Author(s): Darrel Bristow-Bovey

History | Biography & Memoir | Maritime

'Beautiful, thrilling, heroic and kind, a ripping yarn' - CLAIRE ROBERTSON, AUTHOR OF THE SPIRAL HOUSE 'Tender, heartfelt and lyrical' - PETINA GAPPAH, AUTHOR OF OUT OF DARKNESS, SHINING LIGHT

Since the discovery of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance on the bed of the Antarctic ocean, the world has been enthralled anew by one of the greatest stories of all time. Acclaimed South African writer Darrel Bristow-Bovey, himself a Shackleton aficionado, revisits this dramatic event, which managed to sweep the tide of anger and rancour off the timelines and front pages of the world. He asks how so many ordinary people, who don't know a nunatak from a barquentine, were so moved at the finding of a small wooden ship once sailed by a half-forgotten Irishman?

In re-examining the story and its players, he presents new details and a new understanding of the courage and hardship of the Endurance voyage, and reminds us of how extraordinary humans can be. Not all is lost, and what has been lost can be regained: the ocean has given us something back. What's more, we are reminded that miracles still happen: human miracles, performed by flawed people in helpless situations.

Schrödinger's Books' Review:

Most of us are probably familiar with the incredible survival story of Shackleton and his 27 crew who survived five months on Antarctic ice, then rowed 350 miles to Elephant Island before Shackleton and five others sailed 800 miles over open sea to South Georgia to return and rescue all the men.

Jacinda Ardern acknowledges Shackleton as an inspiration for leadership in the face of huge adversity and says her favourite book is Alfred Lansing’s Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. There have even been books written about Mrs Chippy, the ship’s cat and a statue of the cat is on Harry McNish’s grave at Karori Cemetery.

Finding Endurance recounts Shackleton’s epic survival story highlighting what made him an exceptional leader but also includes a personal narrative of a voyage around the author’s own father and of finding hope and endurance in today’s world. “His fascination with the Endurance expedition began as a small boy, when his father first told him that he has been south with Ernest Shackleton. He still believes him.”

The survival story is gripping, the writing is flawless and there are all sorts of absorbing digressions about Peter Pan, Coleridge and albatrosses, Frankenstein and who might have stolen the Irish Crown Jewels. Read it, you won’t be disappointed.

- Catherine Clarke