13 h 19 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 19 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A small ship, a failing engine, and one more polar dream: how much can courage carry?
Ernest Shackleton wants another voyage after the ordeal of the Endurance. His ship, the Quest, carries seasoned polar men and eager youngsters, some who have never seen ice. The plans stretch from surveying coasts to studying sea and sky, but leaks, engine faults, and rough weather soon put the expedition under strain.
In Shackleton's Last Voyage, Frank Wild tells the expedition's story in plain sailor's prose. He knows Shackleton from three earlier polar journeys, and the task of command falls to him when his leader dies. Surgeon Alexander Macklin and other members add their accounts, bringing the reader close to the crew's work, uncertainty, and resolve.
What you’ll discover
- A ship under strain Follow the Quest as leaks and engine trouble test a crew bound for polar waters.
- Leadership when plans break Watch Wild face the demands of command with calm and loyalty.
- Veterans beside eager youngsters Meet experienced explorers and young volunteers learning the hard work of life at sea.
- Discovery beyond the ice Travel toward remote South Atlantic islands as the expedition pursues its scientific work.
- Daily life aboard Quest Find dates, places, and daily details in a narrative shaped by those who sail.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like true tales of polar exploration, small ships in big seas, and plainspoken leadership.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A grand Arctic plan collapses and one backer saves it
- A small, hurried ship is made ready in three months
- Seasickness, breakdowns and stops that eat the season
- Shackleton's last weeks and sudden death
- Wild chooses to carry on and counts the risks
- Into the pack ice, and the farthest south
- Frozen in, a quarrel aired, and a flight to Elephant Island
- Burying the Boss and raising a cairn
- Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island
- Cape Town, home, and what the voyage left behind
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Shackleton's Last Voyage
by Frank Wild; Alexander Hepburn Macklin · 1923
A battered 111-foot ketch sails south with Shackleton aboard, and a crisis hands his deputy the command.
Medium level10–20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What do you do when your leader dies in the night, in a harbour at the edge of the Antarctic, with a leaking boiler and a crew that now looks only to you? On the fifth of January 1922, Frank Wild faces exactly that.
Shackleton's Last Voyage at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 15 min5 h 45 min fast, 8 h 35 min slow
- Length
- 103,300 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1923by Frank Wild; Alexander Hepburn Macklin
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A grand Arctic plan collapses and one backer saves it
Shackleton comes home from the Great War wanting one more expedition. He plans to cross the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic and compare the two polar regions.
Money is the problem. The Canadian Government promises a grant, then withdraws it under a policy of spending cuts. Men have already given up businesses and turned down permanent jobs to wait for the call, and Shackleton worries about them as much as about the cost.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1923
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wild, Frank, and Alexander Hepburn Macklin. Shackleton's Last Voyage. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/shackletons-last-voyage.
Wild, F., & Macklin, A. H. (2026). Shackleton's last voyage. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/shackletons-last-voyage (Original work published 1923)
Wild, Frank, and Alexander Hepburn Macklin. Shackleton's Last Voyage. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/shackletons-last-voyage.
@book{wild2026shackletons,
author = {Wild, Frank and Macklin, Alexander Hepburn},
title = {Shackleton's Last Voyage},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/shackletons-last-voyage},
note = {First published 1923}
}
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What is Shackleton's Last Voyage about?
It follows the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition aboard the small ship Quest in 1921 and 1922. Frank Wild tells of the departure, the engine trouble, Shackleton's sudden death, the push into the pack ice, and the visits to remote islands.
Who was in command after Shackleton died?
Frank Wild, Shackleton's second in command on two expeditions, took charge on 5 January 1922. He chose to carry on with the work and brought the Quest and her crew home safely to Plymouth in September 1922.
Who was John Quiller Rowett?
Rowett was the businessman who paid almost the whole cost of the expedition after Canadian support was withdrawn. He backed it out of friendship for Shackleton and interest in science, and the voyage is named for them both.
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