react to new circumstances served him and his crew members well and allowed all of them to save themselves from their icy trap. As Dennis Perkins says in his book, Leading at the Edge, in reference to the last leg of Shackleton’s expedition, “Their heroic journey across South Georgia Island had saved their shipmates. It remains a tribute to unremitting effort—and to the tenacious creativity at The Edge (pp. 148).”

Lansing's detailed account of the 1915 Trans-Antarctic Expedition illuminates the stark reality that Sir Ernest Shackleton's expedition did not fulfill its goal. In fact, the expedition never even set foot upon the continent that they had intended to cross. The outstanding success of that motley crew of adventurers was in their ability to endure the harsh Antarctic climate. Despite having their ship crushed by an ice cap, spending the dark Antarctic winter hopelessly alone, suffering through a stormy

Shackleton, the Endurance and the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition Introduction How Shackleton had planned his Expedition couldn’t have been any more different than how it turned out. Not only did he not cross the Antarctic continent nor did he reach the South Pole. Shackleton, from previous experiences could have expected that. The fact that he didn’t reach the South Pole was something else. The trans-Antarctic expedition making him famous because of his absolute failure was something he would

improving our living conditions. Another instance would be Ernest Shackelton, who was one of the first people to travel across Antarctica. During the Age of Exploration when he led his team on the expedition, they were “in the face of changing circumstances and constant danger, [but] Shackelton remained positive and decisive” (Shackelton’s Antarctic Adventure). Shackelton was a hero because his positive attitude let others around him know that he still has hope for survival, so they should too. Also