by Darrel Bristow-Bovey
Most of us are probably familiar with the incredible survival story of Shackleton and his 27 crew who survived five months on Antarctic ice, then rowed 350 miles to Elephant Island before Shackleton and five others sailed 800 miles over open sea to South Georgia to then return and rescue all the men.
Jacinda Ardern acknowledges Shackleton as an inspiration for leadership in the face of huge adversity and says her favourite book is Alfred Lansing’s Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage. There have even been books written about Mrs Chippy, the ship’s cat and a statue of the cat is on Harry McNish’s grave at Karori Cemetery.
Finding Endurance recounts Shackleton’s epic survival story highlighting what made him an exceptional leader but also includes a personal narrative of a voyage around the author’s own less-inspiring father and of finding hope and endurance in today’s world. “His fascination with the Endurance expedition began as a small boy, when his father first told him that he has been south with Ernest Shackleton. He still believes him.”
The survival story is gripping, the writing is flawless and there are all sorts of absorbing digressions about Peter Pan, Coleridge and albatrosses, Frankenstein and who might have stolen the Irish Crown Jewels. Read it, you won’t be disappointed.
Catherine Clarke 