South! by Ernest Shackleton

Reading the science fiction book Seveneves by Neal Stephenson led me to the Ernest Shackleton Antarctic narrative called Endurance by Alfred Lansing. After reading this third person account researched and written in 1959 I went online and found Shackleton's account that was published in 1919 due to delays caused by the last years of World War I.

The North and South Poles had already been reached, so Sir Ernest Shackleton proposed the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition crossing the Antarctic continent 1800 miles from the ice-encrusted shore of the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea.

Endurance covered the voyage to Antarctica, crossing the ice after the ship was crushed, the survival saga on Elephant Island, Shackleton's epic sail to South Georgia Island, and the rescue. South! went beyond that to include more of Shackleton's thoughts and views, and what happened to the Ross Sea contingent which was placing depots of food and supplies for trans-continental trekking party.

I'm glad I read Endurance first because it gave me a broader overview because it was based on multiple diaries and accounts from participants. Shackleton's South! was more focused because it was based primarily on Shackleton's own records and reflections.

South! is available at Amazon.com in Kindle and print formats.

Here's some more information about the Shackleton voyage:

The Project Gutenberg online South! e-book (with more pictures)
The Endurance Obituaries by John F. Mann
Antarctica: Elephant Island by Hoosier Tim's Travel Videos (YouTube)
The Shackleton Crossing of South Georgia by Jake Norton (YouTube)
Map of Shackleton's Expedition by The Salaria Book Company

Have you read or seen movies about extreme survival? What are some of your recommendations? -- Margy