Heroes so often emerge from what could be called failure.  As the recent ABC series Shackleton showed, the 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was an unmitigated disaster!  It got nowhere near the South Pole, had its ship crushed by pack ice and had to be abandoned.

Yet it has become one of the epic adventure stories of modern times as all 28 men on board not only survived in Antarctica for two years, but managed to walk and drag and sail their way to eventual rescue. 

Australian photographer Frank Hurley was one of them and his photos are famous now as a record of struggle in such a hostile world.  They also form the basis of Meredith Hooper’s picture book, Ice Trap! Shackleton’s Incredible Expedition.

While it is told as a story for young teen readers rather than a history text book, it is certainly not a dumbed-down “Gee Whiz!” kids’ story.  The men suffer frostbite and diarrhoea, they must shoot and eat their dogs as well as seals and penguins. 22 of them had to huddle under a boat on an ice-bound beach for nearly 5 months while the others sailed a life boat 1300 km through winter seas.

That any of them survived is amazing.  That all were rescued was a miracle that makes a wonderful story. Hooper tells it in simply and clearly, focussing on the men and their efforts.  The colour pictures are strongly based on Hurley’s photographs, some of which appear at the end with a timeline of the two-year journey.

This timeline, and the maps at the beginning and end of the book neatly frame the story, reminding that it was real, that these men could have died but didn’t, and that real life can tell stories far better than any adventure movie!

Review by David Beagley

© 2002 David Beagley