ABOUT THE BOOK

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first-ever crossing of the Antarctic continent from coast to coast. On the eve of the First World War, Shackleton sailed south into the Weddell Sea aboard the Endurance, while a ship called the Aurora made for the Ross Sea on the opposite side of the continent. Under the command of Æneas Mackintosh, the twenty-eight man Ross Sea party mobilized to build a lifeline of vital food and fuel depots to supply Shackleton’s epic 1,700-mile crossing. 'This programme would involve some heavy sledging, but the ground to be covered was familiar and I had not anticipated that the work would present any great difficulties,' Shackleton wrote.

Yet all went tragically wrong when the Aurora broke free of her moorings in a gale and stranded ten men ashore in Antarctica, woefully ill-equipped to perform their task. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and scavenged equipment, the men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile, the crew of the disabled Aurora, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled for survival in the pack ice. With no hope of rescue from civilization, the lost men struggled to save themselves and carry out their mission.

Researched in Antarctica, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, The Lost Men is the definitive account of this long overshadowed expedition. Kelly Tyler-Lewis throws Antarctic exploration into new perspective as the unforgettable protagonists of the Ross Sea party come alive in this astonishing chronicle of unsung heroism.