A thoroughly enjoyable read about the hardships of the Antarctic.

Shackleton set off South and immediately hit adversity. At every turn more and more adversity hit his crew, and he overcame it every time. The sheer willpower on show is incredible, and it is all done with British stiff-upper-lip. The fact that he led a team of men through all of this, with little evidence of infighting or depression, is even more incredible. No men died under his watch and that is outstanding.

What dropped it from 5 to 4 stars is the last third of the book, covering the mission of the Aurora, which was laying the drop points of provisions for the planned cross-continental trip. These sections covered people I didn't really care about, and actually showed how well written the first section was. Three men died in this section, and it showed really how hard it was.

An enjoyable read through the cold weather, and I want to find out more about it.