Alfred Lansing


Alfred Lansing was an American journalist and writer, best known for his book Endurance, an account of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic explorations.

Early career

Lansing was a native of Chicago, Illinois. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1940–46, where he received a Purple Heart, he enrolled at North Park College and later at Northwestern University, where he majored in journalism. Until 1949 he edited a weekly newspaper in Illinois. Thereafter he joined the United Press and in 1952 became a freelance writer.

''Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyag''e

Lansing is best known for his book Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, the account of the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew to the South Pole in 1914. The book is named after the ship used by Shackleton, the Endurance, and it became a bestseller when it was first published in 1959. Whilst researching the book, Lansing spoke with ten of the expedition's surviving members and was granted access to the journals and personal diaries of eight others in order to get a more complete view of the expedition. While he was writing Endurance, Lansing lived in Sea Cliff, Long Island with his wife, Barbara, and son Angus.