Honouring Tom Crean: A Centenary Expedition With the Crean Family

In Honouring Tom Crean: A Centenary Expedition With the Crean Family, Bill Sheppard records the expedition he undertook with family members of the Antarctic explorer on the centenary of his historic traverse of South Georgia with Frank Worsley and captain of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton.

Wishing to honour their renowned grandfather and great-grandfather, the family decided to retrace his footsteps on the 36- hour traverse that finally brought the three men to Stromness whaling station-and salvation-after months of being stranded in the frozen ice. The book details the training and funding challenges the team faced in the year before departing Ireland for Antarctica.

Once on the Shackleton Traverse, they were close to completing their lifelong dream when disaster struck and an accident resulted in members of the Crean family being tested to the limits of their endurance. Over many days, they faced physical and mental challenges which they sometimes struggled to overcome.

In their darkest hours, however, the spirit of the man they had come to Antarctica to honour inspired them to endure.

A century on, Bill Sheppard shows that Tom Crean's character lives on not just in his descendants, but also in the place where he made Polar history.