Shackleton's Epic: Recreating the world's greatest journey of survival
By (Author) Tim Jarvis
ABC Books
ABC Books
23rd May 2016
Australia
General
Non Fiction
919.8904092
Paperback
320
Width 153mm, Height 235mm, Spine 22mm
440g
A new edition to mark the centenary Ernest Shackleton's epic 1916 journey across 1300 kms of hostile ocean in a tiny, leaking boat and unmapped ice and snow to reach a rescue station by British-Australian explorer Tim Jarvis, who recreated 'Shackleton's Epic' in 2012 Sir Edmund Hilary called it the greatest survival story of all time. In 1916, just months into Ernest Shackleton's third expedition to the South Pole, his ship, the Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and sank. With winter setting in and supplies running out, Shackleton faced a terrible quandary: should he and his crew stay on a tiny inhospitable stretch of Antarctic island and die waiting Or should they make an almost certainly doomed journey, and sail in a lifeboat across 900 miles of the world's wildest ocean then trek over unmapped glaciers to reach help. Showing astonishing courage, Shackleton and a small band of men set off in an open boat. Even more astonishingly, they survived. Almost a century later, explorer and environmental scientist Tim Jarvis set out with a crew of five to replicate Shackleton's journey, using the same equipment, eating the same unpalatable food and facing the same hostile ocean conditions. Shackleton's Epic is the story of that trip - the wretched lows and the occasional highs and the mental and physical toughness required to survive in one of the last wildernesses on earth. Moving between the past and the present, this is a must-read book for all Shackleton fans and lovers of epic adventure. 'Jarvis's tribute to Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition had had a danger and heroism ...worthy of the original.' - GUARDIAN (UK) '...bone-chilling and breathtakingly frightening ...a well-written, compelling read.' - KIRKUS REVIEWS 'a ripping yarn' - BRISBANE NEWS 'serves to show just how brave, skilled, resourceful and optimistic the original [explorers] had been ...Verdict: victory over adversity' - HERALD SUN
Explorer, author and environmental scientist, Tim Jarvis previously recreated Douglas Mawson's horrific journey of survival for an award-winning ABC/BBC documentary. When he's not courting death and disaster on the Antarctic,Tim lives in Adelaide with his young family.