"Drawing on family records, diaries and letters - and hitherto unpublished photographs and archive material - this mesmerizing biography takes us beyond the myth to Shackleton the man, for whom 'Optimism is true moral courage,' and whose greatest triumph was that of life over death." "Shackleton: An Irishman in Antarctica, is lavishly illustrated with over a hundred photographs, maps and engravings, some of them appearing in print for the first time."--BOOK JACKET.