Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 855 ratings

Price: 15.04

Last update: 01-10-2025


About this item

The legendary tale of Ernest Shackleton's grueling Antarctic expedition, recounted in riveting first-person detail by the captain of HMS Endurance.

"You seriously mean to tell me that the ship is doomed?" asked Frank Worsley, commander of the Endurance, stuck impassably in Antarctic ice packs. "What the ice gets," replied Sir Ernest Shackleton, the expedition's unflappable leader, "the ice keeps." It did not, however, get the ship's twenty-five crew members, all of whom survived an eight-hundred-mile voyage across sea, land, and ice to South Georgia, the nearest inhabited island.

First published in 1931, Endurance tells the full story of that doomed 1914-1916 expedition and incredible rescue, as well as relating Worsley's further adventures fighting U-boats in the Great War, sailing the equally treacherous waters of the Arctic, and making one final (and successful) assault on the South Pole with Shackleton. It is a tale of unrelenting high adventure and a tribute to one of the most inspiring and courageous leaders of men in the history of exploration.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Jeffrey E Ellis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable. Noble. Servant Leadership. Extraordinary.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2008
    ENDURANCE is a narrative of the ill-fated expedition to Antarctica led by Sir Earnest Shackleton in 1914. "Endurance" was the specially-designed ship fitted to brave the icy storms and floes of the southernmost seas to deliver the expedition near the South Pole.

    This tale is told by Frank Worsley, Shackleton's second-in-command. He, Shackleton and Captain Wild made up the senior leadership team which lead 25 other men to safety after they were stranded on ice floes for more than a year and half. Miraculously, despite hardship, near starvation and bitter cold in a desolate wasteland, all the men survived and emerged in relatively good health and spirits.

    I have read several accounts of the voyage and was especially interested in seeing Shackleton through the eyes of his crew. I got that perspective and much more. Worsely was devoted to the "Boss" like a brother. They were comrades and friends for more than twenty years. These two "old dogs" truly loved one another and were in large measure responsible for the safe return of all the souls entrusted into their care.

    The New York Times writes, "Frank Worsely was Shackleton's Captain. Fortunately he was a genius."

    The Endurance expedition contains profound leadership principles and lessons. This book, like others before it, contains many nuggets for teacher and student.
  • Brian A.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great motivating and inspiring true storybook
    Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2024
    Love way this book written from actual accounts from the sailors and gives great perspective from multiple vantage points about what these men endured to survive. Inspiring!
  • R. M. Peterson
    4.0 out of 5 stars The second-best book about Shackleton's epic "Endurance" adventure
    Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2011
    Frank Worsley was the Captain of the "Endurance", the ship on which Sir Ernest Shackleton and twenty-seven other men sailed to Antarctica in 1914 to attempt the first crossing ever of the South Polar continent from sea to sea. They never reached Antarctica. The "Endurance" was captured by polar ice in the Weddell Sea, and eventually it was crushed and sunk. The 28 men took to the polar seas in three small boats, which landed on desolate Elephant Island. Then six of them, with Frank Worsley doing the skippering, sailed for help in a 22-foot boat across eight hundred miles of cold and stormy ocean to South Georgia Island, a phenomenal piece of navigation and seamanship. After that, three of them - Shackleton, Worsley, and Tom Crean - had to cross a rugged, icy, and gale-swept mountain range to reach a whaling station. Three months later, and twenty months after the "Endurance" had been immobilized by ice, the men stranded on Elephant Island were rescued. All 28 of the party survived the ordeal. It was one of the most extraordinary feats of fortitude and survival in recorded human history.

    Worsley wrote two books about the epic adventure. This one, ENDURANCE, was published first, in 1931. Two years later, he published "Shackleton's Boat Journey." I suspect, however, that "Shackleton's Boat Journey" had been written first. In any event, it is a tauter, more focused account of the ordeal of the expedition, from the time the "Endurance" sank until the men stranded on Elephant Island were rescued. It is one of the most gripping books I have ever read.

    ENDURANCE seems to have been written for a broader audience. To me, it is over-written and, too often, clichéd or sentimental. For example: "Never before had I witnessed such a scene, and I sincerely hope I never may again." It is more admiring (some might say, more fawning) in its portrayal of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Its narrative arc begins earlier, as the expedition was assembled, and extends later, through Worsley's World War I experiences, on to post-War adventures with Shackleton, and finally to Shackleton's death in 1922 (which, oddly enough, occurred off South Georgia Island, the result of a heart attack).

    Even with regard to the critical twenty months when Shackleton's expedition was imperiled, each of the two books contains anecdotes or details that the other omits. Thus, a devoted student of the expedition probably would want to read both of them. But if, understandably, you want to purchase and read only one, I strongly recommend that it be "Shackleton's Boat Journey". Nonetheless, for my money ENDURANCE it is slightly better than two other books about the expedition I have - Alfred Lansing's "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage" and Caroline Alexander's "The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Arctic Expedition".
  • Jim
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best Antarctic exploration ever...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2022
    This book is a classic account of this expedition.... Explicate detail and typical understatement of the time.
  • kenrobak
    5.0 out of 5 stars And best of all, it's all true. It really did happen!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2021
    The story of Shackelton's expedition to the South Pole is the BEST adventure tale ever written. What those guys went through, and how they ALL made it back to civilization safely is unbelievable. You couldn't make this stuff up: no one would believe it. This is a story about stuff that couldn't ever happen nowadays. SPECTACULAR!
  • Doctorfiber
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect exciting reading!
    Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2020
    This book provides perfect insight into the experiences of the world's greatest explorers. One can feel the coldness as Mr. Worsley describes in detail his experiences in freezing weather. A wonderful book for sure.
  • Jaws1944
    3.0 out of 5 stars Choppy
    Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2020
    Interesting stories, but difficult to follow the narrative as it jumps around.
    The title is very apt. No doubt that the key requirement was “endurance”. One has to respect their ability to handle hardship.
  • Weatherbyrd
    4.0 out of 5 stars An adventure of all adventures
    Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2018
    A different take on the Shackleton voyage from the Lansing text, and interesting to see Captain Worsley's view of the events. Worsley by the way was a very heoic man.

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