Ernest Shackleton

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Ernest Henry Shackleton
Ernest Shackleton
Born	15 February 1874 Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland
Died	5 January 1922 South Georgia Island
Education	Dulwich College
Occupation	Explorer
Spouse	Emily Dorman
Children	Raymond, Cecily, Edward
Parents	Henry and Henrietta

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, CVO, OBE ( 15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish explorer. Born in Kilkea, Ireland, Shackleton embarked on four Antarctic expeditions and was knighted for travelling the furthest south of any contemporary human on his voyage aboard Nimrod. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Parliament of the United Kingdom and was involved in business ventures aimed at raising revenue for his polar explorations.

Shackleton is most noteworthy for leading the unsuccessful Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, colloquially known as the " Endurance Expedition" or "Shackleton's Voyage", between 1914 and 1916. Although Shackleton failed to achieve his goal of crossing the Antarctic continent on foot, he demonstrated the leadership for which he is now known when the ship Endurance became trapped in the ice and was destroyed. Shackleton, known by his contemporaries as "the Boss", led his men to refuge on Elephant Island before heading across 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) of the open Antarctic Ocean to South Georgia Island with five other men. Upon reaching the remote island, Shackleton crossed severe, mountainous terrain to reach a whaling station from where he was able to muster a ship, eventually to rescue his men on Elephant Island. All the men on Endurance survived their ordeal after spending 22 months in the Antarctic, although three men of the Ross Sea Party lost their lives.

Shackleton was a key figure in the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration alongside Roald Amundsen, Douglas Mawson, and Robert Falcon Scott, each of whom is famed for exploits that captured the public imagination. In recent times, he has become known for his leadership skills, and is the topic of many books and films that focus on the explorer's ability to lead men through challenging conditions.

Life

Ernest Shackleton in the polar region, circa 1916

Childhood

Ernest Shackleton was born on 15 February 1874, in Kilkea, County Kildare, Ireland, about 48 kilometres (30 mi) from Dublin. Ernest's father, Henry, and mother, Henrietta Sophia Gaven, were of English-Irish ancestry. Ernest was the second of their ten children and the first of two sons. In childhood he was described as "bright, good-natured,... and confident". In 1880, at six years old, Ernest moved to Dublin with his father, who was studying medicine. Four years later, the family moved from Ireland to Sydenham in suburban London to seek a better income and because their Anglo-Irish ancestry made them afraid to stay in Ireland after the assassination of Lord Frederick Cavendish by Irish nationalists. Shackleton spent the remainder of his childhood in Sydenham.

Ernest was schooled by a governess until the age of 11, when he entered Fir Lodge Preparatory School in West Hill, and was educated from ages 13 to 16 at Dulwich College, a public school for boys. The young Shackleton did not distinguish himself as a scholar and was said to have been "bored" by his studies. He was quoted later as saying:

"I never learned much geography at school... Literature, too, consisted in the dissection, the parsing, the analysing of certain passages from our great poets and prose-writers ... teachers should be very careful not to spoil their taste for poetry for all time by making it a task and an imposition."

– Ernest Shackleton,

In his final term at the college, however, he was able to achieve fifth place in his class of thirty-one. Furthermore, throughout his career, Shackleton was a voracious reader, which contributed to the broadening of his horizons.

Maritime career

At 16, Shackleton embarked on his career by joining the merchant marine. He chose this path for two reasons. Firstly, the fee to join a Royal Navy cadet ship was too expensive, and secondly, his father was able to procure him employment at the North Western Shipping Company aboard the sailing vessel Houghton Tower. This position allowed Shackleton to experience life at sea without the strictness of the Navy. Hence, the young man formed acquaintances with a variety of people—"officer, engineers, and apprentices alike." Following his initial voyage, Ernest agreed to a four-year commitment, and in 1898, at the age of 24, he became a Master Mariner, which entitled him to command a vessel.

After Shackleton completed the programme, his father arranged a meeting between Ernest and Antarctic expedition donor Llewellyn Longstaff. Longstaff admired the young man's keenness, and when Ernest asked him for assistance in joining Robert Falcon Scott's expedition to the Antarctic, Longstaff complied. Shackleton was soon accepted as a member of the National Antarctic Expedition.

Expedition years

Discovery Expedition (1901–02)

Discovery

The British National Antarctic Expedition, also known as the Discovery Expedition after the ship RRS Discovery (1901–04), was led by Robert Falcon Scott with the purpose of undertaking scientific research and exploration along the coast of the Ross Sea in Antarctica. It was the first time Scott had led an expedition, although he did have command experience in the Royal Navy. Shackleton was assigned the duty of outfitting Discovery for the expedition. Scott and Shackleton had different backgrounds, with Scott having trained in the Royal Navy and preferring strict discipline. As a result, the relationship between Scott and Shackleton was tense.

Discovery departed London on 31 July 1901 for Antarctica. The team spent two summers in Antarctica, and Shackleton joined Scott and Edward Wilson, assistant surgeon and vertebrate zoologist, in an attempt on the South Pole in 1902. The journey proceeded under difficult conditions as food was in short supply, and the party was forced to march up to 40 kilometres (25 mi) a day. The team reached as far south as 82° 17' S on 31 December 1902; however they were unable to continue because of terrain, severe conditions, and the onset of scurvy. Shackleton also suffered from heart and lung ailments. Notably, they were 857 kilometres (533 mi) from the Pole and 412 kilometres (256 mi) further south than any human had previously travelled.

Shackleton was sent home by Scott aboard the ship Morning because of illness, even though he had nearly fully recovered. Roland Huntford (a noted critic of Scott) has posited that Scott resented Shackleton's popularity and used health as an excuse to remove him. Indeed, Shackleton had been well-liked among his men, even cheering the men by producing a Christmas pudding he had hidden in his socks, whereas Scott had reduced rations during the march and required military discipline, having the crew mop the decks despite the water freezing immediately. Diana Preston alleges that Scott had perhaps blamed Shackleton for the march's failure, as when he was confronted by the ship's doctor with evidence that Shackleton was not particularly sick he said, "If he does not go back sick he will go back in disgrace." Contradicting Preston's claim is the work of biographer Ranulph Fiennes who asserts that there is little evidence that the two were unfriendly and that Shackleton was indeed sent home because he was ill. Regardless, Shackleton and Scott continued on friendly terms in subsequent correspondence, although the Discovery experience is described as a "defining moment of Shackleton's life" and profoundly disappointing. Though they were publicly amicable, Shackleton and Scott continued to rival one another's exploits and compete for monetary resources and staff throughout their lives.

Between the Discovery and Nimrod expeditions

Ernest Shackleton's wife, Emily Dorman (Lady Shackleton)

Shackleton left The Discovery on 28 February 1902 to cheers from her crew, and set off on Morning for Lyttleton, New Zealand. In mid-June 1903, he returned to London to a good reception, particularly from Sir John Murray, president of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, and Sir Joseph Hooker, a surgeon from an earlier expedition to the Antarctic. They presented him as the first praiseworthy person to return from the Discovery Expedition. Additionally, Shackleton noticed that Londoners had an unquenchable desire for his tales of the Antarctic, which helped him lay the groundwork for further expeditions.

In search of regular employment, Shackleton applied for a commission in the Royal Navy but despite the sponsorship of Sir Clements Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society and President of the Royal Society, he was not successful. With Markham's blessing, he accepted a temporary post assisting the outfitting of the Terra Nova for the second Discovery relief operation but turned down the offer to sail with her as chief officer. However, he was offered, and accepted, the secretaryship with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. He was searching for an office job in order to be able to marry 35-year-old Emily Mary Dorman, with whom he shared a love of literature, particularly Robert Browning. He married Dorman on 9 April 1904, with the marriage producing three children: the youngest, Edward, became the first westerner to climb Mount Mulu in Borneo. Shackleton wrote long letters to his wife during his explorations, but also engaged in several extramarital affairs, including one with the American actress Rosalind Chetwynd.

Shackelton was active in organizing an Antarctic relief mission with the Argentine government and arranging troop transportation for the Russians. In 1906, Shackleton ventured into politics, supporting the Liberal Unionist Party and unsuccessfully standing for Parliament in the 1906 general election in Dundee, garnering 3,865 votes to the victor's 9,276. At the same time, Shackleton was preparing for another expedition to the Antarctic by raising funds and thus was active as a mill promoter and in business ventures such as a tobacco company. The mill owner, William Beardmore, was impressed with Shackleton and helped sponsor his next expedition. Shackleton also used his connections with wealthy friends to raise capital, and subsequently convinced Sir Phillip Lee Brocklehurst and author Campbell Mackellar to finance his expedition. With funds attained, Shackleton presented his idea for an Antarctic expedition to the Royal Geographic Society in competition with a proposal from Henryk Arctowski. Shackleton's project was chosen, and on 12 February 1907, the details of the voyage, named the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition, were published in the Royal Society's newsletter, Geographic Journal.

Nimrod Expedition (1907–09)

The South Pole Party (left to right): Wild, Shackleton, Marshall and Adams

On 1 January 1908, Nimrod sailed from Lyttleton Harbour, beginning the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition. The trip's goal was to land a party of between nine and twelve men, who would then proceed to the South Pole, at the site of Discovery's landing in February 1908 and to return to retrieve them in 1909. The party was to break into three groups, two of which would explore King Edward VII Land and Mount Melbourne. The third and main team was to reach the geographic South Pole.

To conserve coal, the ship was towed 2,700 kilometres (1,678 mi) by Konya to the Antarctic ice. Shackleton arranged for the expense to be split between the New Zealand government and the Union Steamship Company. Upon arrival on 14 January 1908, at the Antarctic Circle, the crew found that Discovery's base camp was inaccessible. Accordingly, Shackleton's base camp was built on Ross Island at Cape Royds, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of the planned site. The party was in high spirits despite difficult conditions and the sickness of crew members. During this trip, Shackleton acquired his nickname, "the Boss", due to his leadership abilities, which focused on camaraderie and admiration.

Ernest Shackleton in a publicity photo taken before the 1907–09 Nimrod Antarctic expedition

The team was unable to attain its goal of reaching the South Pole because team-member Frank Wild was almost killed when a pony fell into a crevasse, injuring him and depriving the party of rations. Indeed, they were desperate for food, and Shackleton decided that it would be impossible for the entire team to return alive if they continued. However, Shackleton and his companions reached 88° 23' S, a point only 180 kilometres (112 mi) from the Pole, which would stand as the "Farthest South" record until Amundsen reached the Pole in 1911 (followed shortly by Robert Scott's ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition which Shackleton had assisted by managing the ordering of provisions). The expedition's accomplishments also included the first ascent of Mount Erebus, an expedition to the approximate location of the Magnetic South Pole by Edgeworth David, Douglas Mawson, and Alistair MacKay ( 16 January 1909), and the discovery of the Beardmore Glacier passage (named after Shackleton's patron). The group was the first to cross the Trans-Antarctic mountain range and to set foot on the South Polar Plateau.

Shackleton's party subsisted on half-rations during the return march, and at one point the Boss gave the one biscuit allotted for the day to Frank Wild. With conditions dire, the group returned to base camp on 28 February 1909, and found a letter stating that Nimrod had sailed two days earlier. In response, the men burnt the camp to attract the departing ship's attention. The ploy succeeded, and by 1 a.m. on 4 March 1909, the whole party boarded for home.

Shackleton returned to the United Kingdom as a hero and was knighted. Soon after, he published a book about Nimrod's expedition titled The Heart of the Antarctic. Regarding the failure to reach the South Pole, Shackleton remarked to his wife: "Better a live donkey than a dead lion."

Endurance Expedition (1914–16)

Although Amundsen reached the South Pole in 1911, interest in the Antarctic continued. Shackleton solicited investment from donors to launch a trans-Antarctic expedition to carry the British flag across the continent from the Weddell Sea on the Atlantic side to the Ross Sea on the Pacific side by way of the pole. The largest contribution, £24,000, came from James Key Caird. Shackleton was also able to acquire funds from the British government (£10,000); the Royal Geographical Society (£1,000); Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills, daughter of a tobacco tycoon; and Dudley Docker of the Birmingham Small Arms Company. During his career Shackleton was able to raise the equivalent of what would today be $10 million for his trips.

Interest in the expedition was enormous: Shackleton received more than 5,000 applications for participation. He chose people he considered the most qualified candidates, either from his personal experience—eight came from the Nimrod expedition—or on the recommendation of his colleagues. Shackleton's interview process was unique: he frequently asked unconventional questions such as "what songs can you sing" or if the candidate "knew gold when he saw it." In this way he hoped to build group camaraderie for the difficult journey ahead. Shackleton also encouraged esprit de corps by dissolving traditional hierarchies. For example, all men were required to take shifts on watch and scrubbing the deck. In all, fifty-six men were chosen and divided into two groups, and Shackleton acquired two ships: Endurance for a Weddell Sea team and Aurora for a Ross Sea Party.

Endurance departed Plymouth for the Antarctic on 8 August 1914, with 28 men. As Endurance approached Antarctica, ice conditions worsened, until on 17 January Endurance became frozen in place, and Shackleton ordered the ship wintered.

In May, the Antarctic sun set for the last time before winter, and Endurance kept its position until spring in the hope that warmer weather would free the vessel from the ice. When spring arrived, however, the breaking of the ice and subsequent movement of giant ice floes splintered the ship's hull. Although Endurance withstood considerable stress, on 24 October she was forced against a large floe, and water began pouring in. After a few days, on 27 October, Shackleton gave the abandon-ship order, and on 21 November 1915, Endurance finally slipped beneath the ice at 69° 00′ S, 51° 30′ W. To supplement their diet in Antarctica the men ate penguins and seals found in the area. This ceased when the local animals mysteriously disappeared; food became scarce, and the men resorted to eating their dogs. Mrs. Chippy, the beloved cat of the carpenter, Harry McNish, and the youngest of the pups born during the expedition were shot soon after Endurance was abandoned because Shackleton did not think they would survive the ordeal.

For almost two months, Shackleton and his men camped on an ice floe hoping that it would drift towards Paulet Island approximately 400 kilometres (250 mi) away. On 23 December Shackleton decided to start sledging towards the island. However, because of the constantly changing sea ice, the party only managed to march a few miles in a week before deciding to set up another more permanent camp (Patience Camp) on another floe and trust to the drift of the pack ice to take them in the right direction. By 5 March, their ice camp came close to Paulet Island but, separated by impassable ice, they were unable to reach the island as the floe continued to drift north.

On 9 April the ice floe that they were camped on broke into two, and Shackleton decided that the crew should enter the lifeboats and head for land. The question presented to the party was where to go. Shackleton decided to lead the crew to Deception Island, about 320 kilometres (200 mi) away. However, after a few days in the boats, the crew members realised that their scarce resources would not allow them to make that journey. On April 12 Shackleton discussed with his crew the possibility of reaching Hope Bay on the continent, now only 130 kilometres (81 mi) distant. However, ice conditions were treacherous and after another night the men looked "seriously worn and strained". Shackleton realised the closer Elephant Island was the only option. After seven days at sea in the three small lifeboats, the men landed at Elephant Island.

Voyage of the James Caird

Launching the James Caird from the shore of Elephant Island, 24 April 1916

Elephant Island was an inhospitable place far from any shipping routes and thus a poor location to await rescue. Consequently, Shackleton felt it essential that he set out to find help immediately upon arrival, and to him, it was obvious that he must head back to South Georgia, even if it meant traversing 1,287 kilometres (800 mi) of open ocean in one of the lifeboats. The lifeboat James Caird was chosen for the trip. To prepare for the journey, Shackleton chose his strongest sailors to accompany him, John Vincent and Timothy McCarthy, as well as experienced officer Thomas Crean. Shackleton also selected the expedition's carpenter, Harry McNish, who immediately made improvements to the open lifeboat. Morrell argues that Shackleton chose McNish and Vincent to accompany him not only for their talent and toughness, but also because they were noted malcontents. He did not want the atmosphere on Elephant Island to be disrupted. Shackleton had frequently chosen to have the most rebellious crew members close to him, in order to quell discontent amongst the party. The difficult task of navigating the crossing was left to Frank Worsley. Ensuring they were on the correct course was of utmost importance as missing their target would certainly have doomed the team.

The waters that Shackleton had to cross in his boat of 6.85 metres (22.5 ft) are among the most treacherous in the world. Weather reports confirm that gale-force winds of 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph) to 70 kilometres per hour (43 mph) are present in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica on an average of 200 days per year; they cause ocean swells of 6 metres (20 ft), and Frank Worsley later commented on the poor weather conditions which complicated the task. Celestial navigation readings were only possible at four times during the 800-mile (1,300 km) journey. He also noted that waves of 16 metres (52 ft) were not uncommon. Of one hair-raising moment of the journey, Shackleton wrote:

At midnight I was at the tiller and suddenly noticed a line of clear sky between the south and south-west. I called to the other men that the sky was clearing, and then a moment later I realised that what I had seen was not a rift in the clouds but the white crest of an enormous wave. During twenty-six years' experience of the ocean in all its moods I had not encountered a wave so gigantic. It was a mighty upheaval of the ocean, a thing quite apart from the big white-capped seas that had been our tireless enemies for many days. I shouted, "For God's sake, hold on! It's got us!" Then came a moment of suspense that seemed drawn out into hours. White surged the foam of the breaking sea around us. We felt our boat lifted and flung forward like a cork in breaking surf. We were in a seething chaos of tortured water; but somehow the boat lived through it, half-full of water, sagging to the dead weight and shuddering under the blow. We baled with the energy of men fighting for life, flinging the water over the sides with every receptacle that came to our hands, and after ten minutes of uncertainty we felt the boat renew her life beneath us.

– Ernest Shackleton, South

Shackleton had refused to pack supplies for more than four weeks, knowing that if they did not reach land by that time the boat would be lost. And indeed, after 14 days, the crew was within sight of Cave Cove, South Georgia. To avoid a night landing on an unfamiliar shore Shackleton ordered the boat to sit out at sea until first light, during which time a storm with hurricane-force winds blew up. After battling against the storm for nine hours they were finally able to land. Leaving McNish, Vincent and McCarthy at the landing point on South Georgia, Shackleton travelled with Worsley and Crean over mountainous terrain for 36 hours to Stromness. No man had previously been able to venture more than 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) inland on the island; Shackleton's party were the first people to cross South Georgia. The next successful attempt was not until 1955. Staggering into Stromness, Shackleton and his team were welcomed into the whaling manager's house.

Shackleton returned to Elephant Island in August 1916 and found that all 22 men left behind had survived. The original nitrate photo of the departure of the James Caird was altered by photographer Frank Hurley to illustrate the return of Shackleton.

Rescue

Shackleton's first three attempts to rescue his men on Elephant Island failed. Desperate, he finally appealed to the Chilean government, which offered the help of Yelcho, a small seagoing tug from its navy. Yelcho reached Elephant Island on 30 August, and Shackleton, in a quick operation, evacuated all 22 men, who had been stranded for 105 days. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea Party was still stranded at Cape Evans on Ross Island because Aurora had been stuck in ice for 10 months and could not reach them. Shackleton met Aurora in New Zealand and returned to rescue the Ross Sea Party. Although every member of the Weddell Sea Party that Shackleton had led survived, three members of the Ross Sea Party lost their lives.

World War I

Shackleton returned to England in May 1917, while Europe was in the midst of the First World War. He suffered from a heart condition, most likely made worse by the fatigue of his arduous journeys. He was too old to be conscripted, but nevertheless he volunteered for the army, repeatedly requesting to be sent to the front in France as a transport captain. Instead he was sent to Buenos Aires to boost British propaganda in South America. Unqualified as a diplomat, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade Argentina and Chile to enter the war on the side of the Allies. He returned home in 1918.

Shackleton was then asked to be the leader of a mission to Spitsbergen, an island above the Arctic Circle and to the north of Norway, in order to establish a British presence there in the guise of a mining operation. However, in Tromsø, Shackleton suffered a heart attack and had to return. Despite this, he joined a military expedition to Murmansk, Russia, in the autumn of 1918; however the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, two weeks after he landed in Russia, and Shackleton returned home to publish the book South, about the Endurance expedition.

Shackleton-Rowett Expedition and death (1921–22)

Sir Ernest Shackleton's grave in Grytviken, South Georgia

Despite the events of the Endurance expedition, Shackleton set out again for the Antarctic aboard Quest intending to circumnavigate Antarctica by sea. Although some of his former crew members had not received all of their pay from the Endurance expedition, many of them signed on with their former "Boss". However, when the party arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Shackleton fell ill after a heart attack. Even so, he refused to return the ship to England or seek treatment, and Quest continued south.

On 4 January 1922, the ship arrived off the coast of South Georgia. In the early morning hours, the expedition's physician, Alexander Macklin, was called to Shackleton's cabin and noticed that he was ill. Macklin suggested to Shackleton that he "take things easier in the future", to which the reply was: "You are always wanting me to give up something, what do you want me to give up now?"

These were the last words spoken by Sir Ernest Shackleton. A few moments later, at 2:50 a.m. on 5 January 1922, he suffered a fatal heart attack. He was 47. Macklin, who conducted the autopsy, concluded that the cause of death was atheroma of the coronary arteries exacerbated by "overstrain during a period of debility". Leonard Hussey, a veteran of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, offered to return his body to Britain; however, while he was in Montevideo en route to England, a message was received from Shackleton's wife asking that her husband be buried in South Georgia. Hussey returned with the body, and on 5 March 1922, Ernest Shackleton was buried at Grytviken. Although Shackleton had been generous to the family of crew by providing for them in the case of accidental death, he did not sufficiently protect his own family: his wife was required to live on her own resources following his death.

Legacy

Statue of Ernest Shackleton by Charles Sargeant Jagger outside the Royal Geographic Society Headquarters

Although Shackleton was not immediately recognised for his achievements after the Endurance expedition, in later years his exploits have been the focus of many books, television shows, charities, and memorials. Among these are the James Caird Society, organised in 1994, which was set up to preserve the memory of Shackleton and his achievements. The society is named after Shackleton's benefactor, who was also honoured by the naming of the lifeboat of 6.85 metres (22.5 ft) used to travel between Elephant Island and South Georgia. Its first life president was Shackleton's younger son, Edward Shackleton, and his granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton, has been life president since 1995. The James Caird itself is at Dulwich College in London.

Additionally, Sir Ernest Shackleton is the subject of Shackleton, a two-part Channel 4 drama directed by Charles Sturridge and starring Kenneth Branagh as the explorer. The same story is related in greater detail in the book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing and Shackleton is also the subject of a documentary, The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, produced and directed in 2000 by George Butler and narrated by Liam Neeson.

Shackleton's grave, near the former whaling station at Grytviken on South Georgia, is frequently visited by tourists from passing cruise ships. The British Antarctic Survey's logistics vessel RRS Ernest Shackleton (the replacement for RRS Bransfield) is named in his honour. In May 1998 the Shackleton Memorial Library opened at the Scott Polar Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. He is commemorated with a statue outside the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, London, designed by the sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger. In recent years interest in Shackleton has revived, and he has become an icon of successful leadership for some modern business writers, who have published books extolling his leadership style. Lastly, Shackleton's death is considered the end of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, a period of discovery characterized by adventurers travelling to the South Pole, largely on their own without radio communication.

Expedition advertisement

The following advertisement is said to have appeared in The Times to recruit crew members for one of Shackleton's expeditions:

Men Wanted: For hazardous journey. Small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success.

– Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Although the advertisement has been widely attributed to Shackleton, its existence in The Times or other contemporary London sources has not been confirmed.

Works cited

• Alexander, Caroline (1998). Endurance. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 074754123X. 
• Capparell, Stephanie; Morrell, Margot (2001). Shackleton's way: leadership lessons from the great Antarctic explorer. New York, N.Y: Viking. ISBN 0-670-89196-7. 
• Davis, John King (1962). High Latitude. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press. 
• Fiennes, Ranulph (2003). Captain Scott. Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. ISBN 0-340-82697-5. 
• Hince, Bernadette (2000). The Antarctic dictionary: a complete guide to Antarctic English. Collingwood, VIC, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 0-9577471-1-X. 
• Huntford, Roland (2004). Shackleton. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 747575347. 
• Hurley, Frank (1998). South with Endurance: Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917, the photographs of Frank Hurley. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0786705442. 
• Johnson, Rebecca L. (2003). Ernest Shackleton: Gripped by the Antarctic. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 0786705442. 
• Kimmell, Elizabeth Cody (1999). Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition. Clarion Books. ISBN 0395915244. 
• Lansing, Alfred (2001). Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297829195. 
• Mickleburgh, Edwin (1987). Beyond the frozen sea: visions of Antarctica. London: Bodley Head, p. 95. ISBN 0-370-31027-6. 
• Mill, Hugh Robert (2006). The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 1428655271. 
• Morrell, Margot and Capparell, Stephanie (2003). Shackleton's Way. Nicholas Brealey. ISBN 1-85788-318-7.
• Perkins, Dennis N.T. (2000). Leading at the Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctica Expedition. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. ISBN 0814405436. 
• Peter, Murray; David Poole, Grant Jones (2005). Contemporary Issues in Management and Organisational Behaviour. Thomson Learning Nelson. ISBN 0170121275. 
• Preston, Diana (1998). A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole. Houghton Mifflin Books. ISBN 0618002014. 
• Rainey, Lawrence S. (2005). Modernism: an anthology. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-20448-2. 
• Rubin, Jeff (2005). Antarctica. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1740590945. 
• Shackleton, Ernest; Hugh Robert Mill, Tannatt William, Edgeworth David. The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic .... J.B. Lippincott Company. 
• Shackleton, Ernest (1919). South: The story of Shackleton's 1914–17 expedition. Project Gutenberg. 
• Speake, Jennifer (2003). Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 1579584241.
• Swan, R.A. (1999). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538.
• Turley, Charles (1915). Voyages of Captain Scott. Retold from Robert Falcon Scott's "The Voyage of the Discovery" and "Scott's Last Expedition". New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
• Watkins, Julian Lewis (1950). The 100 Greatest Advertisements. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0486205401.
• Wheeler, Tony (2004). Lonely Planet Falklands & South Georgia Island (Lonely Planet Falklands and South Georgia Island). Hawthorn, Vic., Australia: Lonely Planet Publications. ISBN 1-74059-643-9. 
• Worsley, Frank A. (1999) Endurance: An Epic of Polar Adventure. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393319946.
• Worsley, Frank A. (1998). Shackleton's Boat Journey. W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393318648.