A vivid account of Shackleton's second Antarctic voyage 1907-09, the first under his command (his previous and not very satisfactory Antarctic experience was with Scott). The Nimrod expedition, based at Cape Royds, explored the McMurdo Sound region, reached a new furthest south (turning back just 97 miles from their goal) and planted the Union Jack at the South Magnetic Pole. Returning a national hero, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII. Edgeworth David with Douglas Mawson and Alistair Mackay pioneered a new route to the Magnetic South Pole, an extraordinary 1,260-mile trek without the benefit of dogs.  (ANT209, $15.95)