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NIMROD: ERNEST SHACKLETON AND THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF THE 1907-09 BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. By BEAU RIFFENBURGH. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004. ISBN 0-7475-7254-2. xxiv + 358 p., maps, b&w illus., notes, bib., index. Hardbound. £17.99.
In recent years the name Sir Ernest Shackleton has become almost universally known, at least in the English-speaking world, as a result of the several books, television documentaries and docu-dramas dealing with his Antarctic expedition on board Endurance, the Imperial TransAntarctic Expedition of 1914-17. It is ironic that in terms of Shackleton's goal, the first crossing of Antarctica, that expedition was a total failure, in that Shackleton did not even achieve a landing on the continent. The dramatic events of the expedition that have so caught the public imagination-from Endurance's drift in the ice of the Weddell Sea to the rescue of his crew from Elephant Island-all represent a spectacular recovery from a total disaster. Even more ironic is the fact that Shackleton's earlier expedition, the British Antarctic expedition of 1907-09, which is the subject of this book, and for which Shackleton earned his knighthood, was vastly more successful but till now has remained almost totally unknown to the general public. Significantly, the only previous narrative dealing specifically with this expedition is Shackleton's own account (Shackleton, 1909).
The roots of the expedition are to be found in the events of Captain Robert Scott's Discovery expedition, the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04, on which Shackleton served as Third lieutenant. Scott selected Shackleton to participate (along with Scott and Dr. Edward Wilson) in the main sledge trip of the expedition, which aimed to reach the South Pole from Discovery's winter quarters at Hut Point, McMurdo Sound. The trio advanced south across the Ross Ice Shelf to 82°17' S before dwindling supplies forced them to turn back. On the return journey, all three were showing signs of scurvy, but Shackleton worse than the others, and he was also suffering from shortness of breath and a persistent cough. He made a rapid recovery, but to his dismay, Scott insisted that he be invalided home on board the relief ship, Morning, although Discovery was to remain for another year, and further achievements would be made by the expedition.
The humiliation (as Shackleton saw it) of...