Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s expeditions to Antarctica are the stuff of legend. He made two attempts to reach the South Pole, before his voyage on the ill-fated Endurance in 1914. Endurance became trapped in the ice for ten months before eventually sinking. The crew had already abandoned the ship and were living on the ice before spending the best part of a year finally trekking to Elephant Island, and then across 1,300 km of ocean to South Georgia. Not a single member of the expedition died.
An Australian photographer, Frank Hurley was one of the crew, and his photographs have recently been digitalized by the Royal Geographical Society in London. One of the pictures in the collection shows the laden bookshelves on board the Endurance. The team at the RGS have identified many of the books, so we thought we’d take a look and find out a little bit more about the books the expedition team took with them and whether they are still available.
