Shackleton and his crew became something of a hero of mine after I read South and Endurance. Less so frok.a masculine perspective, but more of a fortitude thing. There is a certain triumph felt when we persevere through impossible odds, and ever since I've been attracted to a genre of stories that I loosely label as "Frozen Thrillers," where humans just have to deal with bad things happening in cold unforgiving environments.
If you liked that, you should read "Empire of Ice and Stone" by Budy Levy which was about an Arctic expedition.
It's a good read from a leadership perspective. The "leader" of the expedition (Vilhjalmur Stefansson) abandoned his crew in the middle of the frozen arctic seas and went off the hunt caribou and meet his secret inuit wife. The book portrays him as being completely irresponsible and interested only his own glory and fame (and money)
Meanwhile, the captain of the ship (Robert Bartlett) walked for 700 miles from where they were stranded and then started a rescue mission from Alaska which saved some (though not all of the crew). He's portrayed as a real hero in harsh circumstances.
The whole expedition was named after the flagship. The Karluk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_voyage_of_the_Karluk). They had two inuit families with them during the trip including their kids. It was funny to see how the inuit kids would play in the snow and have fun while the "explorers" were all but dropping dead. The youngest child was aged 3 at the time. She passed away finally in 2008 at the age of 97.
I am reading a book about it right now and as I learn more it seems too crazy and unbelievable to sustain (and im quite gullible person), especially part about living on full ocean in small boats with no food, water and heat, in extreme cold, still travelling those 100s of kilometers.
There was a part that stuck with me, a journal entry that described the Endurance crew standing on a ice that had trapped their boat, and just watching in horror as the shifting ice flow crushed it. It powerfully conveyed raw despair and overwhelming hopelessness, which in an of itself is exceedingly difficult for anyone to overcome, let alone in extremely hostile conditions.
