Thursday, February 21, 2008

Book Club...


My book club met last night and sorry I was that I had not read the book (I had a really good excuse:) The book was Endurance by Alfred Lansing and it was about the Endurance Expedition of Ernest Shackleton and his men to the South Pole. Like the story of Apollo 13, the drama was in the rescue mission as Shackleton made 3-4 return trips to Elephant island to save the men he'd left behind. In the end he'd saved them all. The leadership abilities of Shackleton were really inpiring to learn about.
Some of the book club members (we have a group of real over-achievers!) had also read South the story in Shackleton's own words and also Leading at the Edge : Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition by Dennis N. T. Perkins, Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy. I would love to read all these books which sounded amazing. There are also several documentaries and a film with Kenneth Brannaugh.
I would love to really learn about this expidition and the men who were able to stay positive in the worst conditions and therefore save each other and make it home together.
The photo above is of Ernest Shackleton taken from Wikipedia...