Shackleton: By Endurance We Conquer

As a retired enlisted man, Shackleton brought back memories of inspiring leaders whom I had the honor of serving under in my 30 years of military service. This book was written with the dignity that Sir Shackleton deserves and a heartfelt thank you to the author.

Michael Smith introduced us to the story of Tom Crean "Ireland's Unsung Hero" and his "Tom Crean: An Illustrated Life." Both "must reads" for anyone who want's to discover the epic story of: "The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploitation." Now Smith recounts the story of Ernest Shackleton's entire venture aboard the ship, Endurance, frozen in the ice and sunk in the Weddell Sea, the grueling escape in lifeboats to barren Elephant Island, the desperate voyage with five other men in a lifeboat across 800 miles of the earth's stormiest seas, the almost unbelievable hike with Crean and Worsley across mountainous South Georgia Island, and finally the rescue of the crewmen stranded on Elephant Island. The entire story of heroism that ended with the safe return of all 28 men of the Endurance Expedition without the loss of a single man. Smith writes with passion and accuracy of one of the dramatic episodes of "The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration." The story can be summed up by Shackleton's family motto, "BY ENDURANCE WE CONQUER." WARNING: If you start reading this book you won't be able to put it down. -- Bryce Babcock

sent to my son in Afghanistan

Everyone in my family read it and was blown away by the raw and inspiring adventure Shackleton endured.

book is good

A wonderful read!

This is a very readable book on the life of Shackleton.It's well-researched, mostly well-evaluated and well written.Where I'd find fault with it is in two areas.Firstly, where incongruous facts are not properly questioned, viz. the time the author tells us that Shackleton's father (a doctor) couldn't afford a Royal Navy commission for his son when a page before he said his father intended for his son to study medicine and take over his practice . . . I don't know how much RN commissions were in late Victorian times but they were hardly more expensive than putting a son through medical school. If they weren't, then Smith ought to explain how/why RN officers were higher up the social ladder than doctors.Secondly, where the author ignored events that could have used as jumping-off points to explore the real character of his subject. He hinted at a tendency to socialize his way upward in his merchant navy career. But this was almost the norm then. Smith doesn't blink when Shackleton started on a triumphal speaking tour just after being invalided home from the first Antarctic trek. Surely this scale of self-unawareness is worthy of exploration. The affairs with women are not explored beyond giving us vague details on the women involved. Whether these relationships were important in themselves or just Shackleton trying to shake down well-heeled women is not analyzed.Overall it's a great read, lovingly full of marine detail and always acknowledging essential contributions to the expeditions from the humblest sailor or official.If you have a friend who likes the sea or exploring, this is a good Christmas book candidate.

I have read several books featuring Shackleton's expeditions but this is my first biography of his life. The book is very well written and a pleasure to read. Shackleton was much more interested in geography than science and I was surprised there were not more detailed maps included. When I am reading history, especially of a place as remote as Antarctica, I like to have detailed maps handy and was forced to follow the text with maps from other sources.There is no doubt that Shackleton was much better at getting out of trouble than staying out of it. His expeditions would have been dangerous enterprises even with the best preparation possible in the early 20th century. Shackleton's sloppy, haphazard planning likely made his notable escape from death exploits necessary.It was Shackleton's misfortune that World War I broke out during the Endurance expedition and news of his exploits didn't hold the public's attention long. I find it interesting that a modern industry in the study of Shackleton's management style has developed. Shackleton's leadership in times of great danger and stress was impeccable but good overall management requires proper preparation and in this area, Shackleton was all too often AWOL. Shackleton had more interest in pursuing women than properly preparing his expeditions (or spending time with his wife and children). The Endurance expedition was justly famous for Shackleton's amazing ability to keep pulling rabbits out of his hat. This doesn't change the fact that the Endurance expedition's failure was due to poor planning.Thank you Mr. Smith for bringing the fascinating, flawed Shackleton to life. I very much enjoyed this book.

I really enjoyed reading about Ernest Shackleton, the writers style was well paced and made me want to carry on reading through to the end. I am not a great reader so it’s good that I can find a book that holds my attention. Shackleton and Scott were at odds with the each other after Earnests health failed on the trip. He was sent home and ES felt Scott had wronged him, Scott badmouthing him hindered his progress to go back to the Antarctic.

Good historical vision of the man . Warts and all . Great leader of men but a hopeless businesses man. They don't make them like that anymore.

This was a first dip into Antarctic exploration and I chose Shackleton ahead of anything about Scott as I knew nothing about either the man or his deeds. The book is an easy and clear read. In the end I was certainly clear about his deeds but no more informed about the man. It may be that there is no source material beyond his actions, family letters and the journals he kept during his trips but overall I was left with the impression that you know the man by his actions. Clearly there were people who would literally follow him to the end of the world but there were others who were “once bitten, twice shy”. Over all I could understand the second group far more than the first. There is repeated quotation about the the comparative merits of Scott Amundsen and Shackleton with the latter being the best man in adversity. However, to my mind most of the adversity he faced was of his own making. In his conduct away from the trips he does not come over as being admirable. Almost a confidence trickster in how he extracted financial support for the trips and seemingly didn’t live up to his promises to his own men. Why were some of them so loyal? Might it be that they weren’t especially loyal to him rather than, like him, obsessive adventurers? There is a photograph of Amundsen, Pearry and Shackleton at a formal event. I suppose that there is no insight into what Shackleton thought about being in their illustrious company or how he felt about Scott and his subsequent elevation to national hero. If these are things that you are looking for then I don’t think that this is the book for you, assuming the answers exist at all. Still a good read for someone who knew nothing about Shackleton’s deeds.

I have read pretty much everything that I can find on Shackleton.This is a good read - and would be great starting point for someone who is new to the so called 'Heroic age of Antarctic exploration' and to Shackleton himself'.But if you have read 'South' and the rest of the ghost written stuff, and Riffenburgh's excellent account of the Nimrod expedition, and Hunsford's biography, and Tyler Lewis's 'The Lost Men' about the Ross Sea party (and more books to many to mention) - you aren't going to learn much that's new.Well written though - and a good telling of the old story. I would recommend it.

Amazing survival. Amazing force of nature.