This was a book I was hunting for ever since I read In the Heart of
the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick. Philbrick mentions over and over again how Ernest Shackleton will always be remembered for his excellent leadership. This is about the same time my obsession with expedition books started to develop, and I was lucky to find this book at a used bookstore in London.
Shackleton’s story isn’t a memoir, like most of the other expedition books I have read. His team’s story is told by Alfred Lansing, a journalist who chronicled the Antarctic disaster in his 1959 book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage (the name of Shackleton’s ship).
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Ernest Shackleton |
In that instant they felt an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. Though they had failed dismally even to come close to the expedition's original objective, they knew now that somehow they had done much, much more than ever they set out to do.”
Of course these types of missions still attract tons of scientists who want to board the ship in order to categorize as much of the untravelled landscapes as possible. So Shackleton’s ship wasn’t just packed with crew members, it also had botanists, photographers, etc. on board. Not exactly a crack team for when disaster strikes.
So what basically happens is that their ship takes off for the Antarctic but gets trapped in some ice flows when they are almost there. Lansing talks about how different Antarctic seasons are from our own, and about how drastic the change in daylight is. In the winter months the crew is in near darkness almost 24/7. It's weird though because out of all the disastrous expeditions I've read about, this seems to be the only one where the crew stays in fairly good spirits, especially while trapped on the boat. They all become really good at telling stories and employ all sorts of theatrics ... they also LOVE to fantasize about what sort of meal they would eat when they get home.. This continues almost the entire trip.
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the crew trying to free the boat |
The ice flows start to slowly crush the ship and after a long time stuck at sea they decide they need to escape the boat and make a go of it on land. They gather as many supplies as they can and vacate the ship. They start setting up camp on large ice flows, trying to make their way to a whaling station where they could call for help.
Eventually they have to travel via lifeboat on the frigid, and extremely dangerous, Arctic sea. The crew is soaking wet 24/7 and their biggest concern, if not capsizing, is frostbite. They finally reach Elephant Island and the crew is happy to be on solid ground. One of the youngest passengers notices he lost feeling in his foot and they have to amputate it on the island … NO ANESTHETIC. He is also the youngest on the expedition … it is horrifying and sad.
Shackleton leaves the majority of the crew on Elephant Island and takes off with three other guys to try and find the whaling station. A lot of people do not want to get back into the tiny boats and opt to stay behind. After travelling through a frigid hell (AGAIN) they finally hit land and walk for something like 30 hours until they find the whaling station. It was expected that this would not be a successful mission. Shackleton immediately sends help to the island.
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Elephant Island |
The reason everyone will always remember Shackleton as a great leader is because no one dies during this disaster. They are stranded for almost TWO YEARS. And every single person (22 of them) survive. This is an incredible feat.
Philbrick gives an excellent explanation of what people look for in a leader after disaster strikes. He says that people need someone who will take charge immediately. Leaving things up for debate or a vote doesn’t work well. Clear and firm direction is most effective. I think this is what Shackleton was so successful with. He took charge and led his crew to safety. There was no mutiny.

The other line from the book I think about all the time has to do with hope:
This is so, so true. I hope I am never in a scenario where I need to hold onto this.
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