![]() ![]() He was now forty years old, of medium height and thick of neck, with broad, heavy shoulders a trifle stooped, and dark brown hair parted in the center. Lansing describes Shackleton’s appearance in a vivid manner: But, restless and resolute as he was, just a few years later, he turned to the “one great object of Antarctic journeyings” remaining: transatlantic journey, i.e., crossing Antarctica from the Wendell Sea via the South Pole to McMurdo Sound. It was almost as if he had nothing to accomplish anymore. However, when Amundsen reached the Farthest South latitude (90°S) on December 15, 1911, Shackleton was a bit shackled. ![]() It was during this trip that he, Scott, and another companion set a new southern record (82°S), which Shackleton would better just a few years later during the Nimrod expedition (88°S). His first experience of the polar regions came relatively early: he was in his 20s when he was assigned the role of third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s landmark Discovery expedition of 1901–1904 that was organized by the British Royal Society and the Royal Geographical Society with the objective of carrying out scientific research and geographical exploration of the untouched continent. The Protagonist: Sir Ernest Henry Shackletonīorn on February 15, 1874, in Ireland, Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton is now widely considered one of the principal figures of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Why would someone set before himself such a goal? Well, maybe it’s best if we dedicate the first two sections of our summary to answering this question. However, Alfred Lansing’s Heroic Age classic, Endurance, is not about Robert Falcon Scott-a celebrated hero of his day and age, but also someone whose leadership qualities and competence of character have been questioned in recent times-but about one of his officers during previous journeys, Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton.Īnd it’s not about merely reaching the South Pole, but about something even more daunting and unimaginable: crossing the entire continent from sea to sea, via the pole. That happened in December 1911, when a highly prepared Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen decisively beat the (ironically) better-remembered one led by a British Royal Navy Officer named Robert Falcon Scott. Though some of them had scientific interests, the primary object of most of these expeditions was, interestingly, to become the first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole. To history buffs and readers of exploration literature, this period is mostly known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.įor a reason: during the Heroic Age, no less than 17 major Antarctic expeditions were launched from 10 different countries of the world. Plotįirst discovered by a Russian expedition in 1820, the continent of Antarctica became an object of fascination for numerous explorers around the world during the last years of the 19 th century and the first two decades of the 20 th century. Just eight years later, he died, aged 54. With Walter Modell, Lansing co-authored one of the last books from the Life Science Library, Drugs (1967). He edited a weekly newspaper between 19, before joining the United Press and becoming a freelance writer in 1952. Afterward, he enrolled at North Park College and later at Northwestern University, where he majored in journalism. Navy during the Second World War and received a Purple Heart for being wounded during his service. Alfred Lansing was an American journalist and writer, best known for his 1957 classic, Endurance.īorn in Chicago on July 21, 1921, Lansing served the U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |