"Nimrod"

On New Year's Day 1908, the ship Nimrod set off for the mysterious regions of the Antarctic. The leader of the small expedition was Ernest Shackleton who, in the next year and a quarter would record some of the greatest achievements of his career and would then, together with his companions, return home as a hero. Shackleton and his party battled against extreme cold, hunger, danger and psychological trauma in their attempt to reach the South Pole and to return alive. They climbed the active volcano of Mount Erebus, planted the Union Jack at the previously unattained South Magnetic Pole, and struggled to within 97 miles of the South Geographic Pole. Beau Riffenburgh has written the definitive account of what Shackleton grandly called the British Antarctic Expedition. The story features an extraordinary cast of characters including Scott, Douglas Mawson, who would become one of the greatest Antarctic explorers, and the Antarctic pioneers Nansen and Amundsen. Nimrod is a story of an adventure which was a source of huge pride and fascination to both the leaders and subjects of the British Empire, and a journey almost too incredible even for Shackleton.

'A masterful balance of true drama and first-rate scholarship. The narrative moves with the speed of a novel, while the author's unerring eye for historical detail captures the essence of polar exploration and explorers and locates Shackleton and his men in the grand scheme of empire' Sir Ranulph Fiennes 'The story of that expedition, little known today, is retold in Nimrod with verve and pace ... As Riffenburgh makes thrillingly clear, it was an honour both hard won and well deserved' Michael Binyon, The Times 'The remarkable story of Shackleton's greatest achievement has at last been told in Riffenburgh's gripping and superbly researched Nimrod' Max Jones, author of The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice 'Riffenburgh's perceptive book Nimrod blends first-hand accounts with original research and a fast-paced narrative, providing a cracking adventure' Times Literary Supplement

Beau Riffenburgh is an historian specialising in exploration, particularly that of the Antarctic, Arctic and Africa. Born in California, he earned his doctorate at Cambridge University, following which he joined the staff at the Scott Polar Research Institute, where he is the editor of Polar Record. He is the author of the highly regarded The Myth of the Explorer and is currently serving as Editor of The Encyclopedia of the Antarctic. He is currently working on a book about Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition.