Shackleton: The Biography

Explorer Fiennes (Cold) draws on his own experiences in Antarctica in this sympathetic if somewhat dry biography of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1921). Fiennes contends that Shackleton's first two expeditions to Antarctica "helped pave the way for [Roald] Amundsen and [Robert Falcon] Scott to reach the South Pole," and recounts in detail the 1914-1917 Endurance expedition, when Shackleton's ship was crushed by ice and he saved his entire crew by sailing a lifeboat across 800 miles of "grey and desolate sea" and traversing South Georgia island to get help. Fiennes also defends Shackleton against accusations of being a poor planner, and notes that his own journey across the Antarctic continent in 1993 followed the route Shackleton intended to take on the Endurance expedition. Details of Shackleton's early life in Ireland and England reveal how he dreamed from a young age "of becoming a hero... feted far and wide," while discussions of the challenges he faced in raising funds and finding crew members showcase his fierce will and powers of persuasion. Though Fiennes's admiration shines through, frequent asides about his own expeditions are more distracting than insightful, and the prose doesn't quite capture the drama of polar exploration. Still, this is a thorough record of Shackleton's successes and failures. (Jan.)