In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first ever
crossing of the Antarctic continent. On the eve of the First World War,
Shackleton disappeared into the Weddell Sea aboard the 'Endurance', which a ship
called the 'Aurora' sailed into the Ross Sea on the opposite side of the
continent under the command Aeneas Mackintosh. The Ross Sea party, twenty-eight
strong, was there to create a lifeline of vital food and fuel depots to supply
the epic crossing.
Yet all went tragically wrong when the 'Aurora' broke free of her moorings in
an Antarctic gale and stranded ten men ashore, woefully ill-equipped to perform
their task. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and scavenged
equipment, then men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile,
the rest of the 'Aurora' crew, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled
for survival. With little hope of rescue, the lost men struggled to save
themselves and carry out their mission.
Kelly Tyler-Lewis brings Antarctic exploration alive in this richly
researched chronicle of a previously overshadowed expedition and its
unforgettable participants.
Contents:
List of Maps and Illustrations
The Ross Sea Party of the Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition 1914-17
The Ross Sea Relief Expedition 1916-17
Preface
1. 'That Restless Spirit'
2. The Imperial Trans-Atlantic Expedition
3. 'Aurora'
4. Southing
5. The Great Barrier
6. Eighty Degrees South
7. Hut Point
8. 'An Ideal Place in a Blizzard'
9. Marooned
10. Return to the Barrier
11. Mount Hope
12. 'Homeward Bound'
13. 'Some Way or Other They're Lost'
14. 'Drifting to Gods Knows Where'
15. 'Whereabouts Shackleton?'
16. Port Chalmers
17. Rescue
18. 'The Men That Don't Fit In'
Epilogue: 'The Brotherhood of Men Who Know the South'
Acknowledgements
Appendix: Units of Measurement
Notes
Bibliography
Index
