The party encountered obstacles from the start as the overloaded Nimrod was tossed in the icy, turbulent waters. But Shackleton and his men succeeded in ascending the 13,000-foot volcanic Mount Erebus, reaching the magnetic South Pole, and penetrating deeper into the continent than anyone had before. They defied death every step of the way -- traversing crevasse-riddled glaciers, facing constant exhaustion from short rations, combating snow blindness, sub-zero temperatures, and sudden blizzards -- and hauling hundreds of pounds of supplies over the frozen wasteland after the death of their Manchurian ponies.

Then, only ninety-seven miles from achieving the dream, Shackleton and his party had to abandon their quest and execute a desperate forced march to reach the Nimrod before its departure date -- or face being marooned on the ice....