Hear about the famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his remarkable polar adventures.

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874 – 1922) was an explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic.

After the race to the South Pole ended in December 1911, with Roald Amundsen’s conquest, Shackleton turned his attention to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately South Georgia Island, a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles (1,330 km; 830 mi). The wreck of Endurance was discovered just over a century later.

Michael Smith is an author and journalist who specialises in the history of Polar exploration. He has written books on Polar history and lectured extensively.
Michael’s latest book is Shackleton – By Endurance We Conquer (2014).