Tom crean iu biography books

I saw a mention of Tom Crean on Facebook and decided to buy this book. Michael Smith has done a superb job and he made me feel as if I personally knew Tom Crean. An easy but informative read about an amazing man. Takes you through some of the best British exploration adventures and focuses on one inspirational man. Remarkable book.

In their review, the Journal of the Shackleton School assert "Should it be that one buys or reads only one polar book in one's lifetime, let that book be Michael Smith's 'An Unsung Hero'". This is a brilliantly written book about a man who was both heroic and self-effacing. A brief browse of the other Amazon reviews of this biography of Tom Crean will reveal how appreciative all who have read the book are of Smith's masterful research and engaging writing style.

Thomas Crean, a quiet Irishman, accompanied Robert Falcon Scott on both his expeditions to the Antarctic, as well as Shackleton on his abortive mission to cross the Antarctic. Enduring unimaginable hardships, Crean, not an officer but an ordinary seaman, was supremely competent, totally loyal and brave beyond words. His service to them, drew the admiration of both Scott and Shackleton and won the lifelong gratitude of 'Teddy' Evans, Scott's second-in-command, following Crean singlehandedly saved his life in Unlike many of his more literate contemporaries, Crean did not keep a diary or write anything other than short letters or occasional notes.

So his biographer was unable to draw on much material emanating from the man himself. So Smith has drawn together their evidence, and supplemented it with interviews with those who either knew Crean, or knew those who knew him, to paint a picture of the man. And what a man! Two minor points. In relating the events of Crean's 3 expeditions, Smith repeats much of what has been written by those who were there and those who have subsequently written about them.

So the account, for those who have read the other accounts, can seem repetitive. But I found that Smith was able to draw ones attention to knew perspectives which made re-visiting events eminently worthwhile. Secondly, Smith see Chapter 12 , like Roland Huntford before him, is particularly critical of Scott's approach to Antarctic exploration, comparing him unfavourably with Roald Amundsen.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, in his book 'Captain Scott' challenges such estimations - to some effect. Given Fiennes conclusions, I wonder if Michael Smith might present a more balanced view of Scott, in any subsequent revision. Those points notwithstanding, please read this book - it's a cracker. This is a remarkable story. In the late s, when Ireland was still part of the United Kingdom, a young man from the extremes of County Kerry is the far south west of Ireland, joined the Royal Navy.

It was a time of large families and small farms, and boys and girls, when they finished school at fourteen had to seek employment elsewhere. Good jobs could be had in the police, the army and the navy, and Tome Crean chose the navy. A brother of his joined the police and was later murdered by the IRA. Tom was sent to England where boys were trained for a career in the navy.

At sea his qualities attracted the attention of two famous Antarctic explorers, Scott and Shackleton, and he was invited on their expeditions. His training in the navy stood him in good stead, and he quickly became expert in working on ice, hauling sledges, and handling dogs, besides learning to survive. He went on three expeditions. He almost reached the South Pole with Scott.

If he had been chosen for the final party instead of Petty Office Evans, Scott might have come home alive. He walked alone through a blizzard, guided only by a compass, to get a rescue party for a sick officer. On another occasion, when a party was stranded on an ice floe, Crean got help, by patiently jumping from floe to floe as the ice moved about.

He returned to serve out his time in the Royal Navy during the first World War. Shackleton kept an eye of him, and ensured he got promotions which meant an increased pension. After the war he returned to Ireland and bought a licenced public house, of which his wife proved a capable manager. A taciturn man, he never spoke of his exploits.

Indeed, in the changed conditions in Ireland, with the IRA in charge of the government, it was unwise to refer to the Royal Navy. He kept no records, but this book was put together for references to him in the diaries of others. As a Catholic he is now a national hero, while his fellow Irishman, Shackleton, a Protestant is not. See more reviews.

Top reviews from other countries. Translate all reviews to English. An incredible story about an incredible man. His perseverance is incredible. They don't make men like him anymore. Tough dude for sure. This book supersedes Endurance as my new favorite book. Alba Marie. And I've even been to his pub! Tom Crean is a now-famous Antarctic explorer from Ireland Anascaul on the Dingle Peninsula to be exact , but before Michael Smith's iconic book came out 20 years ago, Tom Crean had been forgotten to the annals of history.

Crean went to Antarctica 3 times, twice with Scott and once with Shackleton during the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration, the last great unknown wild space on Earth. There are glaciers and mountains named after the man, and dozens of people lived long lives directly or indirectly because of him and his heroic efforts. He wrote nothing down, and was curiously reticent to talk about his experiences upon return - largely because he went South with the British Navy when Ireland was under the Union Jack, and returned to an Ireland in turmoil during the early Troubles.

So in many ways, An Unsung Hero is less a memoir about Tom, and more a detailed analysis of the explorations and actions that the man was part of. Tom Crean was a pretty cool guy and he put up with a lot. Scurvy, frostbite, months-long isolation, freezing temperatures, death of friends and colleagues, 18 hour-long-days man-hauling sledges, classism and poor leadership ahem Scott ahem , cut off from civilisation for years on end, stranded on an ice flow for months, crossing the Antarctic seas in foot lifeboat And he remained cheerful, steady, reliable, and generally unperturbed.

This is the guy that climbed a huge ice wall using a ski as an icepick to alert the others of his 2 colleagues' plight, the guy that walked 35 miles in 18 hours without food or skies to save his friends' life, the man who crossed the Ross Sea in an open-topped toy boat in the dead of winter to search for elusive whalers to rescue 20 stranded men, the guy who made the first traverse of South Georgia Island and his huge mountains and glaciers to find help - not to mention all of the normal stuff he did, all of the awful conditions he put up with.

In the name of glory, exploration and adventure. He didn't win any of the fame, and only received a few thousand pounds for his trouble. It took years for anyone to know his name and his heroics while men like Scott and Shackleton get all the fame - despite the fact that these men made terrible, preventable mistakes in the name of their own ambition and pride mostly Scott though, let's be honest.

This book was really interesting and anyone interested in exploration, survival, extreme conditions and learning about the so-called lackeys who did all the work for little reward should read this book. Plus - go Ireland! Also, did you know they finally found Shackleton's boat, Endurance? Yep, it was found in early what inspired me to finally read the book , and it's in perfect shape at the bottom of the freezing Ross Sea.

Matthew Coughlan. A genuinely fascinating account of the great Tom Crean and the three Arctic expeditions he played such a crucial part in. The detail in Smith's book is incredible and gives the reader a really moving tribute to Crean the man, his unwavering loyalty, extreme bravery and mental fortitude in some of the toughest conditions on earth.

Toni Padilla. Fascinante relato sobre la era de las grandes aventuras. Bien documentado y escrito de forma amena. Ciara Dee. Given three stars for the content of the book as Creans exploits in the Antarctic are impressive and exciting to read about. However the writing style is biased and slightly juvenile. Smith makes it clear who he likes and dislikes, for example, he seems to hold little regard for Scott but adores Amundsen hailing the former as the greatest polar explorer multiple times within as many paragraphs.

Noel Hendrick. Phelim Kyne. Ellen Dunne. Author 11 books 28 followers. What an incredible story, well told. I'm a real sucker for these action adventure stories. Loved Shackleton's 'South' and I've read it a couple of times. I'd heard of Tom Crean before in my reading and that's what made me read this biography. It's a great book and a great story.

The early polar explorers were made of titanium with a Kevlar coating only Kevlar hadn't been invented then! Maybe a bit niche, but I recommend it. Annika Hipple. I've read other books about the Antarctic in which Tom Crean figured prominently, but I'd never thought to look for a book specifically about this "unsung hero" of three expeditions with the famous polar explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

However, I recently visited Crean's home town of Anascaul on Ireland's Dingle Peninsula and had lunch at the South Pole Inn, the pub he owned after retiring from the adventurous life. The many mementos on display at the pub, along with the stories told about Crean by the pub staff and our tour guide, piqued my interest, and I purchased this book before leaving Ireland.

The story did not disappoint, and Tom Crean himself deserves five stars and more for his courage, strength, loyalty, determination, and ability to keep going - and keep his sense of humor - in incredibly difficult and dangerous circumstances. The book itself was more of a mixed bag, with grammatical issues and awkward sentences that marred my enjoyment of the writing.

In addition, the author, Michael Smith, has a tendency not to introduce characters properly, often referring to them by last name only the first time they are mentioned, and only providing more information later on. This made it hard to keep track of minor characters, since they might appear once early in the book and then reappear a hundred pages later without any reminder of who they were.

I often had to flip to the index at the back of the book to look for previous references to someone whose identity I couldn't recall. Similarly, during the first part of the book, which deals with Scott's Terra Nova Expedition, there are two major characters named Evans, and it's not always readily apparent which one Smith means, especially when both are in the same place at the same time.

I found myself having to read certain paragraphs more than once for clarification. Smith also has a tendency to mention certain details and then include a quotation that essentially reiterates the same information, often in similar words. Smoothing out the writing and eliminating unnecessary repetition would have made for a better book overall.

It would also have been helpful to have a list of page numbers of map locations for easy reference. I had to flip through the pages looking for the maps any time I wanted to refer to them. Additional maps and more detailed ones would also have been useful, as Smith often referred to locations that were not noted on the exisiting maps.

I did enjoy the inclusion of so many photos from Crean's life and the expeditions in which he participated. Overall, I enjoyed this book despite its flaws. Tom Crean may have been a simple man from rural County Kerry with only a basic education, but his role in the "heroic age" of Antarctic exploration was great, and he seems to have thoroughly deserved the respect, admiration, and affection he earned from fellow expedition members and leaders.

His story deserves to be better known, and that alone is reason enough to recommend this book. I did enjoy this, but, as a couple of other reviewers have said, there's not really a whole lot of new information on Crean here. The vast majority of the book covers his participation in three expeditions to the Antarctic with Scott and Shackelton, which is fine, but all of that is available from a vast many other sources; I was really just hoping to learn more about his life before and after Antarctica, I guess, and this book only contains a couple of fairly skimpy chapters about those times in Crean's life.

In addition, I found Smith to be pretty repetitious--it kind of got on my nerves when he said something about Amundsen being the greatest polar explorer EVER three times in about ten pages. The style definitely seemed more casual, and maybe a little too fanboyish at times, than I was comfortable with. Still, Crean certainly was an intriguing and admirable character, and I appreciate the fact that Smith singled him out for a biography.

I just wish he'd been able to find a little more of interest on Crean outside of what his fellow expedition members had written about him. Tom Crean joined Scott's first Polar expedition almost by chance, but went on to become a stalwart of three Antarctic expiditions, two with Scott and one with Shackleton. An Able Seaman on his first expedition, Tom Crean won the admiration of his messmates, officers and scientists on all three trips.

By almost super-human effort he twice rescued companions, earning the undying gratitude of Scott's second in command Teddy Evans. He went on to be a leading member of the crew of Shackleton's epic rescue mission sailing from Antarctica to South Georgia in an open boat and then crossing the interior of South Georgia, a never-before attempted feat.

Tom Crean called himself "the wild man of Borneo" apparently an accurate description, however this loyal, dedicated and unflappable seaman impressed all his comrades and was acknowledged as one of the great men of Antarctic exploration. Michael Smith has written a great story about a truly great man. Chris Cullinane. Arguably the most incredible survival story of all time, Shackleton's infamous Endurance disaster, centered around the criminally overlooked Tom Crean, a true hero of the polar age.

Although building up to the harrowing tale of their doomed ship crushed by the unforgiving Weddell Sea ice, and subsequent fraught journey across the South Atlantic Ocean, this account details Crean's three polar expeditions, and his three increasingly remarkable feats of bravery, rescue and perseverance against immeasurable odds.

It is almost unthinkable the conditions men of early polar exploration endured for months and years on end and Smith's book paints the forgotten Irishman as a rock, unmoveable and steadfast in his loyalty, reliability and strength. We talk of our Shackletons and Amundsens, Scotts and Franklins, but Tom Crean is a name that deserves too to be remembered among giants.

This book documents the adventures of the Irishman Tom Crean across the Antarctic. The author details Tom's childhood in Kerry and his role during World War I before getting into the main part of the book which is his expeditions to the Antarctic. Tom Crean may not be a household name when compared to the likes of Shackelton and Scott. But Tom is a great example of the many men who risked their lives to go to places no men had ever dared to go before.

This book is very well researched and written. This paean to an Irish polar explorer who was on Scott's final expedition and Shackleton's ill-fated one is best appreciated for its photographs and maps. Headline www. A long unrecognised giant of the heroic age of Polar exploration, Tom Crean finally gets the recognition he so richly deserves. This is a Hollywood adventure movie waiting to be made.

What a story! Irish Independent. Jonathan Shackleton cousin of Sir Ernest Shackleton. A ripping yarn…The epic struggles, heroics and the unbelievable hardships of the voyages are wonderfully told. Compulsive reading… Irish Times. This is a moving account of a genuine hero — modest, honest and powerful…timely in an age when we put down our heroes.

Frank Delaney.