ANTARCTICA
Kerry-born Tom Crean ran away from home as a youth, and joined Scott’s Discovery voyage in December 1901, not returning to England until 1904. He went back to the Antarctic with Scott on his fateful attempt on the South Pole, eventually having to bury him. By now one of the most experienced men in this extreme climate, he was invited to join Scott’s great rival Shackleton on his Endurance expedition. Once again, he played a leading role, and sailed in the open James Caird across the southern ocean to South Georgia to sound the alarm for the stranded team in the Antarctic. After playing this heroic role in saving the mission, Crean retired to live quietly with his family in Ireland.
“There were many famous men who came back from adventures in Polar explorations. Most wrote books or had many books written about them. The exception was Tom Crean, who accompanied two of the more famous Polar explorers. Crean was a simple man from Ireland who wanted to escape the farm and go to sea. He rapidly rose to a position of trust and was known for his ability to survive in the harshest conditions. He was not selected to accompany Scott in his ill-fated trek to the Pole, but was responsible for hauling supplies and saving many expedition members from certain death. In the expedition with Shackleton, he exemplified his toughness by being one of three men to haul a boat over the ice and assisting the crew of the Endurance to get to Elephant Island. From there he, Shackleton and Worsley navigated over 900 miles to South Georgia Island. They then made a remarkable journey across the island to a whaling station. After a short respite the men traveled back to Elephant Island and rescued the rest of the crew. All the principals involved declared Crean to be the real hero of this epic adventure. After these exploits he settled back in Ireland to run a pub with his wife.”
“Author Caroline Alexander described Tom Crean as “a man who would perservere until the very bitter end”. His Antarctic exploits have been amply covered in dozens, likely even hundreds, of previous accounts of Antarctic exploration, and apart from these, not much of interest is known about him. Crean wrote next to nothing down, never gave interviews, and was, when it came to describing his own adventures, terse in the extreme.

That this book does little to unwrap this enigmatic rock of a man is fitting. Unlike Shackleton and Scott, who were their own greatest apologists, all we have of Crean are his deeds, and this seems somehow to be just about right.”

pp. 341, illustrated #190822 (Name on prelim, faint crease to cover.)