Hello.

Welcome to another edition of Inside the Cover.

Tonight's book is Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn.

It is now time to go inside the cover.

Nancy Koehn is a business historian at Harvard, and she has been on the faculty there since 2011 when she began as a visiting scholar.

In the introduction to the book, Dr. Koehn writes, This book is about the making of five unforgettable leaders who lived, worked, struggled and triumphed in different circumstances towards different ends.

Four of the five knew during their lifetime that they accomplished their respective mission, but none knew the full power of their influence, influence that continues to reverberate today.

Each of the leaders profiled in this book, Ernest Shackleton, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Rachel Carson were forged in crisis.

Their stories, as told by Koehn, make this an important, wonderful and magnificent book.

Unfortunately, time does not permit a full and detailed discussion about each of these heroic personages and their individual journeys, travails and successes as set forth so beautifully by Dr. Koehn.

So, with due respect for Lincoln, Douglass, Bonhoeffer and Carson, I want to focus on Ernest Shackleton.

Back in March of 2022, I finished.

Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton.

At page 282 Sancton wrote, “The Polaris was said to be among the strongest wooden vessels ever constructed.

Yet in the end, de Gerlache had to back out of the partnership for financial reasons.

Christiansen sold the ship at a loss to the celebrated Anglo Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton, who rechristened her the Endurance in November 1915.

” The Endurance was crushed by the Antarctic pack ice and sank to the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

Knowing that the Endurance had recently been discovered almost two miles below the surface of the icy Antarctic waters gave me chills as I read Sanctons words.

And having seen pictures of the Endurance resting so peaceably and eternally in the water was quite a dramatic and special moment for me.

And this leads me back to Forged in Crisis by Dr. Nancy Koehn.

At page 74, she writes: “What accounts for our contemporary fascination with Shackleton, and how is this phenomenon related to his lasting impact?

Undoubtedly, the story of the Endurance is a gripping narrative set in the harshness of untamed nature.

Equally compelling is the flexibility Shackleton demonstrated as he tried to keep his men alive.

He was willing to pursue any avenue, play any card, use every trick.

He had to get his crew safely home.

With the advantage of historical hindsight.

However, we also know that at times he doubted he could actually achieve his mission.

This is where Shackleton story becomes even more interesting because the Explorer never let his men know their leader was afraid.

A century after the Endurance expedition, we can take important insights from Shackleton's consistent emotional control and how important this was to saving his men.

Amazing stories and amazing people make great books.

And that's why we read.

Traveling back to 1897 or 1915, by means of our senses and our imaginations, books can truly take us on miraculous journeys.

As noted, Ernest Shackleton tried to bring his men home safely.

Lincoln tried to save the union.

Douglass wanted to free black Americans held in slavery.

Bonhoeffer struggled to resist Nazi evil, and Carson spoke out for the critical importance of environmental sustainability.

Koehn notes that this book was ten years in the making.

I suggest to you that those ten years resulted in a wonderful book.

That's our show.

Tonight's book has been Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn.

I recommend it to you with pleasure and purpose.

Thanks for watching and goodnight.