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As the navigator aboard the James Caird, responsible for all the key decisions and navigational fixings, Worsley was in many ways the person best placed to recount in detail the story of the six-man crew's 800-mile boat journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. His command of both style and detail are outstanding, and the full danger, anxiety and terror of the crossing which came so close to ending the lives of all six, and as the cover recalls, the 'feat of courage and fortitude' on which the lives of 22 others depended are all brought out superbly.
Worsley's three-part narrative (in an earlier incarnation it was entitled 'The Great Antarctic Rescue') is gripping from start to finish, and tells the story of the arduous escape from the ice to to Elephant Island, the boat journey in a day by day account starting with Easter Monday, 24th April 1916, and the crossing of South Georgia. There are many illustrations, of both Endurance and the James Caird prior to her departure. Birlinn include a perceptive, instructive and concise four-page introduction by Hugh Andrew.
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