Travel to Polar Regions

The Lost Men: The Harrowing Saga of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party

Format: Hardcover
Author: Kelly Tyler-Lewis
ReleaseDate: 20 April, 2006
Publisher: Viking Adult
Rating:

Thought-provoking chronicle of adventure and adversity
Highly recommended. The attractive front-cover design is the first indication of the quality of this work, which is well researched and written and a thoroughly engrossing read.

The Strong Men
Kelly Tyler-Lewis' book The Lost Men rates as one of the best. I have read nearly every book in print dealing with the exploration and saga of Shackleton and his men. The "harrowing story" of these hearty men stranded in the desolate Ross Sea is incredible, for lack of words.

Duty-bound, these men laid the stores for a transantarctic voyage that would never materialize. These were men who risked their own lives to ensure the safety of others whose whereabouts were unknown.

The Lost Men is an epic struggle of man versus the ravages of nature and reveals the triumphs and the tragedies involved. It is a book of determination, leadership and accountability.

Of special interest are the generous notes included dealing with such issues as diet (e. g. , Their diet lacked nearly all essential vitamins necessary for such a feat), body temperature (e. g. , One man recorded a body temperature of 94. 2), and navigation of pack ice (e. g. in 2002 it took two Coast Guard ships over two weeks to break through ice roughly thirty miles to Hut point. )

The Lost Men is an exciting and riveting book. As a two-time traveler to McMurdo Sound, I highly recommend this work.

The Most Useless Journey in the World
The original called "The Worst Journey in the World" tells of Shackelton's failed expedition to cross Antarctica. "The Lost Men", by Kelly Tyler-Lewis is the sister book to the original saga of Sir Ernest Shcakelton's journey to Antarctica. His ship the Endurance was smashed by ice in the Weddell Sea and his men stranded until their eventual rescue by Shackelton himself after a harrowing journey in a 22 foot open boat across the southern ocean.
Shackelton's Ross Sea Party, the subject of "The Lost Men", is the other half of Shackelton's ill-fated expedition. The Ross Sea party was charged with sailing to the opposite side of Antarctica from the Wedell Sea and laying storage depots of food and supplies along Shackelton's route. The harrowing saga of these men to lay these depots is brilliantly described by historian Tyler-Lewis. Despite extreme conditions, shortages of supplies, faulty leadership and blizzard after blizzard, the Ross Sea party managed to lay supply depots along Shackelton's route and waited for him in vain. The whole expedition proved to be all for naught as Shackelton's plans went awry. Two of the men from the Ross Sea party succumbed to the conditions having been weakened by the vitamin-C deficiency disease scurvy.
If you like adventure novels this one is for you. If you have read "The Worst Journey in the World" this book will complete the saga.
The writing is crisp and well done. Tyler-Lewis has done a fantastic job to bring history to life. You can feel the pain and suffering of the men in her words. Bravo!.

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