Book Review: Shipwrecked at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance

By Jennifer Armstrong. 1998. Crown Publishers Inc., New York. 134 p.

Gr. 7-12. The early part of the Twentieth Century was full of amazing accomplishments by hardy explorers. Armstrong’s skillful and gripping book documents Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s sensational Antarctic adventure, which failed before it got started.

Shackleton’s goal was to be the first to trek across Antarctica. But he and his 27 crewmen never made it to land. Ice trapped the Endurance, Shackleton’s ship, and all men aboard spent nine months on the vessel and the surrounding ice. The Endurance finally succumbed to the crushing floes, and Shackleton and his crew spent another five months on the ice, slowly dragging their supplies in two lifeboats to sea. Finally making it to an uninhabited island, Shackleton and five others sailed 16 days and 800 miles to find help. Not a single man perished.

Throughout her narrative, Armstrong’s concise writing never gets dry, keeping our attention from the first page with an energetic pace. Her descriptions of Shackleton and his crew, using quotes from many of their journals, endear them to readers, who will cheer the crew on in their accomplishments and mourn with them in their losses. As long and complicated as Shackleton’s journey was, we never feel lost in the facts. Armstrong adroitly guides us through each turn of the adventure. Especially heartbreaking was the violence of the Endurance’s final hours: “The stempost was ripped away. The keel was sheared off. The decks began to buckle, and thick beams snapped like twigs… the men pumped with every last shred of their failing strength.”

Armstrong uses simple maps to illustrate the journey and includes drawings of the ship’s decks to clarify unfamiliar nautical terms. The best visual aids are the photographs of Frank Hurley, the expedition’s photographer. Shackleton made sure Hurley’s photos survived so they had an income source from the failed voyage. Hurley’s fantastic compositions document all aspects of the ship and crew throughout the journey, and they complement Armstrong’s storytelling. A comprehensive bibliography and index accompany the story.

Readers looking for real-life adventure will not be disappointed in this engrossing tale of bravery and survival.