Biography / Letters / Cartography / History
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Shackleton
Trapped in drifting polar pack-ice for ten months, Ernest Shackleton and his crew fought for survival against all the odds. When the Endurance was finally crushed, they were stranded on ice floes for more than a year before reaching Elephant Island. From there Shackleton; and five of his men embarked on the most remarkable rescue mission in maritime history, sailing in a small open boat to South Georgia Island across eight hundred miles of the world's roughest seas to bring help to the others. Though he failed to reach the South Pole, Shackleton's story lives on because of his unique qualities of leadership and the extraordinary fact that all of his men survived. This compelling narrative probes the profound influence of Shackleton's Irish and Quaker roots in the making of a great leader. It offers a vivid portrait of a man at odds with the world and with himself, whose ambition was tempered by his flawed humanity and egalitarianism. Here too are the untold stories of Shackleton's upbringing in Kildare, his time in the Merchant Navy, his 1901 voyage on the Discovery with Robert Falcon Scott, his 1907 Nimrod expedition, his marriage and love affairs, his life as a public figure and politician, and the haunting story of his final, fatal expedition on the Quest. Drawing on family records, diaries, and letters—and hitherto unpublished photographs and archive material—this mesmerizing book takes us beyond the myth to Shackleton; the man, for whom "optimism is true moral courage," and whose greatest triumph was that of life over death. Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica is lavishly illustrated with more than a hundred photographs, maps, and engravings, some of them appearing in print for the first time. Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica, copublished by the Lilliput Press in Dublin and the University of Wisconsin Press, presents Shackleton family history with a particular focus on the explorer. Jonathan Shackleton, cousin of explorer Ernest Shackleton, is an Antarctic specialist. Born in Ireland, he earned degrees from Trinity College in Dublin and Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He currently lives in Mullagh, County Cavan, Ireland, with his wife Daphne and their three children. A devoted Antarctic enthusiast, lecturer, traveler, and book collector, Jonathan also serves as family historian of the Irish branch of the Shackleton family that moved to Ireland from West Yorkshire in 1720. Jonathan Shackleton has traveled to the Antarctic seven times, as a lecturer and guide on the ships Molchanov, Multanovsky, Shuleykin (three trips), Orlova, and the Polar Star (two trips). He has landed on the Antarctic Peninsula, Elephant Island, and South Georgia where Ernest Shackleton is buried. In December 2000, he accompanied a group of Canadian high school students, the first ever group of young people to visit Antarctica. He returned in December 2001 as leader of a group of Irish students and teachers. And in December 2002, with another Students on Ice group, Jonathan was able to land at Point Wild on Elephant Island, a feat that is usually impossible. For more information about the student trips, visit www.studentsonice.com. John MacKenna is an award-winning short-story writer, novelist, biographer, and broadcaster. He is author of The Fallen and Other Stories, Clare, A Year of Our Lives, The Last Fine Summer, The Occasional Optimist, The Lost Village, and A Haunted Heart. For more information contact our publicity manager, phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu Media and Events May 2000-Organized and led a group of visitors from the UK and the U.S. on an Irish Antarctic Expedition around Ireland on which Ernest Shackleton's granddaughter unveiled a plaque to her grandfather in Dublin. The group also visited Shackleton's birthplace in County Kildare and Tom Crean's pub at Annascaul, County Kerry. May 2000-Lectured at the Mountain Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado June 2000-Lectured to a group of 700 people at the opening of the Shackleton Exhibition at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, then at the Explorer's Club in New York and in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. This exhibition attracted over a quarter of a million visitors in New York. June 2000 and December 2000-Broadcast of a BBC documentary program on Ernest Shackleton, part of the "Wildnerness Men" series, to which Jonathan contributed September 17, 2000-Spoke at the unveiling of a plaque in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, to the memory of the brothers Mortimer and Tim McCarthy. Mortimer traveled on Scott's Terra Nova expedition. Tim traveled with Ernest Shackleton on the Endurance expedition and was one of the six crew members of the James Caird, which made the extraordinary trip from Elephant Island to South Georgia to get help for the 22 men left on Elephant Island. Jonathan traveled to Kinsale with Falcon Scott, grandson of Captain Scott, who also spoke at the unveiling. There is friendship between the families of the two men who had somewhat been rivals in the past. September 22, 2000-Lectured about Ernest Shackleton to a sold-out audience in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, attended by Shackleton's granddaughter, Alexandra Shackleton October 11, 2000-Guest speaker in Dublin at the launch of the best-selling book, An Unsung Hero, about the life of Tom Crean written by Michael Smith. Tom Crean, from Annascaul, County Kerry, Ireland, was another great, unsung Antarctic hero who traveled with both Scott and Ernest Shackleton October 14, 2000-Invited by Captain Scott's grandson, Falcon, to the christening of his son in Dundee, Scotland, on board the Discovery, the ship on which Scott and Ernest Shackleton made their first trips to the Antarctic November 2000-The two-hour Nova special Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance, for which Jonathan was interviewed, aired on Channel 4 in the UK December 13, 2000-Guest speaker at the media previews and official opening of the exhibition South: The Race to the South Pole at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich January 17, 2001-Live interview on Irish National Television (RTE) about Ernest Shackleton and Jonathan's recent student trip to the Antarctic. February 6, 2001-Spoke at the world premiere in New York of the IMAX film, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure February 13, 2001-Spoke to a sold-out audience at the Museum of Natural Science in Houston, Texas, to celebrate the showing of the Shackleton IMAX film and exhibition March 2001-Broadcast on Irish television of the documentary Shackleton and Scott, for which Jonathan was interviewed April 2001-Broadcast on Australia and Irish television of Grey Voyages, a program on which Jonathan spoke about a trip he made to the Antarctic in 1999 with other relations of Antarctic explorers August 4 and 5, 2001-Guest at the centenary celebrations in Dundee, Scotland, on the ship the Discovery October 7, 2001-Spoke to a sold-out audience at the showing of George Butler's film, Endurance: Shackleton and the Antarctic at the Cork Film Festival. October 18, 2001-Guest at the Royal Premiere in London of the Shackleton IMAX film October 26-28, 2001-Officially opened and gave a talk at the very successful first-ever Shackleton Autumn School in Athy, County Kildare, to celebrate the life of the explorer December 8, 2001-Spoke about Ernest Shackleton in the Great Hall at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London January 3, 2002-Jonathan and two students were interviewed by Marian Finucane on Irish National Radio about their recent trip to Antarctica January 11, 2002-Interview on the Gerry Kelly show on Ulster Television (UTV) about Ernest Shackleton March 8, 2002-Spoke at the opening of the Shackleton IMAX film at the Rheged Discovery Centre, Penrith Cumbria, England April 9, 2002-Interview on BBC Radio 4 Today Program about Ernest Shackleton and the reprinting of the South Polar Times, of which Shackleton was the first editor April 12 and 13, 2002-Spoke to introduce the Shackleton IMAX film at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, Florida April 23, 2002-Guest with Falcon Scott and Chris Wilson at the opening of the "Antarctica" exhibition by Sir Edmund Hillary in Tralee, County Kerry, Ieland August 5, 2002-Spoke about Ernest Shackleton at Feile na Phobal (the West Belfast Arts Festival) October 13, 2002-Interview about Ernest Shackleton and Antarctica on Kerry Radio, Ireland November 7, 2002-Spoke on Antarctica in Carrigaline, County Cook, Ireland November 15, 2002-Keynote speaker at the Centenary Dinner of the Harvard Travelers Club in Boston, attended by over 200 guests Again, for more information about interviews and other publicity, contact our publicity manager, phone: (608) 263-0734, email: publicity@uwpress.wisc.edu |
Copublished with Lilliput Press, Dublin Wisconsin edition for sale only in North America, U.S. dependencies, and the Phillipines To
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