What do you think?
Rate this book
Shackleton's Forgotten Men
In Shackleton's Forgotten Men Lennard Bickel honours the memory of a group of men who carried out some of the most heroic and devoted journeys ever made in the Antarctic. This is the stirring account of the little-known, tragic expedition launched by Ernest Shackleton in 1915 to provide support for his own Antarctic expedition that would follow. These journeys were made to set up depots across the Great Ice Shelf to supply the coming Shackleton a crossing of the Antarctic continent from the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea. But the group lost their ship and supplies when a fierce polar gale ripped the ship from its moorings, and had to haul sledges almost 2000 miles across the hostile interior of the Antarctic. Despite enduring unimaginable deprivation, from bad weather to disease and madness, this heroic band accomplished their mission, laying the way for Shackleton and his men. But Shackleton and his men never came and the drama of their own disastrous journey has until now overshadowed the extraordinary story of those brave men who came before them. Lennard Bickel tells the story of these forgotten heroes in a gripping account, drawing largely from interviews with one team member, Dick Richards, and from the diary of another. This new account underscores the capacity of ordinary men for tragedy, endurance and noble action.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
13 people are currently reading
1205 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
December 7, 2013
What if I said a party of explorers was stranded in the Antarctic after their ship was blown out to sea with virtually all of their supplies on board, before it could be unloaded? And what if the purpose of the expedition was to lay supply depots across nearly 1000 miles of frozen wasteland - a job that would take two years – depots not for themselves, but for the survival of another group who would be depending on those supplies as they made the first crossing of the continent, starting from the other side? What if they were faced with not just scrounging food but cobbling together equipment - including stoves, clothes and sleeping bags - from the leftovers of earlier expeditions? With just a couple of dog teams to help haul the colossal loads, but also hauling the sledges themselves; wearing pants sewn with found needles, using canvas from a discarded tent? And what if I told you they actually succeeded? You would say, nah, only in a novel; that could never happen!
But it was all true. In the end, the depots were never used, as Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic party never started out of course (another incredible tale), though the “forgotten men” didn’t learn that until they were rescued.
This is a well-told tale, detailed but not excessively so. It’s fascinating because much of it was based on the diaries and recollections of the last surviving member of the party. It’s true though - after a few Antarctic travel books they do start to sound the same: this is another story about that particular Imperial British kind of astonishing bravery and stoicism, where actually learning from other cultures such as the Inuit or Norwegians - being proficient at ski-ing, dog-handling and so on - was regarded as not quite sporting.
But it was all true. In the end, the depots were never used, as Shackleton’s Trans-Antarctic party never started out of course (another incredible tale), though the “forgotten men” didn’t learn that until they were rescued.
This is a well-told tale, detailed but not excessively so. It’s fascinating because much of it was based on the diaries and recollections of the last surviving member of the party. It’s true though - after a few Antarctic travel books they do start to sound the same: this is another story about that particular Imperial British kind of astonishing bravery and stoicism, where actually learning from other cultures such as the Inuit or Norwegians - being proficient at ski-ing, dog-handling and so on - was regarded as not quite sporting.
February 24, 2023
I can't believe that I'm rating this five stars; the first 45% of this book was awful. The writing was drab, the details seemed pointless, it was hard to keep track of all the names and locations (after finishing the book I looked at the included maps and am still confused), and the writing bounced around events non-chronologically which made it even harder to keep track of what was happening. I thought for sure this was another great story trapped behind bad writing.
The worst part, and I cannot believe I am forgiving this by still rating it five stars, is that the biggest plot points are revealed four times before the book even starts: the second page after the cover is a map that labels where those things happened, the table of contents shows a couple chapter titles that give away what happens, and both the foreward and author's note explicitly say who dies and how. Luckily I stopped reading them immediately so I didn't know everything, but after finishing the book I think they are the worst foreward and author's note in a book I've read.
On that note, the foreward was written by Lord Shackleton, which is actually the famous Ernest Shackleton's son. That feels cheap and vain to me, especially since he has absolutely no additional insight besides giving away the secrets of the book.
But the actual story in the book.. goodness gracious it is incredible. It is a better story of human will and survival than most of Shackleton's own story (except for maybe his sailing to South Georgia Island). The combination of utter selflessness from some, complete stupidity from others, and unbelievable devotion and suffering from all makes for interesting interpersonal dynamics and chilling consequences. The story concludes in a very satisfying way.
I read someone say that Shackleton "failed successfully" because no one under his leadership died. This book tells a very different story. Shackleton was overly ambitious and underprepared, which caused his party to be trapped in ice and the Ross Sea party to start too early. Shackleton's decision on where to winter the ship caused much of the tragedy and others at the time knew it would. His choice for captain was suspect. He almost certainly would have failed his transantarctic journey had he even made good enough choices to be able to attempt.
I loved this story. I'm glad I bought the book (it wasn't available at the library), it will sit on my bookshelf right next to Endurance.
The worst part, and I cannot believe I am forgiving this by still rating it five stars, is that the biggest plot points are revealed four times before the book even starts: the second page after the cover is a map that labels where those things happened, the table of contents shows a couple chapter titles that give away what happens, and both the foreward and author's note explicitly say who dies and how. Luckily I stopped reading them immediately so I didn't know everything, but after finishing the book I think they are the worst foreward and author's note in a book I've read.
On that note, the foreward was written by Lord Shackleton, which is actually the famous Ernest Shackleton's son. That feels cheap and vain to me, especially since he has absolutely no additional insight besides giving away the secrets of the book.
But the actual story in the book.. goodness gracious it is incredible. It is a better story of human will and survival than most of Shackleton's own story (except for maybe his sailing to South Georgia Island). The combination of utter selflessness from some, complete stupidity from others, and unbelievable devotion and suffering from all makes for interesting interpersonal dynamics and chilling consequences. The story concludes in a very satisfying way.
I read someone say that Shackleton "failed successfully" because no one under his leadership died. This book tells a very different story. Shackleton was overly ambitious and underprepared, which caused his party to be trapped in ice and the Ross Sea party to start too early. Shackleton's decision on where to winter the ship caused much of the tragedy and others at the time knew it would. His choice for captain was suspect. He almost certainly would have failed his transantarctic journey had he even made good enough choices to be able to attempt.
I loved this story. I'm glad I bought the book (it wasn't available at the library), it will sit on my bookshelf right next to Endurance.
May 19, 2022
The story of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition has long been a favorite of mine, so it was fascinating to read this detailed account of the other part of his team who laid out depots of supplies on the opposite side of the Antarctic continent - supplies that would never be used due to the disasters that prevented Shackleton from even setting out on the journey he had planned. The depot team was actually marooned without most of their equipment before they began sledging south, and as a result they faced unbelievable deprivation and discomfort at every stage. Based on recently rediscovered journals, this is a tale of amazing courage, unselfishness, and kindness - and shows the tragic consequences of failing to listen to wise input from team members. A must-read for all fans of Shackleton and Antarctic exploration!
December 5, 2019
Exciting read. But how did I leave it sitting on my shelf half-read for so long? Sometimes I felt like yelling at some of the people in the book - how can you be so stupid?
But it was very good. Even if their mission was futile. They were setting up stores/depots where Shackelton and his men would be able to get food after crossing the Antarctic continent.
But it was very good. Even if their mission was futile. They were setting up stores/depots where Shackelton and his men would be able to get food after crossing the Antarctic continent.
May 10, 2014
Maybe it's because I read this immediately after Lansing's "Endurance" (which is a beautifully written epic), but I felt that the authorship could have been much better. AMAZING story, though. Holy cow.
May 31, 2013
As a fan of survival stories, and having read a couple of Shackleton books in the past, this story of a relatively unknown episode of Shackleton's exploration, was enthralling. A group of men and dogs have the gruelling and ultimately tragic task of laying down stores of food and supplies for Shackleton's group attempting the south pole from another direction in 1914. As we all know, Shackleton won't make it. This courageous group presses on with their task having minimal provisions and wind up possibly facing the same fate as Shackleton when their own ship goes missing. I found that some of the other obscure heros of this story are the tireless and determined dogs accompanying them. This story really illustrates the hidden abilities and duration of the human spirit.
December 11, 2007
The Anglo-Irish explorer Ernest Shackeleton, in 1915 planned the ultimate remaining Antarctic adventure (after the south pole was 'conquered' by the Norwegians) - that of crossing the Antarctic continent on foot from the Weddel sea across the south pole to the Ross Sea on the other side of the Earth. Caroline Alexander's rivetting book titled 'Endurance' narrates the adventurous story of the Weddel sea side of the expedition. It details the disastrous results of the ship going under the Weddel sea and then how Shackeleton and his men heroically survive and return to civilization after an epic adventure in a 22-foot boat on the roughest oceans of the Earth. But there haven't been many books on the courageous efforts of the many men who laid food and other provisions in depots for a thousand miles under punishing weather conditions at the other side of the Antarctic on the Ross sea. These men, completely unaware of the disaster that struck Shackeleton and not knowing that their efforts are totally useless, went about their herculean efforts to make the adventure of Shackeleton's party succeed after they crossed over from the south pole towards the Beardmore glacier and then on towards the Ross sea.
This book narrates the story of these 'forgotten men' in great detail. It makes the story of Shackeleton's 1915 trans-Antarctic story complete. Though Shackeleton succeeds in saving the lives of all his men on his side of the expedition, three adventurers die on the Ross sea side of the expedition. One dies during the punishing sledging trips while two others die while crossing the sea ice, even though the author writes that their death was due to carelessness. Shackeleton himself has paid tribute to these men in his book on the subject called 'South'.
The author Bickel develops the characters, ranging from the cautious Ernest Joyce to the group's fiery captain, Aeneas Mackintosh, quite well.The author writes of the men as, "haggard, dirty men, faces black from weeks of hugging the blubber stove, beards matted, here and there the scars of recent frostbite, and their clothes reeking of the smelly fat of the seals that had saved their lives."! It is a fitting description of the men who braved hundreds of miles of unforgiving, stormy ice sheets for many months in doing their duty for their expedition's success.
It is poignant reading as we know fully well before we start that their efforts are doomed. A good book.
This book narrates the story of these 'forgotten men' in great detail. It makes the story of Shackeleton's 1915 trans-Antarctic story complete. Though Shackeleton succeeds in saving the lives of all his men on his side of the expedition, three adventurers die on the Ross sea side of the expedition. One dies during the punishing sledging trips while two others die while crossing the sea ice, even though the author writes that their death was due to carelessness. Shackeleton himself has paid tribute to these men in his book on the subject called 'South'.
The author Bickel develops the characters, ranging from the cautious Ernest Joyce to the group's fiery captain, Aeneas Mackintosh, quite well.The author writes of the men as, "haggard, dirty men, faces black from weeks of hugging the blubber stove, beards matted, here and there the scars of recent frostbite, and their clothes reeking of the smelly fat of the seals that had saved their lives."! It is a fitting description of the men who braved hundreds of miles of unforgiving, stormy ice sheets for many months in doing their duty for their expedition's success.
It is poignant reading as we know fully well before we start that their efforts are doomed. A good book.
October 31, 2019
Shackleton's adventures are well-known. Less well-known is what happened on the other side of the continent, as his Ross Sea Party made a tremendous effort to lay out supply depots for Shackleton after he went to the South Pole. Of course, Shackleton never made it through the ice on the other side of the continent. These supply depots are still there on the ice somewhere.
A well-written focused account of the ordeal.
A well-written focused account of the ordeal.
November 23, 2016
Nicely complements the Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage account to give a comprehensive tale of the expedition.
December 17, 2023
Having read the Endurance, I was moved to read this just as challenging epic of the men who were responsible for laying supplies across Antarctica for Shackleton and his crew.
As we know, Shackleton was never able to make use of the stashes of food and equipment that these courageous men placed, under astoundingly horrible conditions. Through starvation, scurvy and blizzards they plowed on across the continent to deposit the critical supplies, even after their ship was torn away during a storm leaving them abandoned. Having few supplies themselves, they nontheless pressed on.
Several of the men died during this daring trek. Their ship, the Aurora, was eventually freed from the ice, after having drifted several hundred miles. The small crew headed for New Zealand, 2000 miles away, with little coal and a damaged rudder. With superb seamanship, Stenhouse was able to steer the ship,northward, and in April made contact with a tugboat, which was able to tow the Aurora ton Port Chalmers. The Aurora was refurbished and sent to rescue the few remaining men (and dogs)
from Antarctica.
As we know, Shackleton was never able to make use of the stashes of food and equipment that these courageous men placed, under astoundingly horrible conditions. Through starvation, scurvy and blizzards they plowed on across the continent to deposit the critical supplies, even after their ship was torn away during a storm leaving them abandoned. Having few supplies themselves, they nontheless pressed on.
Several of the men died during this daring trek. Their ship, the Aurora, was eventually freed from the ice, after having drifted several hundred miles. The small crew headed for New Zealand, 2000 miles away, with little coal and a damaged rudder. With superb seamanship, Stenhouse was able to steer the ship,northward, and in April made contact with a tugboat, which was able to tow the Aurora ton Port Chalmers. The Aurora was refurbished and sent to rescue the few remaining men (and dogs)
from Antarctica.
January 11, 2019
I'm fasinated with the beauty of Antarctica and its stories of historic discovery. I hope to be able to see it for myself someday. That aside, this is easily a five star chronical and one to add to your library or reading list if you enjoyed the epic adventures of Shackleton, Scott, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, among others. A story of endurance, heartbreak, courage, brotherhood, compasion and extreme survival as this dreadful adventure unfolds. Overshadowed by some of the other historic events during this time that took place, this was as important and tragic and historical as those. Shackleton praised these men for their suffering as he also was entraped in his own crushing event at the same time on the other side.
April 10, 2022
It's a bit over 100 years ago and Norway just owned Britain with Amundsen winning the race to the South Pole. No problem says Shackleton, I'll just be the first to, uh, cross Antarctica on foot. So he organizes two teams, his own, which promptly loses their boat to the ice and never even get started, and a second team that starts from the other direction in order to leave caches of supplies for the second half of Shackleton's trip. This is the story of that second team. They lose their boat too, but unlike that pussy Shackleton, they don't let it stop them and proceed to spend 2 years starving and freezing and dragging through the dark in order to fulfill their mission all the while completely ignorant of the fact that it was for nought.
May 14, 2018
Fascinating book. When I read this book I feel lazy. These people who endeavored to supply food at the differentdepots across this savage continent were in my estimation above the average. It goes into detail without being tedious. I have always wanted to read a book about this expedition my Shackleton and I don’t think I would have thought about the people from the endurance who supplied the food. They both had severe losses and hardships and we should never forget those. It has been a little over 100 years since that fateful crossing 1915 and things have changed since then. But the human spirit always makes for a tremendous story.
October 10, 2022
I read this while completing my third winter at the South Pole. Consequently, my initial thought was "how have I never heard of any of this before?" It's amazing that a story this compelling could go largely untold even to people like me who have spent so much time in Antarctica. It just so happened at the same time as the other more famous story of Endurance.
This book does start a bit slow but picks up as you get into it. Halfway through it becomes hard to put down. It's not quite as captivating as Lansing's "Endurance." But it's close.
This book does start a bit slow but picks up as you get into it. Halfway through it becomes hard to put down. It's not quite as captivating as Lansing's "Endurance." But it's close.
May 5, 2017
More of what They said: unbelievable, astounding, incredible! Having read Alfred Lansing's Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage I could not wait to get my hands on everything else related to this stupendous story. Thoroughly enjoyed Bickle's unputdownable rendering of this side of Shackleton's venture. See also Caroline Alexander's 1998 book of Hurley's astonishing photographs of the expedition.
December 7, 2020
Based on one living account and a number of journals left by expedition members Lennard Bickel has pieced together, as the title states, a story of tragedy and endurance. The writing is compelling. It is brought to life by Bickel in a way difficult to imagine given the source material he had to work with. At the same time there is little sensationalist embellishment. The events of the story provide enough adventure that Bickel does not need to add more to sell it. Definitely worth reading.
October 29, 2024
Although I’m told that there is a more recent book of this spectacular journey with greater information, this should not put anyone off reading this book.
Bickel paints a fantastic picture of the endeavour with great depth into the conditions and emotions faced and held by the support team to Shackleton. His great escape gets all the attention, but those who survived this feat deserve no less admiration. Perhaps even more that they completed their mission.
Bickel paints a fantastic picture of the endeavour with great depth into the conditions and emotions faced and held by the support team to Shackleton. His great escape gets all the attention, but those who survived this feat deserve no less admiration. Perhaps even more that they completed their mission.
June 9, 2020
While this story is amazing and truly inspiring, the book itself is weirdly written. At times it was brief and fact-focused in its delivery. Then there would be 3 pages dedicated to describing the set up and break down of their camps. It felt like the author was torn between trying to be succinct and trying to be poetic.
June 15, 2025
This book really hooked me! The intro jumps around a lot, but once the story gets going, it really gets going. I couldn't stop thinking about all the tragedy in this story. About how much suffering a human can endure. About all the "What ifs".
It helps if you know a bit about Shackleton's Endurance party before reading this.
It helps if you know a bit about Shackleton's Endurance party before reading this.
May 30, 2019
A great story of courage and perseverance, but a bit of a "hard sledging: to read. Having recently read Caroline Alexander's book The Endurance, it was very interesting to round out the whole story with what the other half of the expedition endured.
July 4, 2021
An amazing historically true event from the early 1900's about Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton's failure. Could you imagine riding a 20' makeshift sail boat through 100' high white caps, in -30+ degree temp and 100 mph wind? This book details there deadmen's journey. It's like mission impossibly X 1000
July 26, 2021
Incredible men. Earlier 20th century of exploring when there was no cold weather gear an tents were made out of canvas. When the North Star was your GPS and your boat gets literally crushed by ice movement. Such brave men.
July 7, 2018
Everyone has read Endurance but not many realize this companion story exists. It's great read!
January 16, 2019
Incredible story
January 30, 2019
Truly forgotten heroes. Behind every epic adventure is a huge team and in this case, they were forgotten and left behind. Very interesting
December 6, 2019
A stunning and well-written chronicle of a truly astounding journey.
December 20, 2019
Serves as a good add on to Endurance. I was able to tour the hut in McMurdo and was nice to put a story to it. Great story and well written.
April 27, 2023
The best account that could be written on this topic. The pictures were a bit random and the maps at the end "spoiled" what was going to happen.
January 11, 2024
Brutal and for nought
June 15, 2024
Can be a bit slow in the beginning but the last half is great. Incredible story an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews