Kimmel’s riveting account of the Shackleton expedition adds to the growing body of work about the doomed 1914 voyage of the Endurance. Here we get a well-rounded portrait of Sir Ernest Shackleton, whose life dream was to cross Anarctica but whose 27-member crew got stuck in ice just a few weeks into the expedition. Exactly how Shackleton and his crew survived and found their way home again reads like a good adventure story. The handsomely designed volume includes numerous black-and-white photographs taken by the ship’s photographer, many of which are quite haunting in retrospect. (Age 9-14)

This dramatic, suspenseful narrative reads like an adventure story-but it is true. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton and a twenty-seven-man crew set off on an expedition to reach and cross Antarctica. Just a month and a half into the voyage, their ship, the Endurance, was caught fast in heavy pack ice. The men had no radio contact, and no one knew where they were or even that they were in trouble. None of them should have survived the ordeal that followed-unstable ice floes, treacherous waters, freezing temperatures, and starvation. Only the extraordinary leadership, courage, and strength of Shackleton brought the whole team safely through. Elizabeth Cody Kimmel's clear, compelling text is illustrated with photographs, taken and carefully preserved by the ship's photographer, that record the stark condition and the day-to-day activities of the men. Hand-drawn maps that show the extraordinary route of the Endurance and her crew. Bibliography, index.