Tom Crean: Unsung Hero of the Scott and Shackleton Antarctic Expeditions

By Michael Smith

Book Overview

Tom Crean's name is not commonly recognized today, but he was an integral member of three of the most important Antarctic expeditions of the twentieth century, and both a glacier and a mountain in Antarctica bear his name. Crean was clearly the sort wanted in a dangerous, uncertain venture: a loyal man of selfless courage, whose warmth and humor kept despair at bay in the life-and-death situations that arose in extreme environment of the Antarctic. Although facing unimaginable peril, he sang throughout the seventeen-day crossing of the Southern Ocean in a twenty-two-foot whaleboat with Shackleton. In what is arguably the greatest feat of individual heroism in the history of polar exploration, Crean trekked across thirty-five miles of snow and ice to reach rescue for his comrade, Teddy Evans, who was incapacitated by scurvy.Tom Crean's epic story spans the entire Heroic Age of Polar Exploration. He spent more time on the ice than either the more celebrated Scott or Shackleton and outlived them both.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 089886870X
• ISBN13: 9780898868708
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 302 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 1.3" x 6.5"