Over the years, I've consumed the story of Shackleton's successfully failed Antarctic expedition a number of times in a number of formats: from books to movies to museum exhibitions. Even with all that background, I still found Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing to be a page turner. Part of this is due to Lansing's skill and thoroughness, and part of this is due to the sheer miraculousness of Shackleton's self-rescue.
There are so many tiny moments of joy, fear, misery, and countless other emotions in the 550+ days that the crew of the Endurance worked to survive that it's impossible to catalog them all. Still, Lansing manages to bring us as many of these moments, both big and small, as possible. Other than exhaustively reading the crew's diaries and published works, I can't imagine getting this level of detail anywhere else.
At times, it could feel like a bit much. When Lansing belabors how cold, hungry, or just plain bored the crew is, he does it in a way that can be borderline tedious. Surely, however, that's also the point. The survival of the expedition was in the extreme, so a few extra pages putting this into context is ultimately a win.
Lansing gives us a view into both the genius and flaws of Shackleton and his crew. In the text, Shackleton lives up to, if not exceeds, his reputation for being a leader. We appreciate how he prioritizes the survival of his crew above all else; he tirelessly works to make this happen. We also appreciate that he could be impulsive and how his optimism could lead him astray. In short, he's a human who managed to pull off a superhuman feat.
Lansing also puts the crew into context. I often imagined Shackleton and his crew as being hearty explorers, ready to endure all. And that may be true for some of the crew. But for others, they were far outmatched by the conditions. The fact that Shackleton got them all home is all the more impressive in this light.
Shackleton's self-rescue is one of mankind's greatest feats. And yet, a nagging question remains: did Shackleton set himself up for failure in the first place? Did he do a sloppy job of picking the crew? Did he venture off into the Antarctic when the conditions were less than ideal? Did hubris put the lives of 28 men in the balance?
Maybe. Lansing doesn't dwell on this question, though he does give you plenty of facts so you can. Ultimately, it's complicated.
Take Frank Worsley, the captain of the Endurance, for example. Worsley is inspired to join Shackleton's expedition thanks to a dream. Shackleton selects him as captain after only a few minute interviews. At the start of their journey, Worsley captained the Endurance from England to Buenos Aires without Shackleton aboard. Lansing recounts a number of incidents on this sailing that show Worsley as a less-than-stellar leader.
Is Shackleton phased? Not especially. He keeps Worsley on. In the end, Worsley distinguishes himself as perhaps one of the greatest navigators to ever live. A rescue often attributed to Shackleton could only be made possible through Worsley's exceptional seamanship.
Does that make Shackleton a genius for selecting Worsley? Or just lucky? This kind of twist is common in this story, and it's one that makes it such a joy to follow.
Another question in the back of my head as I made my way through Endurance was: what does it take to survive the seemingly unsurvivable? Here are six characteristics that came up over and over throughout the story. I offer them in no particular order.
Patience. For large swaths of time, the men are just plain bored. Putting up with utter tedium was a significant challenge and one that was a surprisingly necessary skill.
Discipline. Between limited supplies and unpredictable conditions, the men had to be incredibly disciplined about nearly every action they took. Despite being a private expedition, Shackleton maintained the role of master and commander, and his crew were his subordinates. Food, sleep, and all activities were at Shackleton's discretion, and his crew, for the most part, dutifully obeyed. Shackleton gets credit for the crew's survival because nearly every decision was his. It was a rigorous way to live, but it allowed the crew to survive.
Ingenuity. The resources at the crew's disposal were extremely limited. And yet, when challenges were encountered, solutions were constructed. From turning lifeboats into ocean sailing vessels, to constructing a surgical suite from a dilapidated shelter, to a thousand tiny hacks. Without creative construction, the crew would certainly have been lost. It brings to mind this classic scene in Apollo 13, except there was no support team for Shackleton and his crew. Every problem they encountered, they needed to MacGyver on their own.
Fortitude. As the self-rescue progressed, men went through every misfortune possible: frostbite, being drenched with freezing water, sleep-deprived, thirsty, and starving to name a few. At times—probably most of the time—there was almost no hope of survival. And yet, they all managed to push through. Here an extreme level of physical and mental fortitude made the difference.
Expertise. As mentioned above, without the masterful navigation and seamanship of Frank Worsley, making it home simply wouldn't have been possible. Yes, the crew had to be flexible and improvise on the fly, but expert-level experience absolutely made a key difference in their survival.
Luck. Consider Shackleton's vessel, the Endurance: she may have looked like a normal ship but she was massively overbuilt. Her sides were between 18 and 30 inches thick, and her bow was 52 inches thick. She was specifically designed to endure the ice of the Arctic. Once trapped in pack ice, however, the ship became the ice's play toy. Her fate was to snap like a twig. And that was the reality of the crew's situation: they were insignificant compared to the forces around them. The fact that they survived comes down to luck as much as anything else.
The story of Shackleton and his crew's extraordinary self-rescue is a worth knowing. And while you could read just the highlights, Lansing's text adds much appreciated depth and context to a tale that only improves with detail.
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