Frank Worsley - Shackleton's Fearless Captain by John Thomson

This is a second-hand copy of the book Frank Worsley - Shackleton's Fearless Captain by John Thomson. 

Condition: This is a used book in very good condition. A previous owner has written a gift inscription on the half-title page.

Publisher: Craig Potton Publishing
Year: 2014
ISBN: 9781927213124
Format: Hardback with dustjacket
Pages: 216
Condition: Used (Very Good)

This book is a biography of Frank Worsley, without doubt one of New Zealand’s greatest, but largely unsung adventuring heroes. Born in Akaroa he went to sea as a teenager in 1888 on the sailing ships plying their trade between New Zealand and England.

But the greatest adventure of his life began when he became the captain of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance, which was trapped in pack ice on the 1914–1916 Antarctic expedition and slowly crushed. The crew of 28 spent over a year camped on the Antarctic ice before Shackleton, Worsley and four others sailed a tiny lifeboat across the wild Southern Ocean to South Georgia to summon help for the rest of the men, who were all eventually rescued. This 17-day journey remains one of the greatest ever feats of seamanship and relied totally on Worsley’s brilliant navigation.

Worsley was more than just Shackleton’s captain however. For the rest of his life he continued to seek adventures in a manner contemporaries described as ‘fearless’, being decorated for bravery in both world wars, and continuing to captain ships all around the world.