AUDIO BOOK: Endurance:
Shackelton's Incredible Voyage
Written by Alfred Lansing; Read by Tim Pigott-Smith
Audio Partners; 5 compact discs, 6+ hours
Reviewed by Erick Mertz

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In 1915, Ernest Shackelton embarked on one of the most astonishing, harrowing and ultimately inspiring polar expeditions in the history of exploration. With his ship ice bound and his food supplies running from scarce to barren, Shackelton's leadership enabled all 27 of his original crew members to survive the one year ordeal and return to England. His instincts and ability to guide through the most desperate and derisive circumstances is the stuff of sheer, unequaled heroism.

Endurance, originally written in 1959, is an account culled from first hand diaries, captain's logs and interviews with the men who survived. Journalist Alfred Lansing's work is extensive and represents the most comprehensive of all materials in the Shackelton catalog, now including a stirring feature film and a Kenneth Brannagh championed DVD series. The expedition is unfolded from its inception, muddled with funding issues and the outbreak of World War One through all of the tight, precarious battles with conditions to their final rescue.

Read by renowned British stage actor Tim Pigott-Smith, whose credits include an appearance on Broadway in Eugene O'Neil's The Iceman Cometh, the Audio Partners complement is thrilling, sounding like a well worn fireside tale. Lansing's detailing words and Shackelton's exploits roll off of Pigott-Smith's tongue like vivid poetry, in such splendor the Antarctic chills become nearly impossible to prevent as they creep up the listener's spine. As a five-disc set weighing in at over six hours, the size of the package is daunting but worthy of the time spent. Shackelton's journey simply has no equal and its relation, free of hyperbole, is breathtaking.

© 2003 - Erick Mertz