Endurance
Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing
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Author and media strategist
“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
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CEO of OpenAI
“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
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Founder of Bridgewater Associates
“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Source →Recommended by 12 notable people, including Nat Eliason and Jordan Peterson
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Reading Profile
Should I read this?
This reconstruction of Shackleton's doomed Antarctic expedition reads like a real-time logbook, immersing you in the men's daily struggle against ice, starvation, and despair. The value is unfiltered immediacy: you feel every moment of monotony and peril as they did. The limitation is its strict reliance on contemporaneous sources—it rarely steps back for analysis or emotional interiority, so depth comes from cumulative detail rather than introspection. If you want to know what they did, not necessarily how they felt inside, this delivers.
Read this if...
- •A solo entrepreneur who just lost their third client this quarter and is questioning whether to shut down; they need a story that reframes the daily grind of closed doors and small wins as the real substance of survival, not the dramatic comeback.
- •A retired naval engineer in Portsmouth who has walked the docks where Endurance was fitted and now wants to read the actual log entries about how the ship's structure failed day by day—because the diaries expose the tiny flaws that official reports buried.
- •A night-shift paramedic who listens to survival nonfiction between calls and needs the unfiltered, event-by-event log format to mirror their own fractured, high-adrenaline shifts—where every detail counts and nothing is dressed up for effect.
Skip this if...
- •you'll likely put it down if you need fast-paced action from page one—the ship's slow entrapment takes up the first third and may feel tedious.
- •Skip if you want psychological analysis or literary reflection; this is a log of events, not an introspective memoir.
- •Avoid if graphic animal death (the sled dogs are shot) will make you abandon the book, as it's a pivotal, unflinching scene.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, is a 1959 book written by Alfred Lansing, about the failure of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton, in its attempt to cross the Antarctic continent in 1914.
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Length:314 pages (Medium)
Audience Fit
- A solo entrepreneur who just lost their third client this quarter and is questioning whether to shut down; they need a story that reframes the daily grind of closed doors and small wins as the real substance of survival, not the dramatic comeback.
- A retired naval engineer in Portsmouth who has walked the docks where Endurance was fitted and now wants to read the actual log entries about how the ship's structure failed day by day—because the diaries expose the tiny flaws that official reports buried.
- A night-shift paramedic who listens to survival nonfiction between calls and needs the unfiltered, event-by-event log format to mirror their own fractured, high-adrenaline shifts—where every detail counts and nothing is dressed up for effect.
- you'll likely put it down if you need fast-paced action from page one—the ship's slow entrapment takes up the first third and may feel tedious.
- Skip if you want psychological analysis or literary reflection; this is a log of events, not an introspective memoir.
- Avoid if graphic animal death (the sled dogs are shot) will make you abandon the book, as it's a pivotal, unflinching scene.
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
Recommended by 25 sources and appears in Nonfiction Adventure, Adventure, and Travel.
Recommended by notable people
People and public figures who have recommended this book.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
Nat Eliason
Author and entrepreneur
“@AriannaSimpson Fantastic book | @AriannaSimpson such an incredible book! try shadow divers similarly captivating | @MattWalshBlog Terrific book. Riveting. What a story. If you ever want a fun fictionalization of the genre, AMC?s adaptation of Dan Simmons? The Terror is tons of fun. Based on a real voyage with horror story added. | @Spencerjakab @jasonzweigwsj The book is amazing just a fantastic read, all the more remarkable because it is a true story. | @catalin357 I read that too. Great book! | I finished Endurance last night and WOW what an absolutely insane story. Highly recommend the book: | I'll leave you with the one I just finished: "Endurance". It's about Ernest Shackleton's incredible attempt to cross the Antarctic continent back in the early 1900s. Amazing story of perseverance and leadership against all odds. Riveting book. | If you've been around me long enough you know I'm a huge fan of Shackleton. Endurance is one of my favorite books of all time. Amazing to see that they found his ship after 100 yrs. In great shape no less! | Just a phenomenal story. | The best book I read this year is Endurance. The craziest story about survival and determination you'll ever read about a group stranded in Antarctica for 18 months. Surprised it's not better known. | This book and his life were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer).”
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Recommended by 2 sources.
“Eat Pray Love reads like a personal travel diary stitched into three acts: indulgent, sensory Italian pleasure; slow, instruction-style spiritual time in an ashram; and reflective, relational closure in Bali. Its useful part is a candid first-person voice that makes small moments — meals, mantras, landscapes — vivid and immediate, useful when you want emotive travel writing and honest self-questioning. Its main limitation is repetition and a sometimes indulgent tone; the narrative can feel circular and light on concrete takeaway.”
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Mors KochanskiHow recommendation signals are reviewed
Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.