Ranulph Fiennes Audiobooks

One explorer writes another: Shackleton, by the man who crossed Antarctica on foot

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Who is Ranulph Fiennes?

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, born in 1944, is an English explorer and writer who holds several endurance records and a reputation to match: as far back as 1984, Norris McWhirter, founding editor of the Guinness Book of Records, named him the greatest living explorer. He served eight years in the British Army, including counter-insurgency service attached to the Army of the Sultanate of Oman, before the expeditions took over.

The record since reads like a list of things previously assumed impossible: first to reach both the North and South Poles by surface travel, first to cross Antarctica entirely on foot, and, in May 2009 at the age of 65, a successful summit of Everest. Alongside the journeys he has written prolifically – accounts of his army years and his expeditions, together with books on the polar explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton.

Ranulph Fiennes in audiobooks

Our catalogue holds Shackleton, and it is hard to imagine a writer better qualified for the subject: a man who has crossed Antarctica on foot, writing about a giant of polar exploration. Where most authors must imagine the cold, Fiennes has lived in it, and that first-hand authority changes the register of every hardship described.

For UK listeners this is one of the great national stories, and audio suits it: the long marches lengthen, the decisions weigh. What Fiennes brings is expertise without academic distance – exploration judged by a writer who can measure it against his own bootprints. Shackleton is an easy recommendation for history and adventure listeners alike.