The race to reach the South Pole was won by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in 1911 after two British expeditions, including Sir Ernest Shackleton, set records but failed to reach the pole. Shackleton then resolved to cross the Antarctic continent from sea to sea and set off with a crew of 28 in 1914.  South: The Story of Shackleton’s Last Expedition 1914-1917 is the first hand narrative chronicling the events of one of the most harrowing struggles for survival ever recorded.  Disaster struck almost immediately upon entering the Wedell Sea when their ship, Endurance, was trapped in pack ice and slowly crushed. The group camped on the ice for over 16 months until the ship fell apart and the ice floe broke. They then set off in three lifeboats for a 346-mile journey to Elephant Island. Reaching land after five days but with discovery and rescue highly unlikely, Shackleton set off with five others for South Georgia Island, 720 nautical miles distant.  After two weeks they battled hurricane winds to land on the unoccupied southern shore of the island, and then trekked 32 miles in 36 hours over dangerous mountain terrain to reach the whaling station.He commissioned a Chilean seagoing tug and a British whaler to return to Elephant Island to rescue the remaining 22 crew members.  While the expedition failed its objective, it yielded an astonishing account of gigantic waves, roiling seas, mountainous glaciers, brutal cold and endless ice miraculously overcome by strength of will, immense courage and the amazing power of human endurance.

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