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First published in 1959, this story of survival against incredible odds has been republished numerous times; the copy I read says it's the thirty-fourth printing. Certainly it is an incredible adventure story: surviving being marooned in Antarctica for almost a year, most of it drifting helplessly on ice floes, makes an enthralling tale, and the author told it well. Amazon readers almost universally give this 5 starts and use words like "amazing", "exceptional" and the like.

It is a great story, and worth reading, but I couldn't help feeling some disappointment. First, I agree with the lone slightly negative Amazon review that there should have been more photos and that I would have been interested in hearing what happened to the expedition members after their rescue. But more than that, I have problems with glorifying the expedition itself. Lansing himself notes that there was really no scientific purpose behind this; all of that was window dressing. The real purpose was simply glory and self promotion, both for Shackleton and England itself.

I suppose that if people want to risk their lives for no real purpose, in some sense that's their business, but it still nagged at me with every page: these people shouldn't have been here, shouldn't have been doing this. In that light, the destruction of wildlife, though of course necessary for their survival, also bothered me. There's little doubt that attempting a pointless expedition like that today would raise cries of outrage and censure. Accounts of Shackleton's expedition have used words like "heroic"; I think "foolish" is more like it.

I did enjoy the book, though, with the reservations expressed above.

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