Book Review: Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World by Jennifer Armstrong

Description of Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurancefrom Amazon:

"In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 men sailed from England in an attempt to become the first team of explorers to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. Five months later and still 100 miles from land, their ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice. The expedition survived another five months camping on ice floes, followed by a perilous journey through stormy seas to remote and unvisited Elephant Island. In a dramatic climax to this amazing survival story, Shackleton and five others navigated 800 miles of treacherous open ocean in a 20-foot boat to fetch a rescue ship."

Wow. I honestly didn't realize the extent of the difficulties that this expedition experienced! I was absolutely blown away by the story of survival that all of these men lived to tell. Shackleton was such a leader that he was able to bring every one of his men through. I was enthralled throughout the book by the sheer impossibility that these things happened. I highly recommend this book for a quick, readable history of this expedition.

RATINGS:
s-factor: !
I think there were one or two.

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->
Some of the things they experience are just gruesome and scary.

Overall rating: *****