The Books

Michael Smith makes regular public appearances to speak to adult groups and schools about his books and the history of Polar exploration. Those wishing to arrange an event should see the website's contact page.
An Unsung  Hero

Tom Crean
An Unsung Hero

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An Unsung  Hero

Francis Crozier
Icebound in the Arctic

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Great Endeavour

Shackleton
By Endurance We Conquer

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Great Endeavour

Icebound in the Arctic
The Mystery of Captain Francis Crozier and the Franklin Expedition

The book is a significantly updated and expanded version of my earlier biography of Crozier, Last Man Standing which takes account the important new developments leading to the recent discovery of the expedition ships, Erebus and Terror above the Arctic Circle. The extended new edition deals with dramatic events spread over the 170 years since the expedition disappeared in the Arctic ice and what marine archaeologists may recover from the sunken vessels. The book also includes some rare and previously unseen photographs.

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Great Endeavour

Great Endeavour

Great Endeavour
Ireland's Antarctic Explorers

Ireland stands at the heart of the gripping story of Antarctic exploration. Almost every episode of triumph and tragedy and awe-inspiring endurance and unimaginable hardship in the world’s most dangerous territory involves great Irish figures who have left an indelible mark on history through their courage and indomitable will to survive.

This book is the first single volume to salute Ireland’s unique link with Antarctic discovery, spanning 200 years of daring exploits in the frozen wastes. It includes many previously unknown stories and photographs of early explorers and discloses why so many Irish heroes, caught up Ireland’s fight for independence, were soon forgotten.

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An Unsung Hero An Unsung Hero
Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor

Now available in a fresh, new paperback format, this is the story of the remarkable Tom Crean who ran away to sea aged fifteen and played a memorable role in Antarctic exploration. He spent more time in the unexplored Antarctic than Scott or Shackleton, and was one of the few to serve and outlive both. Among the last to see Scott alive only 150 miles from the South Pole, Tom was in the search party that found the frozen body. An unforgettable story of triumph over unparalleled hardship and deprivation does justice to this enigmatic figure.
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An Unsung Hero An Unsung Hero
Tom Crean - Antarctic Survivor

Tom Crean was the unsung hero of the heroic age of Polar exploration, an indestructible character who sailed on three of the four great British expeditions with Captain Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic.
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Tom Crean An Illustrated Life Tom Crean
An Illustrated Life

This pictorial anthology celebrates the adventures of Tom through a series of photographs which chart his life from its earliest days in Ireland, through decades of heroism in the Antarctic and the return to his Irish roots.
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Tom Crean: Iceman Tom Crean
Iceman

This is the awe-inspiring story of Tom Crean written especially for children. It is a saga of  adventure, courage and survival in the Antarctic, the world’s most hostile environment.
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Tom Crean: Iceman Tom Crean:
Fear San Oighear Eachtraí Éireannaigh San Antartach

Irish-language edition of this popular children’s biography. Tom Crean was no ordinary man, and his chilling adventures in the Antarctic raise real goosebumps in this stirring story of survival in extraordinary conditions.
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I Am Just Going Outside I Am Just Going Outside
Captains Oates - Antarctic Tragedy

Lawrence “Titus” Oates was the epitome of the Victorian English gentleman – an aristocratic member of the Landed Gentry, a pupil at Eton and an officer in an elite cavalry regiment.
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Captain Francis Crozier Captain Francis Crozier
Last Man Standing?

Francis Rawdon Moira Crozier was a major figure in the exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic regions during the middle of the 19th century and was a central figure in the three great endeavours of the age – navigating the North West Passage, reaching the North Pole and mapping the unknown Antarctic.
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Shackleton - The Boss Shackleton - The Boss
The Remarkable Adventures of a Heroic Antarctic Explorer

This is the only biography of Sir Ernest Shackleton, the legendary Antarctic explorer, written especially for children. It is an inspiring and extraordinary story of the man whose men called him, The Boss.
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Sir James Wordie Sir James Wordie
Polar Crusader

This is the first full biography of Wordie and is based on previously unpublished papers and diaries, most notably Wordie personal log kept on the Endurance expedition.
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