The Lost Men

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first-ever crossing of the Antarctic continent. He sailed into the Weddell Sea aboard the Endurance, while a ship called the Aurora sailed into the Ross Sea to create a lifeline of vital food and fuel depots to supply the epic crossing. Yet all went tragically wrong when the Aurora broke free of her moorings in an Antarctic gale and stranded ten men ashore. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and scavenged equipment, the men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile the rest of the Aurora crew, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled for survival. The lost men struggled to save themselves and carry out their mission with little hope of rescue.

“'The Lost Men tells in absorbing detail the story of what happened when the plan's weaknesses were exposed'”

'Nail-biting ... this previously forgotten part of the expedition at last achieves the recognition it deserves' History Today 'A gripping story embracing both tragedy and triumph and Tyler-Lewis tells it well' New York Times Book Review 'Compelling and compassionately written' The Times Magnus Mills, Independent on Sunday

Kelly Tyler-Lewis is an historian and filmmaker. A Senior Member of Wolfson College and a Visiting Scholar of the Scott Polar Research Institute, both of the University of Cambridge,Tyler-Lewis is also a consulting historian for the BFI. As a film producer and writer, she received an Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary for Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance, a film for the PBS series NOVA also nominated for Best Documentary of 2002.

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set forth to make history with the first-ever crossing of the Antarctic continent. He could not undertake this epic journey, some seventeen hundred miles, without support. On the eve of the Great War, Shackleton disappeared into the Weddell Sea aboard the Endurance, while a ship called the Aurora made for the Ross Sea on the opposite side of the continent. Under the command of Aneas Mackintosh, the Ross Sea Party, twenty-eight strong, was poised to build a lifeline of vital food and fuel depots to supply the crossing. 'This programme would involve some heavy sledging, but the ground to be covered was familiar and I had not anticipated that the work would present any great difficulties', Shackleton wrote. Yet, all went tragically wrong when the Aurora tore free of its moorings in a storm, leaving ten men stranded ashore with woefully inadequate gear to perform their task. Left with little more than the clothing on their backs and rudimentary equipment cobbled together from salvaged materials, the men vowed to carry on in the face of impossible odds. Meanwhile, the crew of the disabled Aurora, cast adrift at the mercy of the elements, battled for survival. With no hope of rescue from civilization, the lost men struggled to save themselves and carry out their mission. Kelly Tyler-Lewis throws Antarctic exploration into nail-biting new perspective as this previously overshadowed maritime mission and its unforgettable protagonists come alive in this richly researched chronicle.

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