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While I’m nearly always drawn to fiction, I recently ventured into the world of nonfiction and found a page-turning, can’t-put-it-down book that’s entertainment value rivaled that of my favorite novels and even, believe it or not, television. Wow.

This book is Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. First published in 1959, the book is certainly not new nor is it the only book written on the subject matter. Far from it. While Sir Ernest Shackleton’s failed yet celebrated voyage to Antarctica has been the topic of plenty of books, Lansing has one thing going for him: he’s a great writer and storyteller.

Culled from personal interviews and access to crew members’ private journals, Lansing pulls out not only the most compelling comical anecdotes, emotional traumas, and physical hardships from the crew, but also taps into the mental psyche of Shackleton and the others to reveal just how resilient his men were starting in January 1915, when The Endurance became bound by ice in the Weddell Sea, to when everyone (yes, everyone) was rescued in May 1917 – over two years after their ship was crushed by the ice.

While reading this book, I tried to put myself in the shoes of the crew but couldn’t. I asked myself if I’d have survived their treacherous environment, and I decidedly wouldn’t have. But despite how alien Shackleton’s expedition is to me, and may be to any 21st century reader accustomed to water-resistant maps and GPS systems, Lansing has an exceptional knack for for making this story comprehensible and moving.

What’s great about well-written nonfiction is that the reader most likely knows the “end” of the story (something that’s often shrouded in mystery in fiction), but that has little to no effect on how engaging the read is. I’ll take my cue from The New York Times when I say that Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage very well may be the definitive account of Shackleton’s saga.

Read more: Adventure, Arctic, Book Reviews


Jess is a GCB alum and now contributes to the travel blog as often as she can. Jess attended Middlebury College so she loves the Green Mountain State. She also studied abroad in Paris for a semester and has traveled through much of western Europe and the UK. Her most recent travels include trips to Portland, OR, Los Angeles, CA and Spain (Madrid and Andalusia). She lives in Brooklyn, NY.

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