# Shackleton's Argonauts

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Book by Frank Hurley

Shackleton's Argonauts : A Saga of the Antarctic Ice-Pack First edition Author Frank Hurley Language English Genre Children's non-fiction Publisher Angus and Robertson Publication date 1948 Publication place Australia Media type Print Pages 140pp Preceded by Pearls and Savages : Adventures in the Air, on Land and Sea - in New Guinea Followed by The Diaries of Frank Hurley 1912-1941

***Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Ice-Pack*** (1948) is a children's information book by Australian photographer and explorer [Frank Hurley](/source/Frank_Hurley). Hurley also illustrated the book and won the [Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers) in 1948.[1]

## Book summary

Frank Hurley was the official photographer attached to [Ernest Shackleton](/source/Ernest_Shackleton)'s 1914 expedition to the Antarctic. Known as the [Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition](/source/Imperial_Trans-Antarctic_Expedition), Shackleton aimed to ship his party to the head of the Weddell Sea and then cross the continent to the Ross Sea with a small party by dog sledge. But things went wrong from the start when their ship, the *Endurance*, was caught and crushed in ice-packs. After months of surviving on the ice, the expedition finally reached [Elephant Island](/source/Elephant_Island). From there Shackleton undertook an open-boat journey to South Georgia to organise a rescue, which, after some months and several attempts, was finally successful.

Hurley saved some negatives from the expedition and used a number to illustrate the book.

## Critical reception

Geoffrey Hutton in *The Argus* found the book a simple tale told well: "This is a plain tale told by a famous Australian explorer of the near-disaster which befell Shackleton's dauntless company when the Endurance was crushed by pack-ice in the Weddell Sea...Hurley travelled with Shackleton as official photographer, a role he had filled in Mawson's expedition of 1911-14, and his book is enriched by a magnificent pictorial record of the Antarctic. This series largely paid off the expedition's backers. His name, and that of his famous leader, are a reminder that Australia has played an important role in exploring the continent from which our weather is largely dictated, and in which we lay claim to an area almost as large as Australia itself."[2]

## See also

- [1948 in Australian literature](/source/1948_in_Australian_literature)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Book Society Award", *The Sydney Morning Herald*, 16 November 1948, p2](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18099028)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["About Antarctica" by Geoffrey Hutton, *The Argus*, 6 November 1948, p21](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22713599)

v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present)

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