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The Ship Beneath the Ice

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SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
BLACKWELL'S NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

The extraordinary story of how the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, was found in the most hostile sea on Earth in 2022

On 21 November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship, Endurance, finally succumbed to the crushing ice. Its crew watched in silence as the stern rose twenty feet in the air and then, it was gone. The miraculous escape and survival of all twenty-eight men on board have entered legend. And yet, the iconic ship that bore them to the brink of the Antarctic was considered forever lost.

A century later, an audacious plan to locate the ship was hatched. The Ship Beneath the Ice gives a blow-by-blow account of the two epic expeditions to find the Endurance. As with Shackleton’s own story, the voyages were filled with intense drama and teamwork under pressure. In March 2022, the Endurance was finally found to headlines all over the world.

Written by Mensun Bound, the Director of Exploration on both expeditions, this captivating narrative includes countless fascinating stories of Shackleton and his legendary ship. Complete with a selection of Frank Hurley’s photos from Shackleton’s original voyage in 1914–17, as well as from the expeditions in 2019 and 2022, The Ship Beneath the Ice is the perfect tribute to this monumental discovery.

Critics Review

As thrilling as any tale from the heroic age of exploration . . . Bound’s account is a triumph. The storytelling is piano-wire taut, the writing saturated with polar moodiness
Sunday Times
Bound has a natural flair for storytelling and his narrative cracks along with the pace of a well-crafted thriller . . . Captivating and engrossing
Mail on Sunday
The story of Shackleton’s Endurance is one of the most extraordinary in the history of exploration. This is more than just an astonishing sequel. It is a tale just as powerful, and one which redefines the meaning of impossible
Sir Michael Palin
Gloriously written . . . Written with the verve of a thriller, Bound's narrative deftly weaves together his voyages and Shackleton's . . . Bound is blessed with a poet's ear for richly evocative language
Times Literary Supplement
The juxtaposition of the original Shackleton expedition with the quest to find the wreck of the Endurance is utterly compelling
Professor Alice Roberts, Sunday Times bestseller author of Ancestors and TV Presenter
Utterly spellbinding and a rollercoaster of a story. This gripping tale of international collaboration at its best oozes the steely resolve of a modern explorer and is a massive accolade to all involved in bringing the Endurance back into our lives
Pippa Wordie, granddaughter of James Wordie, the geologist and chief scientist on the Endurance
An enthralling tale of an extraordinary venture which brings Shackleton’s epic story bang up to the present day
Camilla Nichol, Chief Executive, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust
Bound's passion . . . for the most unexplored geography on Earth is evident on every page. His writing blends the required scientific explanations with what touches on poetry . . . Captivating
Daily Mail
Mensun Bound tells [his] story with passion and flair . . . Evocative
Washington Post
An acclaimed book
Observer
Remarkable . . . Bound’s account has a bittersweet intensity
The Australian

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