Description

pp. 160, color photographs throughout, “In the latest volume in this publisher’s series of illustrated biographies, Plimpton tells the story of Shackleton’s life and his four Antarctic expeditions. In what Plimpton calls “a voyage considered one of the great exploits of the heroic age of exploration,” he recounts how Shackleton and five shipmates sailed 800 miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia in a small boat to rescue 28 of his men after their ship was crushed in pack ice in 1915. The author, a critic, novelist, essayist, and cofounder of The Paris Review, chronicles his own trip to Antarctica in 2002 and interweaves the story of his trip with that of Shackleton’s as he follows in the explorer’s footsteps. There are 136 photographs and illustrations; many of the black-and-white photos were taken by Frank Hurley, a member of the crew of the Endurance.”