Day 120 – 52 Books in 52 Weeks

Well, it’s been two months since I posted, but I’ve read a couple incredible books.

The first is Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing. If you like adventure stories, this is probably the ultimate. Not even Hollywood could come up with something this good. Lansing covers Ernest Shackleton’s failed attempt to cross Antarctica in 1914.

He starts with Shackleton’s call to abandon ship. From there Lansing gives us a ride through 22 months on the ice of the 28 men on the expedition. If anything could go wrong on this expedition – it did. From food shortages, the coldest winter on record (to that point), weather conditions that always worsened as the men tried to move camp, to not being able to secure a rescue ship once a few of the men landed on South Georgia.

But this is also a story of amazing feats. Shackleton was able to keep all of his men in line during the 22 months. That takes some incredible leadership skills.

Traveling through the ice floes and ice packs to get to Elephant Island – all the men and what few stores they could carry in three “life boats” – through hurricane-force winds, blizzards and temperatures that fell below zero, and boats taking on water … and making it to the Island. How they did it… amazing.

Two of the most unbelievable episodes of the journey, and still considered unmatched feats to this day, are the crossing from Elephant Island to South Georgia via the Weddell Sea (800 miles) in the James Caird, and the crossing of Elephant Island through the uncharted mountains – by three men who’d never climbed mountains.

The crossing of the Weddell Sea, one of the deadliest seas in the world, using only sextant and unable to take readings because the weather was so inhospitable (Worsley was able to take 2 readings during the 16-day journey), is considered the greatest navigational feat – ever. If they were even off by a degree or two – they would completely miss South Georgia and end up in the open ocean.

Of course, when they did reach South Georgia, the landed on the wrong side – the only inhabitants were those working/living at the whaling station on the other side of the island. The Caird was too damaged to put out to sea again and try to get to the other side. The only recourse was for three of the six to cross the island on foot. Because there is no “beach” – only granite slabs jutting up out of the water – this meant climbing the mountains.

At that time, the mountains, though small in comparison to most ranges, were considered uncrossable – and therefore, had never been mapped. Shackleton knew they had to get help soon, men were sick, and possibly dying. The three men eventually made it to the whaling station, and three months later, Shackleton was able to secure a rescue vessel and sailed back to Elephant Island. All 28 men survived – not one life was lost in the 22 month ordeal.

The story will keep you on the edge of your seat. One catastrophe after another, but one that ends happily.

The second book I read was Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. This is considered the book to measure all other books against when studying the last of the Russian Tsars: Nicholas Romanov.

This story has always fascinated me, but I’ve never really done a lot of reading on the subject. I was drawn to it because of the whole Rasputin aspect of the story. But reading this book has been truly an eye-opener. It is probably the best historical book I have ever read.

I had always pictured the tsars of Russia as blood-thirsty, greedy, evil men. However, Nicholas II was probably one of kindest men who ever ruled any country. He didn’t want to be tsar. His father died prematurely, without giving “Nicky” a proper education in ruling the vast empire, and Nicky’s uncles, who “advised” him early on, always led him in the wrong direction.

Nicholas II truly loved Russia and wanted only the best for his country, and tried to do his best for them, but two things caused his downfall: his wife and his son.

He adored Alexandra, practically worshiped her. She was a shy German princess, who, like Nicholas, was thrust into a position of power too early. Because of her extreme shyness and her difficulty in speaking Russian, the people thought she was aloof and cold – they didn’t trust her.

After four girls, she finally bore Nicholas a son: Alexis. Six weeks after the Heir’s birth, they discovered he was a hemophiliac: any minor would could cause unstoppable bleeding and then death.

Through a series of events, Rasputin comes into the picture and supposedly saves Alexis’ life via telegraph. At this point Alexandra believed that without Rasputin, her son would die and there would be no Heir.

Massie goes through their lives, drawing from their private diaries, diaries of those involved with the Imperial family and other research. He builds the story by interweaving the Empress’s personality with her stubbornness regarding Rasputin. She hung on his every word. People who opposed Rasputin or tried to show that he was evil were summarily dismissed, forced to leave the country or imprisoned.

Rasputin, according to Massie, wasn’t after the throne, he wanted to be left alone to live his decrepit life style. He drank excessively, took as many women as he could to bed (even was accused of rape), and outside of the palace, denounced the tsar.

As WWI progressed and Russia had to retreat, Nicholas decided to take personal command of the troops and left for the Headquarters, leaving Alexandra in charge. She, of course, determined to get rid of anyone who disliked Rasputin. The Ministers of state were replaced by people whom Rasputin recommended. Alexandra always got her husband’s approval for dismissing one or bringing on someone new, but it was Rasputin who was pulling the strings. He wanted people in power who would turn a blind eye to his activities.

Though Massie doesn’t spend much time on Rasputin, what he does say (and backs with facts) puts a new face on what I thought of the man, and how he managed to accomplish so much.

He touches briefly on Lenin’s role in the Revolution, but spends most of his time discussing why the people hated the Empress – and Rasputin was only one factor in all of that.

The people seemed to clearly love their Tsar, even when he abdicated the throne, those revolutionaries sent to protect him still, for the most part, treated him kindly.

Of course, the tragic end was the family being massacred by soviet men who believed the tsar was responsible for their hard life and purposefully sent men to war in order to shed more of the workers’ blood.

I wish I could go into more detail, but I can’t do the story justice. Massie superbly pulls facts together, offers various ideas when the hard truth isn’t clear, and brings it all together as a tragic story, not a history book.

My impression of what happened was this: Alexis’s hemophilia caused his mother, who was a very stubborn woman, to blindly believe everything Rasputin said or suggested. Nicholas, though not fully trusting Rasputin, knew that the man (or at least believed) had saved his son from death on numerous occasions. He worried that if he dismissed Rasputin, and if his son were to die, he would have murdered his own son. He’d never forgive himself, and neither would his wife.

I pitied Nicholas, and even though I knew the ending of the story, I kept hoping that somehow he really lived in the end. I grew to despise Alexandra even though she did love Russia and wanted the best for her adopted country – I just couldn’t understand how a woman, supposedly so intelligent could be so blind.

Amazing story, very moving, and when I read about Nicholas abdicating his throne, I actually teared up. I highly recommend this book, even if you’re not interested in history. It is well worth the read.