Take a photo of a barcode or cover
23 reviews for:
An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean: Antarctic Survivor - 20th anniversary illustrated edition
Michael Smith
4.32 AVERAGE
23 reviews for:
An Unsung Hero: Tom Crean: Antarctic Survivor - 20th anniversary illustrated edition
Michael Smith
4.32 AVERAGE
adventurous
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Fascinating tale of one of the lesser known polar heros.
I've read other books about the Antarctic in which Tom Crean figured prominently, but I'd never thought to look for a book specifically about this "unsung hero" of three expeditions with the famous polar explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. However, I recently visited Crean's home town of Anascaul on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula and had lunch at the South Pole Inn, the pub he owned after retiring from the adventurous life. The many mementos on display at the pub, along with the stories told about Crean by the pub staff and our tour guide, piqued my interest, and I purchased this book before leaving Ireland.
The story did not disappoint, and Tom Crean himself deserves five stars (and more) for his courage, strength, loyalty, determination, and ability to keep going - and keep his sense of humor - in incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances. The book itself was more of a mixed bag, with grammatical issues and awkward sentences that marred my enjoyment of the writing. In addition, the author, Michael Smith, has a tendency not to introduce characters properly, often referring to them by last name only the first time they are mentioned, and only providing more information later on. This made it hard to keep track of minor characters, since they might appear once early in the book and then reappear a hundred pages later without any reminder of who they were. I often had to flip to the index at the back of the book to look for previous references to someone whose identity I couldn't recall.
Similarly, during the first part of the book, which deals with Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, there are two major characters named Evans, and it's not always readily apparent which one Smith means, especially when both are in the same place at the same time. I found myself having to read certain paragraphs more than once for clarification.
Smith also has a tendency to mention certain details and then include a quotation that essentially reiterates the same information, often in similar words. Smoothing out the writing and eliminating unnecessary repetition would have made for a better book overall.
It would also have been helpful to have a list of page numbers of map locations for easy reference. I had to flip through the pages looking for the maps any time I wanted to refer to them. Additional maps and more detailed ones would also have been useful, as Smith often referred to locations that were not noted on the exisiting maps. I did enjoy the inclusion of so many photos from Crean's life and the expeditions in which he participated.
Overall, I enjoyed this book despite its flaws. Tom Crean may have been a simple man from rural County Kerry with only a basic education, but his role in the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration was great, and he seems to have thoroughly deserved the respect, admiration, and affection he earned from fellow expedition members and leaders. His story deserves to be better known, and that alone is reason enough to recommend this book.
The story did not disappoint, and Tom Crean himself deserves five stars (and more) for his courage, strength, loyalty, determination, and ability to keep going - and keep his sense of humor - in incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances. The book itself was more of a mixed bag, with grammatical issues and awkward sentences that marred my enjoyment of the writing. In addition, the author, Michael Smith, has a tendency not to introduce characters properly, often referring to them by last name only the first time they are mentioned, and only providing more information later on. This made it hard to keep track of minor characters, since they might appear once early in the book and then reappear a hundred pages later without any reminder of who they were. I often had to flip to the index at the back of the book to look for previous references to someone whose identity I couldn't recall.
Similarly, during the first part of the book, which deals with Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, there are two major characters named Evans, and it's not always readily apparent which one Smith means, especially when both are in the same place at the same time. I found myself having to read certain paragraphs more than once for clarification.
Smith also has a tendency to mention certain details and then include a quotation that essentially reiterates the same information, often in similar words. Smoothing out the writing and eliminating unnecessary repetition would have made for a better book overall.
It would also have been helpful to have a list of page numbers of map locations for easy reference. I had to flip through the pages looking for the maps any time I wanted to refer to them. Additional maps and more detailed ones would also have been useful, as Smith often referred to locations that were not noted on the exisiting maps. I did enjoy the inclusion of so many photos from Crean's life and the expeditions in which he participated.
Overall, I enjoyed this book despite its flaws. Tom Crean may have been a simple man from rural County Kerry with only a basic education, but his role in the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration was great, and he seems to have thoroughly deserved the respect, admiration, and affection he earned from fellow expedition members and leaders. His story deserves to be better known, and that alone is reason enough to recommend this book.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
adventurous
dark
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
An incredible story about an incredible person in Irish history. He accomplished incredible things and his name deserves to be much more widely known.
The book itself is well researched, detailed and does a very good job portraying the Arctic conditions the men travelled in. A bit dry at times, and slow to start, but that is inevitable with a story like this.
Well worth the read.
The book itself is well researched, detailed and does a very good job portraying the Arctic conditions the men travelled in. A bit dry at times, and slow to start, but that is inevitable with a story like this.
Well worth the read.
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
"We went along the crossbar to the 'H' of 'Hell.'" - Tom Crean
Well I have a new favourite person. And I've even been to his pub! Tom Crean is a now-famous Antarctic explorer from Ireland (Anascaul on the Dingle Peninsula to be exact), but before Michael Smith's iconic book came out 20 years ago, Tom Crean had been forgotten to the annals of history.
Crean went to Antarctica 3 times, twice with Scott and once with Shackleton during the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, the last great unknown wild space on Earth. There are glaciers and mountains named after the man, and dozens of people lived long lives directly or indirectly because of him and his heroic efforts.
He wrote nothing down, and was curiously reticent to talk about his experiences upon return - largely because he went South with the British Navy when Ireland was under the Union Jack, and returned to an Ireland in turmoil during the early Troubles. So in many ways, An Unsung Hero is less a memoir about Tom, and more a detailed analysis of the explorations and actions that the man was part of.
Tom Crean was a pretty cool guy and he put up with a lot. Scurvy, frostbite, months-long isolation, freezing temperatures, death of friends and colleagues, 18 hour-long-days man-hauling sledges, classism and poor leadership (ahem Scott ahem), cut off from civilisation for years on end, stranded on an ice flow for months, crossing the Antarctic seas in 20-foot lifeboat... this was his life for years and years. And he remained cheerful, steady, reliable, and generally unperturbed.
This is the guy that climbed a huge ice wall using a ski as an icepick to alert the others of his 2 colleagues' plight, the guy that walked 35 miles in 18 hours without food or skies to save his friends' life, the man who crossed the Ross Sea in an open-topped toy boat in the dead of winter to search for elusive whalers to rescue 20 stranded men, the guy who made the first traverse of South Georgia Island and his huge mountains and glaciers to find help - not to mention all of the normal stuff he did, all of the awful conditions he put up with. In the name of glory, exploration and adventure.
He didn't win any of the fame, and only received a few thousand pounds for his trouble. It took 100 years for anyone to know his name and his heroics while men like Scott and Shackleton get all the fame - despite the fact that these men made terrible, preventable mistakes in the name of their own ambition and pride (mostly Scott though, let's be honest).
This book was really interesting and anyone interested in exploration, survival, extreme conditions and learning about the so-called lackeys who did all the work for little reward should read this book. Plus - go Ireland!
Also, did you know they finally found Shackleton's boat, Endurance? Yep, it was found in early 2022 (what inspired me to finally read the book), and it's in perfect shape at the bottom of the freezing Ross Sea.
Well I have a new favourite person. And I've even been to his pub! Tom Crean is a now-famous Antarctic explorer from Ireland (Anascaul on the Dingle Peninsula to be exact), but before Michael Smith's iconic book came out 20 years ago, Tom Crean had been forgotten to the annals of history.
Crean went to Antarctica 3 times, twice with Scott and once with Shackleton during the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, the last great unknown wild space on Earth. There are glaciers and mountains named after the man, and dozens of people lived long lives directly or indirectly because of him and his heroic efforts.
He wrote nothing down, and was curiously reticent to talk about his experiences upon return - largely because he went South with the British Navy when Ireland was under the Union Jack, and returned to an Ireland in turmoil during the early Troubles. So in many ways, An Unsung Hero is less a memoir about Tom, and more a detailed analysis of the explorations and actions that the man was part of.
Tom Crean was a pretty cool guy and he put up with a lot. Scurvy, frostbite, months-long isolation, freezing temperatures, death of friends and colleagues, 18 hour-long-days man-hauling sledges, classism and poor leadership (ahem Scott ahem), cut off from civilisation for years on end, stranded on an ice flow for months, crossing the Antarctic seas in 20-foot lifeboat... this was his life for years and years. And he remained cheerful, steady, reliable, and generally unperturbed.
This is the guy that climbed a huge ice wall using a ski as an icepick to alert the others of his 2 colleagues' plight, the guy that walked 35 miles in 18 hours without food or skies to save his friends' life, the man who crossed the Ross Sea in an open-topped toy boat in the dead of winter to search for elusive whalers to rescue 20 stranded men, the guy who made the first traverse of South Georgia Island and his huge mountains and glaciers to find help - not to mention all of the normal stuff he did, all of the awful conditions he put up with. In the name of glory, exploration and adventure.
He didn't win any of the fame, and only received a few thousand pounds for his trouble. It took 100 years for anyone to know his name and his heroics while men like Scott and Shackleton get all the fame - despite the fact that these men made terrible, preventable mistakes in the name of their own ambition and pride (mostly Scott though, let's be honest).
This book was really interesting and anyone interested in exploration, survival, extreme conditions and learning about the so-called lackeys who did all the work for little reward should read this book. Plus - go Ireland!
Also, did you know they finally found Shackleton's boat, Endurance? Yep, it was found in early 2022 (what inspired me to finally read the book), and it's in perfect shape at the bottom of the freezing Ross Sea.