Kelly Tyler-Lewis, a historian, is Visiting Scholar of the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge, England. Her research took her to Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Antarctica, where she spent two months with the U.S. Antarctic Program.
While the story of Ernest Shackleton's crew of the Endurance is well known, the fate of Shackleton's Ross Sea support party has largely been forgotten-until now. Charged with laying supply depots for Shackleton's aborted 1914-1916 trans-Antarctic trek, the Ross Sea party became stranded when its ship tore free of her moorings and disappeared in a gale. Cambridge historian Tyler-Lewis's account of the 10-man party's plight relies heavily on the men's journals, which are amazingly detailed, considering the physical (snow blindness, scurvy, frostbite) and mental (depression, paranoia) problems they faced. The men's decision to lay the depots despite the obstacles demonstrates their courage, but Tyler-Lewis's narrative doesn't focus solely on heroics. Instead, the heart of the book lies in Tyler-Lewis's dissection of the men's relationships with one another. As friends are made, alliances formed and resentment festers, humanity is never lost, even amid inhumane conditions. Given the collection of military, civilian, scientific and blue-collar personnel that made up the expedition, it's compelling to see how each man deals with his fate. Add in the party's adventures of sledding in subzero temperatures with the sociological aspects of being stranded for nearly two years in such an inhospitable place, and the result is a gripping work. Maps, illus. (Apr. 24) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Historian Tyler-Lewis (visiting scholar, Scott Polar Research Inst., Cambridge) draws on previously unpublished journals to enrich our knowledge of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, whose ship, the Endurance, famously stranded his 28 crew members for 22 months. Less attention has been paid to the expedition's separate supply team, known as the Ross Sea Party, which was tasked to support Shackleton's crossing with a lifeline of food and fuel depots. When the Ross Sea Party's ship, the Aurora, was swept out to sea by a storm while ten men were ashore, leaving them marooned with scant supplies, the men agreed "that the one object that must be obtained, no matter what else was sacrificed, was to place food depots forShackleton's party." Tyler-Lewis notes in her prolog that to a modern observer, the Ross Sea Party's journey to supply an expedition that "never arrived" might have seemed "for naught" (unlike the members of Shackleton's party, they did not all survive), but the Ross Sea Party did not necessarily see it that way. Recommended for all libraries with an interest in true adventures or polar exploration.-Robert C. Jones, formerly with Central Missouri State Univ., Warrensburg Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Painstakingly researched and electrifyingly written . . . a brutal and inspiring tale of adventure and endurance. (Men's Journal)
A gripping story embracing both tragedy and triumph. (The New York Times Book Review)
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