The Crossing of Antarctica

A remarkable visual and personal testimony of a polar expedition that rewrote the history books and an epic journey of endurance and fellowship in the wildest of places. One hundred years after Ernest Shackleton set out on his ill-fated attempt to make the first crossing of Antarctica, this beautifully illustrated book celebrates those who succeeded where he had failed. It was a journey long thought impossible. The expedition of 1957/58, led by Vivian ‘Bunny’ Fuchs, was one of the 20th century’s triumphs of exploration – a powerful expression of technological daring as much as a testament of sheer, bloody-minded human willpower. As a key member of the expedition, Everest veteran George Lowe was there to capture it all in photographs and on film. Awe-inspiring landscapes, candid portraits and action shots evoke the day-by-day moments as the expedition travelled across snow and ice, facing extraordinary challenges and dangers. Unpublished images and other rare materials from the Lowe archives are brought together here for the first time, along with others from the Fuchs family collection. There has never been a book on Antarctica quite like this. An impressive array of polar experts and explorers also add their reflections on Antarctica, and the meaning and art of true exploration. They include Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Peter Fuchs, Jonathan Shackleton, B?rge Ousland, Sebastian Copeland, Ken Blaiklock, Felicity Aston and Paul Dalrymple.