Shackleton by Fiennes

I recently bought a copy of Ranulph Fiennes' biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton. I haven't really thought about polar explorers since I was a child. Shackleton was something of an adventurer with several downsides to his character. It was right, however, that Antarctica should be explored and so, although he did not achieve many of his goals (reaching the South Pole being the main one) he did advance science and understanding through his intrepid work. While I was reading the book, which is informed by Fiennes' own experiences in this field, I noticed a film on Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer, on BBC iplayer (more here) and enjoyed watching that. Amundsen was presented in a similar light to what I had read about Shackleton. They can't all have been the same as Birdie Bowers, part of Scott's team, was a decided Christian, as notd in Peter Masters's book Men of Destiny. (see here) I must check out again the Vangelis album of music for the film Antarctica (see here) and Colin Harper's album Titaniium flag a concept album on similar themes. (see here)