South!
by Ernest Shackleton

Read: Nov 5-14, 2022
Genre: Non-Fiction

Despite New Zealands’s proximity to Antartica, I have never really learned much detail about any Antartctic expeditions. Shackleton’s account of his team’s attempt to cross the continent in 1914 is truly amazing. The sheer extremity of the conditions that the men faced was one thing, but to face them for month after month with unrelenting optimism and confidence is quite another. Truly extraordinary.

The, perhaps less well known, Aurora expedition which set out to lay depots for Shackleton’s team is also recounted. I found their story just as harrowing given the prior knowledge that it is for naught – Shackleton is not coming. The deaths that occured on that expedition are truly tragic.

An excellent book that is well worth a read.