Not only were they the first to climb the active volcano of Mount Erebus, but they trudged hundreds of miles across uncharted wastelands to be the first ever to plant the Union Jack at the South Pole.
Shackleton's Forgotten Expedition is the definitive account of the British Antarctic Expedition. Using extensive research and firsthand accounts-some previously unpublished-Riffenburgh has written a vivid and gripping adventure while providing fascinating insight into the age of British exploration and empire.
Review
"Riveting...for those who thrilled to the Endurance saga, Riffenburgh offers an equally gripping adventure." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Riffenburgh's perceptive book blends first-hand accounts with original research and a fast-paced narrative, providing a cracking adventure." The Times Literary Supplement UK
Review
"A masterful balance of true drama and first-rate scholarship. The narrative moves with the speed of a novel, while the author's unerring eye for historical detail captures the essence of polar exploration and explorers and locates Shackleton and his men in the grand scheme of empire." Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Synopsis
Shackletons Forgotten Expedition is the story of Ernest Shackletons epic journey toward the South Pole. Lacking funds and plagued by hunger, cruel weather, and unpredictable terrain, Shackleton and his party accomplished some of the most remarkable feats in the history of exploration. Not only were members of the expedition the first to climb the active volcano Mount Erebus and the first to reach the South Magnetic Pole, but Shackleton himself led a party of four that trudged hundreds of miles across uncharted wastelands and up to the terrible Antarctic Plateau to plant the Union Jack only ninety-seven miles from the South Pole itself. Based on extensive research and first-hand accounts Riffenburgh makes the expedition vivid while providing fascinating insight into the age of British exploration and Empire.
About the Author
Beau Riffenburgh is a historian specializing in exploration. A native of California, he earned his doctorate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, where he is currently the editor of
Polar Record. He is the author of the critically praised
The Myth of the Explorer and editor of the
Encyclopedia of the Antarctic.