An Unsung Hero Audiobook By Michael Smith cover art

An Unsung Hero

Tom Crean – Antarctic Survivor

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

An Unsung Hero

By: Michael Smith
Narrated by: Gerry O'Brien
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.49

Buy for $19.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Tom Crean was the farmer’s son from Kerry who sailed on three major expeditions to the unknown Antarctic over a century ago. He served with both Captain Robert Scott and Sir Ernest Shackleton, spent longer on the ice than either and outlived them both.

But Tom Crean returned to Ireland and never spoke about his exploits, taking his incredible story to the grave – until the publication of An Unsung Hero, which unearthed his story and saw him rightfully placed amongst the annals of the great explorers.

©2009 Michael Smith (P)2021 Bolinda Publishing Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Expeditions & Discoveries Historical World Polar Region Inspiring Explorer

Critic reviews

"Michael Smith has written a splendid biography." (The Nautical Magazine)

"The epic struggles, heroics and the unbelievable hardships of the voyages are wonderfully told." (The Irish Times)

"Wonderful Kiplingesque yarn about a great Irishman who didn't have to die to become a hero." (Irish Independent)
Compelling Storytelling • Unsung Hero Focus • Incredible Adventure Tale • Emotional Journey • Thorough Research
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
Tom Crean is a legendary Irish explorer to Antarctica. Unsung Hero does a good job of telling his story and helping the reader understand the political, environmental and cultural issues that impacted the attempts to explore Antarctica in the early 1900’s.

Well told account of this shy hero

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was excellent. I loved how much detail was shared and provided. Definitely a must read.

Incredibly Engrossing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Liked the storyline, and it was very emotional. Breen was a superlative person who puts others interests above his own. He was a truly laudable person who never sought out fame nor capitalized on it. Hard not to admire an exemplary person who was a team player his whole life. There are multiple reasons to admire this man, He tried to do the right thing and was faithful to that mission. I feel fortunate to have learned about this man’s life, which took place a hundred years ago in a far away place.

The fearless of a hero who truly was unsung and persevered under the mist challenging circumstances!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A moving tale of the Incredible feats of human endurance and comradeship. One of the greatest tales of exploration ever told.

One of Ireland’s and the world’s finest explorers.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wow... I loved the book Endurance, which is phenomenal in it's own way. This takes you to the beginning, of how it all started w. Robert F. Scott and the Golden age of Arctic Exploration. Highly recommend! Crean deserves glory... what a life he lived.

Tom Crean: Modern day Bear Grills

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was captured from the very first. A compelling story with a focus not on Scott, Shackleton, or Amundsen, but on Irishman Tom Crean and his courageous contributions to the Discovery, Terra Nova, and Endurance Antarctic expeditions.

Riveting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great writing and great research on a truly unsung hero. I recommend this book to anyone that likes true adventure stories, which IMHO should be everyone. I rated the performance low because the reading of every measure in both imperial and metric measurements is just brutal to hard to listen to. Very distracting.

Great adventure story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The world needs more Tom Creans. A loyal friend and comrade, capable of seemingly superhuman feats while maintaining his humility and equanimity. This story is beautifully written and wonderfully narrated. I learned much that I did not know about the incredibly arduous trips made by the early adventurers to Antartica. Will I be visiting earth’s nether regions? Probably not in this lifetime. The next stop for me will be the South Pole Inn and surrounds in Kerry. Land Ho! Slainte!!!

Magnificent Man, Unbelievable Adventures

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Liked the reading and this particular lens on such a lovely sounding man. Great life, great story, great audiobook.

Well read, compelling for Shackletonians

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wonderful narrator and refreshingly different from most of the other books about Scott, Shackleton, and others like them. You will love getting to know Tom Crean better, I sure did. Thumbs way up.

Must listen for all polar exploration aficionados

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews