Worsley, a New Zealander, was the captain of the En- durance when Shackleton sailed on his Antarctic expedition in 1914. When the ship was trapped and finally crushed by ice, the expedition members drifted on ice floes before they found shelter on an uninhabited island. With no sign of any rescuers, a handful of them - including Shackleton and Worsley - set out in a 22-foot sailing boat for the island of South Georgia, 800 miles away, where they knew there were whaling stations and where they hoped to find a relief ship for those left behind. It was one of the great small-boat voyages of history, though when they landed they faced a gruelling foot trek across the snow-covered island in winter. Worsley's plain, undramatic yet vivid account is a minor classic in its own right.