"A gripping tale with the most tragic of endings."
– Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Shackleton's Heroes is a genuine treasure of Antarctic history, and an almost unbelievable tale of real heroes who risked themselves for the lives of others. It tells the extraordinary story of how a small party of men, against almost insurmountable obstacles, put down vital food depots on the Great Ice Barrier for Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1914–1917 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.
Their efforts to help each other survive comprise some of the most incredible feats of heroism in the history of polar exploration, which until now have been entirely overshadowed by the legendary feat of Shackleton on the other side of the continent after the sinking of the Endurance.
The complete story is revealed here for the first time, through the diaries of these forgotten men, written out on the ice and at their base camp. We can experience their pain and suffering through their own words, 100 years after the original expedition began.
Wilson McOrist is a physicist, lawyer, and entrepreneur. His eight years of research for this book were conducted in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica and involved detailed analysis of the actual field diaries of the central characters. He lives in Australia. Sir Ranulph Fiennes, described by The Guinness Book of Records as "the world's greatest living explorer", is an English adventurer and prolific writer. He was the first person to completely cross Antarctica by foot and is the holder of several endurance records. He lives in England.