South - Tapa blanda

After the conquest of the South Pole by Amundsen who, by a narrow margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under Scott, there remained but one greeat main object of Antarctic journeyings - the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea. So begins Shackleton's account of one of the most famous voyages of discovery of all time - a journey that began with high hopes of a first in exploration and ended in a desperate struggle for survival and the famous Boat Journey. While Frank Worsley's book remains a classic, so too is Shackleton's much fuller account of an expedition that has become a legend. Both Shackleton and Worsley complement and complete the accounts of the others on the expedition and reinforce the astonishing nature of the expedition and force of character of its leader. With Mel Gibson starring in a major film of the boat journey and a general surge of interest in books of adventure and exploration, the time is ripe for a new edition of Shackleton's own account.

Now most famous for the Endurance expedition with its legendary boat journey, a story which even today remains one of the greatest feats of human endurance of all time, Shackleton is amongst the greatest and most famous of all Irish explorers. Astonishingly enough, most of his expeditions were failures, yet his powers of leadership and charisma have elevated him to the ranks of the great. He is buried in South Georgia.