By Fisher, James and Margery

London: Barrie, 1957. First UK Edition. 8vo, 22.1 cm, [xvi] + 559 pp., 48 black-and-white photographic plates, and 37 drawings & maps by W. E. How who served with the ‘Endurance’ expedition; cartographic map end leaves; Appendices A-F, Index. Publisher’s dark blue cloth with bright gilt titles on spine. No foxing, folds or tears; tight un-cracked hinges and no prior ownership markings. An unusually well-preserved copy in Near Fine condition with Near Fine un-clipped dust jacket. “An essential Shackleton biography.”–Rosove 128.A1.

From the front dust jacket flap: “Over thirty-five years have elapsed since Shackleton died, a towering figure from the ‘heroic’ age of exploration. What motives spurred the hero of Nimrod and Endurance to his great South Polar journeys? What wisdom turned him back before it was too late? What was he like at home, in business, under command and in command? What is the truth of his relations with Scott and the contemporary world of exploration? Who was the man behind the legend?
Margaret and James Fisher were given access to Shackleton’s hitherto unpublished papers, diaries and correspondence, among them most significant and moving letters to his wife. They interviewed almost all the surviving members of his expeditions and recorded their words on tape. Now, in one continuous exciting narrative, a drama unfolds of mans challenge of the unknown and of one man’s wits set against unpredictable and untamed Nature.
… His is the story of a brilliant outsider and a pathfinder of genius, of a man who inspired his companions to efforts beyond the apparent limits of human endurance, of a born leader unequaled in his chosen field, of a daring commander who never lost a man. It is also the story of a complex personality that only in the field of action found release from restlessness and the frustrations of everyday life.”

$150.00 -