Endurance
Alfred Lansing's 1959 history of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition is one of the most reread works of polar nonfiction ever written. In late 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton sailed south aboard the Endurance with a crew of twenty-seven, intending the first overland crossing of the Antarctic continent. Before they reached land their ship was caught and slowly crushed by pack ice in the Weddell Sea. What followed is the most famous failed expedition in history, ten months living on the ice, a forced retreat to the desolate Elephant Island, and Shackleton's near-impossible 800-mile open-boat passage across the Southern Ocean to South Georgia to fetch help, every man saved. Lansing wrote from the surviving diaries and his own interviews with the last living crewmen, and the result remains the gold standard for survival narrative.
Where Endurance keeps showing up
Three of our editors' lists feature this novel.
What you might want to know about Endurance
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance is crushed by Antarctic pack ice and his twenty-eight men are stranded on drifting floes. Two years of camping, sailing, and an open-boat crossing follow.
Yes. The most commonly searched Endurance is Alfred Lansing's 1959 nonfiction account of Ernest Shackleton's 1914 to 1917 Antarctic expedition. It is widely regarded as one of the great survival narratives. Lansing interviewed surviving expedition members extensively.
Yes. The wreck of the Endurance was located on the seafloor of the Weddell Sea in March 2022, more than a century after she sank. The discovery was reported around the world and renewed interest in Lansing's book.
Endurance was written by Paul S. Boyer, published in 1987 by Houghton.
Endurance is 610 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Endurance takes most readers 9 to 13 hours to finish.
Endurance is a standalone novel by Paul S. Boyer, not part of a series.
Endurance is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
