Books
The Endurance Locker
Inside the discovery of the Endurance
The Inside Stories
There are now two books telling the story of the 2022 FMHT expedition to find the Endurance. Both have been published with the support and help of the Trust and are therefore equally endorsed. The Trust has and will benefit financially from both.
The first book
“THE SHIP BENEATH THE ICE: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance” was published in October 2023, written by FMHT Trustee and expedition Director of Exploration, Mensun Bound. It is now in its 10th edition.
At 431 pages (with 36 images) it became a rapid best seller. Two booksellers picked it out for special mention. Blackwell’s made it “Non-Fiction book of the month” and Waterstones called it their “Paperback of the Year”. The Sunday Times called it a “triumph”.
The book also covers Shackleton’s ‘love-hate’ relationship with the Falkland Islands. Something that The Observer newspaper picked up on when the book was reviewed in March 2023. The explorer’s first public account of his narrow escape from the Antarctic and the saving of his crew was revealed when he spoke at a Port Stanley Town Hall Meeting on 3rd June 1916 (you can learn more about this in the EDUCATION section of this website).
The companion piece
The second work to be published comes more than 18 months after the find and has as its Unique Selling Point the first undersea digital images of the wreck, which were not available to Mensun Bound back in March 2023. Co-written by John Shears and Nico Vincent this inside story also taps into the “legendary” status of Shackleton’s famous ship, with the title “ENDURANCE: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship”.
John Shears was the leader of the Endurance22 expedition. He also led a previous unsuccessful attempt to find the vessel in 2019. Nico Vincent was the Sub-Sea Manager on Endurance22.
The book is described by its publishers National Geographic as a ‘coffee table companion’ to the National Geographic TV and cinema documentary, ENDURANCE, which features both the 2022 search and also Sir Ernest Shackleton’s original 1914 expedition that led to the loss of his ship. Billed as a “thrilling first-hand account” of the expedition it runs to 256 pages with more than 100 images, many of them revealed for the first time. The forward is by HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, patron of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, and there is also a Preface by former FMHT Chairman and Trustee, Donald Lamont.
We will be publishing further details and reviews of John and Nico’s book once they have appeared.
