Leadership: Home

South African human rights activist Nelson Mandela is the focus of this full-color biography, which explains to young readers in age-appropriate language Mandela's place in world history.

Chronicles Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi's life, describing his early years in Gujarat, his work for social reform and for India's independence, his assassination, and the influence of Gandhi and nonviolent resistance on others such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

Growing up on a farm in Ireland, Ernest Shackleton longed for a life of travel and excitement. His father wanted him to become a doctor, but Shackelton's sense of adventure led him to a career as a sailor. After years of sailing with the British Merchant Navy, he was asked to join an expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton had found his life's passion. One of the most inhospitable and dangerous places on Earth, Antarctica drew Shackleton south four times. From his childhood dreams of far-off places through his death at the young age of forty-seven, Shackleton's single-minded determination and bravery earned him the respect of his fellow explorers--and a place of honor in history.

In August 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 men sailed from England in an attempt to become the first team of explorers to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. Five months later and still 100 miles from land, their ship, Endurance, became trapped in ice. The expedition survived another five months camping on ice floes, followed by a perilous journey through stormy seas to remote and unvisited Elephant Island. In a dramatic climax to this amazing survival story, Shackleton and five others navigated 800 miles of treacherous open ocean in a 20-foot boat to fetch a rescue ship.