Reviews (1)

A true tale of exploration, survival, and rescue
Superbly, beautifully illustrated through truly exceptional watercolor paintings by M.P. Robertson, Meredith Hooper's The Endurance is the true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914 expedition across Antarctica. Shackleton and his crew of twenty-seven men fought their way through some of the most extreme conditions and hardships imaginable in a near legendary feat of exploration. This true tale of exploration, survival, and rescue will thrill young readers and is a very highly recommended addition to all school and community library collections. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1914-1917)    2. 1874-1922    3. Antarctica    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    5. Children: Kindergarten    6. Endurance (Ship)    7. Historical - Exploration & Discoveries    8. History - Exploration & Discovery    9. Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition    10. Journeys    11. Juvenile Fiction    12. Juvenile literature    13. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    14. Sir,    15. Travel   

Editorial Review

In the early 1950s, armed with the rudest of survival gear, a husband-and-wife documentary team touched down in arguably the most remote wilderness in North America, Alaska's Brooks Range. Their mission: to film caribou. The annual migration of vast herds to and from their natal grounds north of the Arctic Circle was considered one of the world's preeminent--if little-known--wildlife spectacles. But on this great animal stage another species of charismatic megafauna unexpectedly one-upped the ungulates. Lois Crisler's 1956 memoir, Read more

Reviews (4)

AMUST READ FOR 1ST TIME OWNERS
IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT IS EVEN CONSIDERING BUYING A HYBRID OR WORKING WITH PURE BREED WOLVES, THIS MUST BE THE FIRST BOOK YOU READ!! IT EXPLAINS IN PLAIN ENGLISH WHAT WOLVES ARE LIKE NOT ONLY IN THE WILD BUT IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD. I HAVE JUST GOTTEN MY THIRD HYBRID BREED AND HE IS ONLY THREE MONTHS OLD.HE IS EXACTLY LIKE THE WOLVES LOIS DESCRIBES IN HER BOOK.THE OTHER TWO WOLVES I HAVE, HAVE MORE DOG IN THEM, BUT LOOK LIKE WOLVES.MY OTHER TWO ACT MORE LIKE DOGS IN SO MANY MORE WAYS WITH WOLF QUALITY. BEING A PART OF THE PACK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. OUR PACK INCLUDES, MYSELF, MY HUSBAND, THREE CATS, A ROTT/LAB/HEALER MIX ( WHO BY THE WAY WAS RAISED BY THE WOLVES WE HAVE, ALSO ONE OF OUR CATS THINKS HE IS A WOLF AND HOWLS WHEN HE WANTS SOMETHING). THE PUPPY I JUST GOT IS SO MUCH MORE LIKE A PURE BREED IT IS INCREDIBLE.HE IS THE MOST LOVING AND ANIMATED IN SHOWING HIS AFFECTION FOR ME, AND IN SHOWING ME WHEN HE IS UPSET TOO.I THINK IF I HAD NOT READ LOIS'S BOOK ARCTIC WILD, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HALF AS PREPARED AS I WAS. REMEMBER THEY WILL ALWAYS BE WILD, NEVER DOMESTICATED.PLEASE READ LOIS'S BOOK, YOU MIGHT THINK AT FIRST THAT IT DOES NOT PRETAIN TO YOU, BUT IF YOU END UP GETTING A WOLF YOU WILL BE GLAD THAT YOU READ HER BOOK, TAKE MY WORD FOR IT!

An inspiration which has lasted over 35 years.
I first read Arctic Wild in the 1960's and have never forgotten the power of it's words and the compassion the authors demonstrated in showing the world that wolves are not to be feared.Much credit for my work in rescuing and rehabbing domestic and wild animals over the past 3 decades must go to Arctic Wild. Magical - A book like this comes along once every 1000 years
Every few millennia, a book comes along that touches your heart and spirit, leaving you powerless to halt the tremendous urging of your soul to fly far, far away and seek the wonders that you have just read about.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alaska    2. Description and travel    3. Essays    4. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. Wildlife    8. Zoology    9. Arctic regions    10. Nature / Wildlife    11. Wild animals   

Reviews (2)

Two Months before the Mast
I sailed to the Arctic on the Regina Maris in 1997, a couple years before Oxenhorn took his trip. Not quite the book I would have written, but I started out with greater expectations of discomfort and hardship. After all, it was the Arctic. Nonetheless, Oxenhard paints an accurate picture of life on a tall ship on the frigid edge of the world, and, more importantly, gives a true recounting of the deep personal changes that take place in everyone aboard on such a voyage. I sailed with many of the characters in the book, and would disagree with the more negative of Oxenhorn's descriptions of them, nonetheless, he does give a good feel for some of the friction that occurs on a long trip under difficult conditions with no privacy. Its a great pity that the good ship Regina Maris no more. I believe that everyone who sailed on her to the frozen north came back a deeply changed and better person. This book is perhaps the next best thing.

Eloquent, poignant, detailed, sparkling distillation
The late Harvey Oxenhorn secured an enduring legacy through his captivating, detailed account of his apprentice voyage on the tall ship, Regina Maris. He painstakingly chronicles all facets of life during the nine weeks spent traversing from Boston to the Arctic Ocean, recounting sights, sounds, encounters, and experiences at sea and on shore in various ports from Newfoundland to Greenland and back again. Read more

Subjects:  1. Arctic regions    2. Description And Travel    3. Essays & Travelogues    4. General    5. Humpback whale    6. Oxenhorn, Harvey    7. Polar Regions    8. Travel    9. Travel - General    10. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS    11. Travel & holiday guides    12. Travel writing   

Reviews (1)

Into The Polar Zones
In my youth, I became fascinated by the Antarctic when I saw documentaries on the International Geophysical Year exploration and study of the southern continent on Disneyland, the flagship television show of Walt Disney in those years. I remember most the snow vehicles traversing the ice and the concern over hidden crevasses in the ice. And although I fancy myself a warm-weather lover with an aversion to prolonged cold and snow, I have kept that fascination with the polar regions through my life.Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - General    2. Earth Sciences - Meteorology & Climatology    3. Nature    4. Nature/Ecology    5. Polar regions    6. Reference    7. Science    8. Science / General   

Reviews (4)

A thorough account of the exploration of Antarctica.
This small book covers every successful and some unsuccessful attempts to conquer the southern continent.It covers the entire period, from captain Cooks first sightings of ice around Antarctica through to the present where Antarcticas frigid landscape is dotted with international stations.This is a thorough investigation of the worlds attempts to conquer a barren frigid continent, from attaining the `grail' of the South Pole to charting the landscape of Mt. Erebus.A good account and an excellent overview. A great overview of the continent - could have been better
Antarctica represents for many the final frontier on a greatly explored Earth. Yet for such an unknown land (Terra Incognita) it has exerted a strong pull on the imagination of adventurers and explorers for hundreds of years. Some of the stories are not well known, others are exhaustively chronicles, such as explorations by Byrd and Shackelford. Landis takes an overview position, presenting stories briefly, to try and weave a tapestry of exploration, adventure and danger. As a result, some of the stories seem to get the short shrift, but an exhaustive history of the continent is not the objective. It is an overview exploration that she is getting at, written by one who has obviously fallen in love with the continent. It's a great starting off point for those who are interested or falling in love with Antarctica. Good compendium, but that's all
This book is a compendium of the history, exploration, wildlife, geology etc. of Antarctica. As such it is well structured and you needn't read it from end to end -- you could focus on explorations, for example, or read descriptions of the types of seals and penguins. There is even a page near the end listing travel agencies that sponsor trips.This last makes me think the book is designed as a kind of primer for people interested in Antarctica as a destination. It also makes a good, if short, reference to have on the shelf if you suddenly can't remember who discovered the Antarctic Peninsula or the dates of treaties.Read more

Subjects:  1. Antarctica    2. Discovery And Exploration (General)    3. Discovery and exploration    4. Earth Sciences - Geography    5. Expeditions & Discoveries    6. Exploration    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Polar Regions    10. Science    11. Special Interest - Adventure    12. Geographical discovery & exploration    13. Physical geography    14. Travel / Adventure   

Editorial Review

The Modern Library has unearthed a classic. The long out-of-print Read more

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Reviews (8)

Another Great Adventure - And a True Story
If you like adventure, this one is for you. Would be Better as a Three Book Series.
Skip the preparation section unless you are really interested in how many tons of coal or potatoes Nansen took along.Skip the final section by Sverdrup on his return from the ice unless you have trouble sleeping at night.The only part really worth reading is the tale of Nansen and his partner 'walking' home (close to home anyway) over the ice.Nansen wrote this from the comfort of his home but still has a casual attitude to this amazing 'walk'.

A remarkable story of survival
If you are a fan of Arctic and Antarctic adventure stories then this is one you don't want to miss. The great explorer Fridtjof Nansen left Norway in 1893 on the Fram, a ship especially designed to withstand the pressure of the frozen northern sea. Nansen's intention was to drift, locked in the ice, to the North Pole. Eventually, he determines that his theory of drifting to his destination will not be possible, so he and another crewman leave the ship and continue towards the Pole by dogsled. The Fram continues drifting in the ice and Nansen and his partner have no hope of returning to the ship. The story unfolds over a period of three years and you can't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens to Nansen and the crew of the Fram. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. "Fram" Expedition    2. 'Fram' Expedition    3. 1861-1930    4. Arctic regions    5. Discovery And Exploration (General)    6. Discovery and exploration    7. Europe - General    8. Expeditions & Discoveries    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: World    12. Nansen, Fridtjof,    13. Polar Regions    14. Travel    15. Europe    16. Geographical discovery & exploration    17. History / General   

Editorial Review

In the 1850s, a wealthy British philanthropist by the name of Lord Dufferin sailed his yacht into the Arctic Circle and wrote the bestselling travelogue Read more

Reviews (15)

Brutally self-effacing humor (humour!) of the highest sort
Impossible to read sober, impossibly complex to be reading drunk, I'm still not sure what the author does for a living, but I know it's one of the funniest, most complex travelogues I've ever read.
Whinging and Cringing After Dufferin
It says everything about this book, really, that the title comes from an intensely colloquial joke that is too obscene to repeat here.Frost on My Moustache is a travel humor book that focuses far more on humor and cursing than it does on the travel.But what it lacks in actual information it more than makes up for in laughter - the kind of oh-god-just-let-me-take-another-breath laughter that can lead to hospitalization, insanity, and inexplicable joy.However, Moore - and his book - aren't for everyone. I really wanted to like this book, but...
... I could only suffer through 17 pages before putting it down for good.The prose seemed deliberately obfuscated and gossipy, and the way it was presented was so far from compelling that I had to read the back cover to figure out what he was droning on about.Read more

Subjects:  1. Arctic regions    2. Description and travel    3. General    4. Humor    5. Iceland    6. Norway    7. Special Interest - Adventure    8. Travel    9. Travel / Adventure   

Editorial Review

Ernest Shackleton, an undeniably brave explorer, labored under a terrible ambition for nearly two decades: the desire to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Repeatedly thwarted by the elements, then finally beaten by the Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen, Shackleton revised his objective in 1912. He would be the first, he decided, to complete "the crossing of the South Polar Continent, from sea to sea."Read more

Reviews (19)

The heros about whom no movie has been made
Too many books and movies about Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance expidition end with Shackleton reaching South Georgia Island and returning to rescue his crew of Endurance.This book chronicles the story of the party who was to lay Shackleton's supply depots for his cross-Antarctic journey, a journey he never made.These men in many ways had an even harder task than Shackleton's party.They not only had responsibility for their own well-being, but (as far as they knew) Shackleton's as well.This book is a riviting account of their harrowing journey and what Shackleton found when he went back for THEM after rescuing his own crew.This book will make all other accounts of Shackleton's Endurance expidition seem incomplete.

The Other Side of Endurance
The other half of Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-15 started from McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea and laid supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf for Shackleton and his team to use as they crossed the continent from the Weddell Sea. Here as on the Endurance disaster struck at the very beginning. The Ross Sea party's ship was blown out to sea, marooning the men for two years with little more than the clothes they stood up in. Fortunately, the lavishly equipped Scott Expedition had departed in a hurry four years before and left a surprising amount of stuff behind. Hard-headed Aeneas Mackintosh and his men carried out their task despite their own precarious position, laying depots that would never be used. The cost was the lives of three men, including Captain Mackintosh himself.
Unbelievable endurance
Many people know of Ernest Shackleton's tragic Antartic expedition. His ship, the Endurance, becomes trapped in the ice and is eventually crushed. Shackleton and his men, make there way back to civilization through Shackleton's efforts. However, not many people know about the other group of men involved in that same expedition.
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Subjects:  1. (1915-1917)    2. (Aeneas Lionel Acton),    3. 1879-1916    4. Antarctica    5. Aurora Relief Expedition    6. Discovery And Exploration (General)    7. Discovery and exploration    8. Expeditions & Discoveries    9. History    10. History - General History    11. History: American    12. Mackintosh, A. L. A    13. Mackintosh, A. L. A.    14. Modern - 20th Century    15. Polar Regions    16. Travel   

Reviews (2)

Best of the Peary/Henson Books
I've read a good number of books by and about Peary, Henson, Rasmussen, Freuchen, Ehrlich, and others, and this is the best of the lot.It's a fascinating story that recounts the Peary/Henson trek to the N Pole and bundles it with such topics as Eskimo culture, race relations a century ago, and race relations today.Throughout it all, Dr. Counter writes with great sensitivity and objectivity about controversial topics.That he was able to discover the modern relations of Matthew Henson and bring them to the states for reunion and recognition is remarkable.If you are at all interested in history, the N Pole expeditions, or artic living, you'll really enjoy this book.

Amazing Story
I just heard this book's author on the radio, and was so impressed by him. He's a Harvard professor who got interested in the story of Matthew Henson, a black man who explored the Arctic and discovered the North Pole along with Robert Peary. The professor, Dr. Counter, has gone to the Arctic several times now, and has befriended the sons and grandsons of both Henson and Peary. Before Dr. Counter, nobody in the US even knew that these explorers had fathered children up there. And Dr. Counter has done a lot to get Henson recognition here in the States, where institutionalized racism has minimized his role in history. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1906-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Ethnic Cultures - General    5. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    6. Greenland    7. Henson, Anaukaq,    8. Inuit    9. Peary, Kali,    10. Sociology    11. Special Interest - Adventure    12. Travel    13. Arctic regions    14. Geographical discovery & exploration    15. Henson, Anaukaq    16. Henson, Matthew Alexander    17. Peary, Kali    18. Peary, Robert E   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Canada - General    4. Canada - Pre-Confederation (to 1867)    5. Canada - Territories & Nunavut    6. Ethnologists    7. Frontier and pioneer life    8. Historical - General    9. Mackenzie    10. Northwest Territories    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Pioneers    13. Travel    14. Travel - Foreign    15. Arctic regions    16. Geographical discovery & exploration   

Reviews (2)

So shallow and self-centered!
This might be an adequate book for the twenty-something crowd or the teenie boppers, but it is largely tedious, laden with self-pity and complaint over the living conditions.She exaggerates her qualifications to get a cooking job for an Antarctic outfitter, then frets that she isn't able to do it very efficiently.Those who dine at her table apparently find the fare adequate in quality, if sometimes shy in quantity.I listened to this book as an audio book and found there were a few adequate moments, but most of it was whine, whine, whine. Want some cheese with that?
Bravely honest, scary at times, and completely fascinating!
I read this book when it first came out in Australia and it is an absorbing, funny page-turner. I think many of us have felt just like the author who was stuck in a rote, materialistic, urban life -- is this all life has to offer? She wanted change and boy did she make a change! She lied her way into a job in Antarctica as a cook! People have described this book as Bridget Jones-meets-Antarctica. And it is an apt summary, but I think it's more than that. For one, the writing is certainly better than your average chick lit. And the subject is something both men and women can relate to: the search for something more meaningful in life than just making money and buying a lot of stuff. The way the author goes about doing that -- with equal parts intention and chance -- felt true, nerve racking at times, and completely fascinating. If you've ever felt 'there's got to be more to life than this' and have longed for adventure and meaning, this book will especially speak to you. If you just want something gripping to read, the author has a good story and tells it exceedingly well with wonderful language. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Antarctica    2. Travel writing   

Reviews (9)

Mostly True North
I'll admit I was resistant to this book at first - I guess I expected a more scholarly, weighty approach, rather than Kavenna's very personal picaresque - but she wonme over quickly with her elegant, lyric prose, her disarming, understated persona, and her expert blending of travel narrative and history of ideas, literature and exploration. She begins by visiting all the places that have been considered possible locations of Thule, the Shetland Islands, Iceland, Norway, Estonia, advancing northward, capturing what she sees as she smoothly explicates what other travelers have said about those places as Thule, and also examining the turbulent history of Arctic exploration at large.
Interesting
In the fourth century BC, the Greek merchant and explorer Pytheas (~380-~310 BC) traveled north through the North Sea, and finally ended up at a distant island, which he called Thule. Thule lies far to the north, on the edge of the Arctic ice, where the sun never set during midsummer. Many centuries later, Joanna Kavenna, a native of London, found herself dreaming of an untouched northern landscape, glittering in its perpetual ice. And so, she set out to find Thule...this is the story of her search.
Any interested in true adventure will find her odyssey hard to put down
To the ancients Thule was considered a lost icy Eden of strange beauty, fueling the imagination of poets, explorers and now writer Joanna Kavenna, whose journey in search of the legendary Thule is documented in THE ICE MUSEUM: IN SEARCH OF THE LOST LAND OF THULE. Kavenna's journey brought her in touch with others under the same spell, from past evidence of prior seekers to contemporaries. Her journey also uncovered a host of frozen relics of the cold war - and it reads with all the 'you are there' drama of a diary and an investigative research piece. Any interested in true adventure will find her odyssey hard to put down.
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Subjects:  1. Adventurers & Explorers    2. Arctic regions    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Geographical myths    7. Kavenna, Joanna    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Thule    10. Travel    11. Women    12. Biography & Autobiography / Adventurers & Explorers   

Reviews (2)

Shackleton's furthest south
For me the highlight of this book is the extract from Shackleton's diary describing the 'furthest south' journey in which Shackleton reached just 97 miles from the pole before being forced to turn back. This turned into an epic struggle for survival (unlike Scott 3 years later, they won) which is splendidly recounted with diary extracts. The rest of the book describes the first ascents of Mount Erebus and the first journey to the south magnetic pole as well as the rest of the expedition. Although it is well to bear in mind that nearly all of these period books were written in a style that shows only the positive side of the expeditions I find them more enjoyable to read than some of the more critical modern descriptions. A fascinating look at an overlooked expedition
The epic story of the Endurance expedition has overshadowed Shackleton's earlier Nimrod expedition, during which he and three comrades trekked to within 100 miles of the South Pole and other members of his expedition werethe first to climb Mount Erebus and locate the South Magnetic Pole. This isa well-written account and gives a complete overview not only of theexpedition but also of Shackleton's careful preparations. Read"South" by all means, but read this book by Shackleton too; it'sexcellent. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1907-1909)    2. 1874-1922    3. Antarctica    4. British Antarctic Expedition    5. Discovery And Exploration (General)    6. Discovery and exploration    7. Expeditions & Discoveries    8. History    9. History - General History    10. History: World    11. Polar Regions    12. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    13. Sir,    14. Travel    15. Biography: general    16. Geographical discovery & exploration    17. c 1900 - c 1914   

Reviews (2)

The worst journey ever made
After reading Alfred Lancing's book of almost the same name (see the previous review), I had an irresistible desire to learn more about the heroic adventures of this Antarctic explorer.For anybody else suffering from Shackleton Fever -- this book is a good choice.Written in association with the American Museum of Natural History, this beautiful volume chronicles the whole expedition in glorious detail and contains dozens of magnificent reproductions of Hurley's original expedition photographs.To reach this book, the plates traveled a long and perilous journey, rescued from shipwreck, dragged across ice flows, through lifeboats, sometimes buried in the snow, or cached in special locations, carefully soldered together to keep out moisture. Frank Hurley was a talented photographer, and his detailed photos give a new dimension to an already engrossing story.Ms. Alexander's account is more detached than that of Lancing -- appropriate for a documentary work.The change in emphasis brings in new details that made the epic even more exciting the second time, and the professionalism of her writing made the book a pleasure to read.
The Spirit of Endurance lives on.
The current polar explorer Ann Bancroft said she was first inspired to visit Antarctica after the breathtaking pictures and reports of Shackleton's attempts to cross that continent. As she attempts to become part of the first women's team to traverse Antarctica she is passing by Shackleton's Glacier and must be remembering his team and their efforts.The actual photographs of Shackleton's ship in the book Spirit of Endurance and the reproduction paintings of each adventure and challenge they faced draw the reader into the tale. Students are fascinated by the hardships the men encountered and endured. The decision regarding the fate of their sled dogs was as heartbreaking to the reader as it must have been to the men of Endurance.The remarkable heroism and perseverence of Shackleton and his crew is an inspiration to the adventurers in all of us. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1914-1917)    2. 1874-1922    3. Antarctica    4. Children's 4-8 - History - General    5. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Nonfiction    6. Children: Grades 2-3    7. Discovery And Exploration (General)    8. Endurance (Ship)    9. Historical - Exploration & Discoveries    10. History - Exploration & Discovery    11. Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition    12. Juvenile Fiction    13. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    14. Sir,    15. Travel    16. Juvenile Nonfiction / History / Exploration & Discovery   

Editorial Review

Today, scientists regularly bivouac for months on end in the vast frozen wastes of Antarctica, and adventurous travelers can even find tours to take them to the bottom of the world. But it was not so long ago that a voyage to the South Pole was a perilous undertaking, one that required tremendous courage, stamina, and skill. Long before explorers actually saw this frozen continent, its existence was posited by geographers, though 18th-century seafarers ventured no further than the ring of cold air and icy water, the Antarctic Convergence, which surrounded it. The discovery and exploitation of Antarctica is the subject of Alan Gurney's book, Read more

Reviews (4)

Full of history, short on tales
Most of all, this is a book about history and not about the men engaged in it.This book clearly covers the early history of Artic exploration, of the historic events of men and ships discovering and reaching the Artic.The detail is great and complete. Sailing over a cetaceankingdom
The subject-matter may seem a narrow historical theme but the great joy of this book is how well it relates to wider concerns and themes.It is superbly written (as well as being an excellent example of a well-producedbook, with apposite text illustrations, maps and a good index). The passageon pp 59 to 61 of the ecology of the Southern Ocean gives a succinct andwitty account of the food-chain and ends with a paragraph in celebration ofthe whales that have survived (just) the whalers which followed in the wakeof the great discoverers.There are accounts to appeal to island-lovers ofthe earliest contacts with the wonderful remote islands of the SouthernOcean. Readers of The Times (London) will find good historial material hereabout Kerguelen (Desolation) Island to which one of the paper's bestcolumnists (Matthew Parris) has just set off.No surprise to me that theauthor, Alan Gurney lives on a lovely and historic Scottish island, Islay. Read his book with a fine malt whisky from Islay close to hand.You canthen regularly toast the many fine descriptive passages (both his own andin quotations from his sources, which he uses with great skill) and hisnarrative skill in telling an exciting story.

A sailors praise for a sailors worthy work.
My brother, a 20th Century racing sailor extradordinaire, gave me this book while I was home from the sea for a week last Christmas.I have nothing but praise for Mr. Gurney's engaging and effortless prose andthoroughly enjoyed every moment in the frigid southern seas as my shipsailed over the Atlantic.There is something very appropriate in readingthis book while ghosting along of an evening under topsails aboard a squarerigged ship.Those hard and corageous men (perhaps foolish and motivatedmore by profit upon the hapless seal) cause a modern throw-back to admiretheir skill and endurance.Even more, lying comfortable & safe tuckedinto a climate controled cabin aboard a 350 foot square-rigged ship, Ifound the romance in Gurney's writing intoxicating.Here is an insightinto our own seafaring history, of men long forgot who paved the way forthe demystification of our small world.Read more

Subjects:  1. 18th And 19th Century Description And Travel    2. Antarctica    3. Arctic Islands And Antarctica - History    4. Discovery and exploration    5. Earth Sciences - Geography    6. Exploration    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Polar Regions    10. Reference    11. Science    12. World - General    13. Geographical discovery & exploration    14. c 1600 to c 1700    15. c 1700 to c 1800    16. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (2)

Fantastic book
Amazing, it was just amazing! I had never read anything like this before. I was surprised with the 22 men surviving on ElephantIsland and itwas surprising because this happened like a100years ago. MonicaKullingisaveryfantastic writer. JohnEdensis a fantastic illustrator. I hope that Icouldread more of the Shackleton series and I highly recommend itto all kids.

A well-done introduction to the Endurance epic
This book is a very well-written and illustrated introduction to the epic story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and the crew of the Endurance in their struggle to survive the loss of their ship in the ice. If you know a child who feels put-upon because they don't have the latest model gaming system or the right type of monsters in their card decks, get them to read this,and perhaps it will prove a useful antidote to the ennervating softness of"modern" civilization. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1914-1917)    2. 1874-1922    3. Adventure & Adventurers    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    6. Children: Grades 3-4    7. Endurance (Ship)    8. History - General    9. Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition    10. Juvenile Easy Readers    11. Juvenile Fiction    12. Juvenile literature    13. Readers - Beginner    14. Shackleton, Ernest Henry,    15. Sir,    16. Transportation - Boats, Ships & Underwater Craft    17. Travel    18. Antarctica    19. Fiction    20. Geography & Environment    21. Juvenile Nonfiction / History / Exploration & Discovery   

Reviews (2)

Adventure? You bet!
Despite what others might say, this book is about an adventure.Doing the unthinkable and something that no one has done before is by it's very nature an adventure.Others may have you believe that unless something catastrophic happens it is not an adventure, but usually bad things happen from lack of proper planning.Don't discount Steger as a true adventurer simply because he is smart!People who have done a fractional amount of the exploration Will Steger has should appreciate this book.However, if your idea of adventure is sliding a little closer to the fire in your stocking feet while you read about some blokes misfortune via improper planning then read another book.

adventure as boredom
This book is an account of the first crossing by foot of Antarctica by veteran adventurer Will Steger and his team. Steger is no adventurer in the British tradition of SCott, instead his crossing his meticulously plannedand carried out. Very little out of the ordinary occurs. THe lesson in thisbook is that most adventure travel is boring, unless disaster strikes! Evena less than enthralling adventure however, would have been made better by amore gifted writer than STeger. His descriptions are stilted and the diarystyle entries only reinforce the boredom. If you want to know how to planan expedition, read this book. Other wise there are far better adventurestories out there. Read The Last Place on Earth by Roland HUntford orEndurance by Alfred Lansing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. General    2. Polar Regions    3. Travel    4. Travel - General    5. Non-Classifiable   

Reviews (1)

A great book for dads of daughters or any outdoor enthusiest
I was given the book for my 40th birthday and couldn't put it down!It has been my dream to go on an adventure with each of my children when they "come of age" and this book has inspired me to not be afraid to do it.Kesslrings stories bring the lives of the people of the NWT to life.Not only did it tell the story of a somewhat unknown people, but it also reminded me of the important milestones that every parent must take with their children.The book was inspiring to me and a great reminder of the important role we parents play in our kids lives.It's an easy, fun and inspiring read! ... Read more

Subjects: &n