Everyone knows the magnificent story of Shackleton's epic survival on his penultimate Antarctic adventure: the ice crushing his ship and then the open boat journey to South Georgia. One of the great claims of that story is that no-one died. In this book, the author tempers that claim by telling the equally compelling story of the men who sought to build the supply depots for the second leg of Shackleton's trans-Antarctic bid. Facing the same fate of losing their ship, the devoted team set all of the camps Shackleton would need, despite losing most of their equipment and stores. Along the way, they endure unimaginable privations, and eventually three of the team lose their lives, heart-breakingly close to safety. Indeed, the way in which the team's safety sits on a knife-edge for most of their journey is portrayed with real skill. The story is made all the more poignant in that Shackleton never reached the South Pole and so their sacrifice was wasted.

Based upon limited written records and a series of interviews with one survivor apparently in the '70s, Bickel weaves this modest material into a taut, understated narrative. It can, indeed should be understated, as the magnitude of the heroism and endurance need no embellishment. This is a wonderful story, very well told. I thoroughly recommend it.

For the arctic try Jennifer Niven's "The Ice Master" - an equally excellent book.