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Retelling of the 1908 Shackleton expedition. From the publisher's announcement: `A masterful balance of true drama and first-rate scholarship. The narrative moves with the speed of a novel, while the author's unerring eye for historical detail captures the essence of polar exploration and explorers' Sir Ranulph Fiennes On New Year's Day, 1908, a tiny overladen ship called Nimrod set out on the last stage of its journey to the Antarctic. The leader of the expedition was Ernest Shackleton who was determined to find fame and fortune by becoming the first man to reach the South Pole. On this expedition, Shackleton would record the greatest achievements of his career and make some of his most momentous decisions. It was to be an epic and dangerous adventure. While one team battled hundreds of miles to plant the Union Jack at the South Magnetic Pole, Shackleton led another team toward the geographic South Pole. Despite being plagued by hunger, cruel weather and unseen crevasses, they persevered to within ninety-seven miles of the Pole.
Beau Riffenburgh is an historian specialising in exploration, particularly that of the Antarctic, Arctic and Africa. Born in California, he earned his doctorate at Cambridge University, following which he joined the staff at the Scott Polar Research Institute, where he is the editor of Polar Record. He is the author of the highly regarded The Myth of the Explorer and is currently serving as Editor of The Encyclopedia of the Antarctic. He is currently working on a book about Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition.
'A masterful balance of true drama and first-rate scholarship. The narrative moves with the speed of a novel, while the author's unerring eye for historical detail captures the essence of polar exploration and explorers and locates Shackleton and his men in the grand scheme of empire' Sir Ranulph Fiennes 'The story of that expedition, little known today, is retold in Nimrod with verve and pace As Riffenburgh makes thrillingly clear, it was an honour both hard won and well deserved' Michael Binyon, The Times 'The remarkable story of Shackleton's greatest achievement has at last been told in Riffenburgh's gripping and superbly researched Nimrod' Max Jones, author of The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice 'Riffenburgh's perceptive book Nimrod blends first-hand accounts with original research and a fast-paced narrative, providing a cracking adventure' Times Literary Supplement
