Geographical discovery and exploration Books
Can of Worms Press Mayflower: The Voyage from Hell
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£7.59
Can of Worms Press Darwin's Odyssey: The Voyage of the Beagle
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£7.59
British Library Publishing Pacific
Book SynopsisThis visually stunning publication highlights the importance of an ocean that covers very nearly a third of the surface of the globe, and which has dramatically shaped the world and people around it.
£22.50
Can of Worms Press The Queen's Pirate: Sir Francis Drake and the
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£7.59
Cornerstone Erebus: The Story of a Ship
Book Synopsis_______________THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: the remarkable true story of the exploration ship featured in The Terror In the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, HMS Erebus undertook two of the most ambitious naval expeditions of all time.On the first, she ventured further south than any human had ever been. On the second, she vanished with her 129-strong crew in the wastes of the Canadian Arctic, along with the HMS Terror.Her fate remained a mystery for over 160 years.Then, in 2014, she was found.This is her story._______________Now available: Michael Palin's North Korea Journals_______________A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK'Beyond terrific . . . I didn't want it to end.' Bill Bryson'Illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It's a fascinating story that [Palin] brings full-bloodedly to life.' Guardian 'This is an incredible book . . . The Erebus story is the Arctic epic we've all been waiting for.' Nicholas Crane'Thoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life.' Sunday Times'A great story . . . Told in a very relaxed and sometimes - as you might expect - very funny Palin style.' David Baddiel, Daily Mail'Magisterial . . . Brings energy, wit and humanity to a story that has never ceased to tantalise people since the 1840s.' The TimesTrade ReviewBeyond terrific. I didn’t want it to end. -- Bill BrysonThoroughly absorbs the reader. . . Carefully researched and well-crafted, it brings the story of a ship vividly to life. * Sunday Times *[Palin’s] narrative is driven by a deep sympathy for explorers and adventurers, while also being illuminated by flashes of gentle wit . . . It’s a fascinating story that he brings full-bloodedly to life, stripping away the barnacles of the past to reveal the hidden history of a ship. -- Robert Douglas-Fairhurst * Guardian *Everybody’s talking about it . . . A brilliant book. -- Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2With this irresistible and often harrowing account, Michael Palin makes a convincing case that one heroic little ship embodied the golden ago of polar exploration better than any other: HMS Erebus. -- John Geiger, co-author of Frozen in Time
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The KonTiki Expedition
Book SynopsisThis is the story of how Thor Heyderdahl and five other men crossed the Pacific Ocean on a balsa-wood raft in an extraordinary bid to prove Heyderdahl's theory that the Polynesians undertook the same feat on such a craft over 1000 years ago.
£999.99
Simon & Schuster Ltd Undaunted Courage
Book Synopsis''This was much more than a bunch of guys out on an exploring and collecting expedition. This was a military expedition into hostile territory''. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson selected his personal secretary, Captain Meriwether Lewis, to lead a pioneering voyage across the Great Plains and into the Rockies. It was completely uncharted territory; a wild, vast land ruled by the Indians. Charismatic and brave, Lewis was the perfect choice and he experienced the savage North American continent before any other white man. UNDAUNTED COURAGE is the tale of a hero, but it is also a tragedy. Lewis may have received a hero''s welcome on his return to Washington in 1806, but his discoveries did not match the president''s fantasies of sweeping, fertile plains ripe for the taking. Feeling the expedition had been a failure, Lewis took to drink and piled up debts. Full of colourful characters - Jefferson, the president obsessed with conquering the west; William Clark, the rugged frontiersman; Sa
£9.49
Oxford University Press Journals
Book SynopsisCaptain Scott's own account of his tragic race with Roald Amundsen for the South Pole thrilled the world in 1913. This new edition of his Journals publishes for the first time a complete list of the changes made to Scott's original text before publication.Trade ReviewDefinitive...Max Jones and the publishers are to be congratulated on this new version of a classic story, and for offering it at such a reasonable price. It should be the last word for a very long time. * Polar Record 42 *The mother of all books about walking ..beautiful edition. * Irish Timesn *
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers Robinson Crusoe
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.''It happen''d one Day about Noon going towards my Boat, I was exceedingly surpriz''d with the Print of a Man''s naked Foot on the Shore.''Shipwrecked in a storm at sea, Robinson Crusoe is washed up on a remote and desolate island. As he struggles to piece together a life for himself, Crusoe''s physical, moral and spiritual values are tested to the limit. For 24 years he remains in solitude and learns to tame and master the island, until he finally comes across another human being. Considered a classic literary masterpiece, and frequently interpreted as a comment on the British Imperialist approach at the time, Defoe''s fable was and still is revered as the very first English novel.
£5.62
Atelier Editions Thor Heyerdahl: Voyages of the Sun: The Kon-Tiki
Book SynopsisAn archival delve into the remarkable life, expeditions and voyages of Thor Heyerdahl, author of the bestselling adventure classic The Kon-Tiki Expedition Norwegian archaeologist, anthropologist, migration theorist, author and explorer Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002) spent decades substantiating unorthodox migration theories, with equally unconventional research methodologies: namely, practicable experiments that employed the construction of ancient vessels, driven across open oceans and waterways to retrace the movement and settlements of our ancestors. With October 2022 commemorating the 75th anniversary of Thor Heyerdahl’s extraordinary 1947 voyage upon a balsa-wood raft, Kon-Tiki, from coastal South America to Polynesia across the Pacific Ocean, an enviable opportunity arises to reexplore Heyerdahl’s innovative yet frequently contested theories and expeditions. Afforded unprecedented access to Oslo’s Kon-Tiki Museum’s extensive Heyerdahl archive, Thor Heyerdahl: Voyages of the Sun assembles a wealth of little-known and previously unseen correspondence, expedition logbooks, journals and photographs. Offering readers new and unexamined narratives from an explorer famed for his radical ideas and vehement rejections of abstracted academic theory, Thor Heyerdahl: Voyages of the Sun reviews the enduring relevance of the explorer’s research and assesses it within larger narratives of modern archaeological, anthropological, marine science and migration research; international conservation initiatives; evolving globalization; and essential human–nature symbiosis.
£37.80
Ebury Publishing The Natural Navigator Pocket Guide
Book SynopsisStarting with a simple question - 'Which way am I looking?' - this book blends natural science, myth, folklore and the history of travel to introduce you to the rare and ancient art of finding your way using nature's own sign-posts, from the feel of a rock to the look of the moon.Trade ReviewThe perfect book for getting you started on your own adventure -- Ranulph Fiennes
£15.29
Transworld Publishers Ltd Into Africa
Book SynopsisMartin Dugard is the author of Farther Than Any Man: The rise and fall of Captain James Cook, Knockdown: The harrowing true account of a yacht race turned deadly, and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Survivor: The ultimate game. His writing has appeared in GQ, Sports Illustrated and Esquire. A lifelong adventurer, he completed the Raid Gauloise race and is co-holder of the Around the World speed record. He lives in California.Trade Review'Fresh and vivid...Dugard retells this great story very effectively' * Sunday Express *'Measured and assured. His researches have unearthed considerable material and he has assembled it with care...genuinely gripping, and will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of exploration' * Sunday Telegraph *'Its great strength lies in taking a story you thought you knew well and telling you so many things of which you had no idea' * Daily Mail *'It is one of the most exciting stories in the annals exploration, has one of the most extraordinary denouements, and gave rise to the wonderfully inept line, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" Henry Morton Stanley's 1871 mission to rescue the good doctor in deepest Africa has been told dozens of times before...yet the story is good enough to withstand retelling and Martin Dugard obliges with gusto...Dugard's focus is not the search for the source of the Nile, but the characters and events that led to the famous meeting...he weaves a tight and gripping narrative...and his portrait of 19th-century Africa is vivid and convincing - you can feel the mixture of heart-stirring beauty and soul-stirring horror' * The Sunday Times *'One cracking adventure story...will keep you turning the pages well into the night, I promise you' -- Bill Bryson
£11.69
Orion Publishing Co Exploration Fawcett
Book SynopsisThe life of Colonel Fawcett is now the subject of the major motion picture The Lost City of Z.The disappearance of Colonel Fawcett in the Matto Grosso remains one of the great unsolved mysteries. In 1925, Fawcett was convinced that he had discovered the location of a lost city; he had set out with two companions, one of whom was his eldest son, to destination ''Z'', never to be heard of again. His younger son, Brian Fawcett, has compiled this book from letters and records left by his father, whose last written words to his wife were: ''You need have no fear of any failure . . .'' This is the thrilling and mysterious account of Fawcett''s ten years of travels in deadly jungles and forests in search of a secret city.
£13.49
Hodder & Stoughton The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst
Book Synopsis''A masterpiece.'' New Yorker''Wholly riveting, brilliantly researched.'' Evening Standard''A meticulous investigation into the seeds of disaster... fascinating, uncomfortable reading.'' Sunday Times In 1968, Donald Crowhurst was trying to market a nautical navigation device he had developed, and saw the Sunday Times Golden Globe round the world sailing race as the perfect opportunity to showcase his product. Few people knew that he wasn''t an experienced deep-water sailor. His progress was so slow that he decided to short-cut the journey, while falsifying his location through radio messages from his supposed course.Everyone following the race thought that he was winning, and a hero''s welcome awaited him at home in Britain. But on 10 July 1968, eight months after he set off, his wife was told that his boat had been discovered drifting in mid-Atlantic. Crowhurst was missing, assumed drowned, and there was Trade ReviewA masterpiece. * New Yorker *Wholly riveting, brilliantly researched. -- James Cameron * Evening Standard *A meticulous investigation into the seeds of disaster...fascinating, uncomfortable reading. -- Hammond Innes * Sunday Times *The extraordinary story...for me goes with the essential documents of our time. -- Malcolm Muggeridge * Observer *
£999.99
Ebury Publishing Madhouse at the End of the Earth
Book SynopsisJulian Sancton read History at Harvard, and is a senior features editor at Departures magazine, where he writes about culture and travel. His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, The New Yorker, Wired, and Playboy, among other publications. He grew up in Paris and New York and has reported from every continent, including Antarctica, which he first visited while researching this book.Trade ReviewA "grade-A classic" that's feverishly compelling ... this story has everything * Sunday Times *Exquisitely researched and deeply engrossing * New York Times *Utterly enthralling -- Geoff Dyer * Guardian *An epic of survival. A mixture of chaos and great courage; part Monty Python sketch, part real-life heroics * Michael Palin *The next great contribution to polar literature. A wild tale, so well told and immersively researched * Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of IN THE KINGDOM OF ICE *A brilliant, vivid piece of writing that should be read by all who care about heroism, courage, ingenuity and endurance... it is adventure to the max, and peopled by wonderful characters. As soon as you finish, you want to read it again -- Roger Alton * Daily Mail *The story of the Belgica has been told before, but never so brilliantly. Madhouse at the End of the Earth belongs at the heights of polar literature * The Times *Considering that much of Madhouse at the End of the Earth is about moribundity, Sancton does well to make each page exciting - "murder, suicide, starvation, insanity, icy death and all the acts of the devil" -- Roger Lewis * Telegraph ***** *A riveting true-life horror story ... an obscure but important history transformed by deep research and note-perfect storytelling into a classic thriller * Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of STEVE JOBS and LEONARDO DA VINCI *Artfully constructed, written with evenly-paced poise and with a kind of dread-filled assurance, it grips from first sentence to last * Lawrence Osborne, international bestselling author of THE FORGIVEN *One of the most enthralling-and harrowing-adventure stories in years... An unforgettable tale brilliantly told * Scott Anderson, bestselling author of LAWRENCE IN ARABIA *Has it all: Idealism, ingenuity, ambition, explosives, flimflammery, a colourful cast, a blank map, a three-month-long night, penguins (and medicinal penguin meat). A riveting tale, splendidly told * Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of THE WITCHES and CLEOPATRA *A mesmerizing, unputdownable read... an epic of Antarctic exploration * Nathaniel Philbrick, author of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA and VALIANT AMBITION *[A] riveting history... A rousing, suspenseful adventure tale * Kirkus Reviews *The savage beauty of the antarctic landscape grips. The writing is exacting, compelling and compassionate. * The Literary Review *The energy of the narrative never flags... Mr. Sancton has produced a thriller, and a welcome addition to the polar shelves -- Sara Wheeler * Wall Street Journal *A riveting account...well-researched and enthralling * Publishers Weekly *'A splendid, beautifully written book' -- Owen Matthews * The Spectator *This is an epic of exploration, a brilliantly vivid piece of writing told by a natural storyteller * Daily Mail *Julian Sancton's impressive research and incisive writing style ensures that this lockdown story grips like the pack ice * Yachting Monthly *
£13.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Age of Wonder
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and winner of the Royal Society Prize for Science Books, Richard Holmes’s dazzling portrait of the age of great scientific discovery is a groundbreaking achievement.Trade Review‘Rich and sparkling, this is a wonderful book.’ Claire Tomalin, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Exuberant…Holmes suffuses his book with the joy, hope and wonder of the revolutionary era. Reading it is like a holiday in a sunny landscape, full of fascinating bypaths that lead to unexpected vistas…it succeeds inspiringly.’ John Carey, Sunday Times ‘Thrilling: a portrait of bold adventure among the stars, across the oceans, deep into matter, poetry and the human psyche.’ Peter Forbes, Independent ‘A glorious blend of the scientific and the literary that deserves to carry off armfuls of awards and confirms Holmes's reputation as one on the stellar biographers of the age.’ Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year ‘No question – the non-fiction book of the year is Richard Holmes's “The Age of Wonder”, not only beautifully written, but also kicking open a new perspective on the Romantic age.’ Andrew Marr, Observer, Books of the Year ‘Itself a wonder – a masterpiece of skilful and imaginative storytelling.’ Michael Holroyd, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Dazzling and approachable. It's a brilliantly written account…original in its connections and very generous in its attention.’ Andrew Motion, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘Witty, intellectually dazzling and wholly gripping.’ Richard Mabey, Guardian, Books of the Year ‘So immediate and so beguiling is Holmes's prose that we are with him all the way.’ Sunday Telegraph ‘Brimming with anecdote, Holmes's enthusiastic narrative amply conveys the period's spirited, often reckless pursuit of discovery with an astute balance of technical detail and the wider cultural picture.’ Financial Times
£13.49
McGill-Queen's University Press May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth
Book SynopsisMay We Be Spared to Meet on Earth collects the private correspondence of the officers and sailors who set out in May 1845 on the Erebus and Terror for Sir John Franklin’s fateful Arctic expedition, providing new insights into the personalities of those on board, the voyage’s significance, and the dawning realization that they might never return.Trade Review“Graced with an appropriately light editorial touch, May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a worthy enterprise that will be read and used by a growing cohort of scholars and Franklin sleuths on both sides of the Atlantic.” Shane McCorristine, Newcastle University“May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth provides insight into the hopes and fears of the two crews, linking the officers and men to lives already lived: friendships and family connections of considerable complexity, magnetic and other scientific research, career prospects and reputation, and prospective marriages. Though the subject has inspired media interest around the globe, there is no other collection that assembles this material in a single volume, and the book will attract a wide readership.” Andrew Lambert, King’s College London“This is an exceptional collection of letters, offered complete, with exhaustive endnotes for most, explaining terms, expanding on the subject matter, adding details concerning the sender or receiver and tying letters to other letters in this collection and/or other archives. The opening essay is an excellent synopsis of the present historiography of the Franklin Expedition and the numerous efforts to find them. It details the twists and turns in telling the story from the disappearance up to present day. Touching on historical and fictional accounts the essay reminds the reader of the cultural impact the story of this misadventure has had. May We Be Spared To Meet On Earth, is an essential source for future historians and other writers, exploring the Franklin Expedition.” The Canadian Nautical Research Society 2023 Keith Matthews Prize jury“May We Be Spared to Meet on Earth is a labour of love. For those who are seriously interested in Arctic exploration, it is a must-have.” Canada’s History
£35.10
HarperCollins Publishers Around the World in Eighty Days Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.''Phileas Fogg was one of those mathematically exact people, who, never hurried and always ready, are economical of their steps and their motions. He never made one stride too many, always going by the shortest route. He did not give an idle look. He did not allow himself a superfluous gesture.''When Phileas Fogg wagers a bet that he can travel across the globe in just 80 days, little does he know about the epic journey that he is about to undertake. With his faithful French servant, Passepartout, Phileas Fogg embarks on the adventure of a lifetime, travelling across four continents by whatever means he can train, elephant, steam ship and experiencing endless surprises and mishaps along the way.
£5.62
Little, Brown Book Group Below the Edge of Darkness
Book SynopsisA pioneering marine biologist takes us down into the deep ocean in this ''thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure'' (New York Times)LONGLISTED FOR THE SNHN NATURAL HISTORY BOOK PRIZEEdith Widder grew up determined to become a marine biologist. But after complications from a surgery during college caused her to go temporarily blind, she became fascinated by light as well as the power of optimism. Below the Edge of Darkness explores the depths of the planet''s oceans as Widder seeks to understand bioluminescence, one of the most important and widely used forms of communication in nature. In the process, she reveals hidden worlds and a dazzling menagerie of behaviours and animals. Alongside Widder, we experience life-and-death equipment malfunctions and witness breakthroughs in technology and understanding, all of it set against a growing awareness of the deteriorating health of our largest and least understood ecosyTrade ReviewA thrilling blend of hard science and high adventure * New York Times Book Review *A vivid account of ocean life... Stylish, eloquent -- Robin McKie * Guardian Book of the Day *Edie's story is one of hardscrabble optimism, two-fisted exploration and groundbreaking research. As I've said many times, I'd have wrapped my submersible, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, in bacon if it would have lured the elusive giant squid from the depths. In Below the Edge of Darkness, Edie tells you how she did it -- James CameronTo shed light on a subject is what any scientific book should do. To go into it in depth without losing the reader is a harder task. Edith Widder's subject is light itself - the manufacture of light by strange and eerie denizens of the deep sea - and her scintillating style is worthy of it. This is a book to delight the general reader while simultaneously informing the professional: a book of marvels, marvellously written -- Richard DawkinsMy experience of exploring the deep ocean and its alien life with Edie Widder was fabulous. She enthrals us with many such stories in her book. I recommend it * Ray Dalio *Personal and page-turning, adventurous and awe-inspiring, Below the Edge of Darkness sparkles with the thrill of exploration and glows with an urgent plea for the future of our precious seas. Comparisons to Jacques Cousteau spring to mind, as Edith Widder shares the profound journey of her life -one as unique and important as the unexplored realms of our very own planet -- Juli Berwald, author of Spineless: the Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a BackboneLuminous - the topic, the heroic journey, and the author herself. Dive in with Edith Widder, trail-blazing scientist and explorer, as she reveals the galaxy of light and life in the universe below the surface of the sea, out-shining sceptical male colleagues with dignity, grace and a robust sense of humour -- Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Explorer in Residence; Founder, Mission Blue, Oceanographer
£9.99
HarperCollins Publishers Inc In Search of a Kingdom
Book SynopsisFor Elizabeth, Drake made the impossible real, serving as a crucial and brilliantly adaptable instrument of her ambitions to transform England from a third-rate island kingdom into a global imperial power.In 1580, sailing on Elizabeth’s covert orders, Drake became the first captain to circumnavigate the earth successfully.Trade Review“Fascinating. … Engaging. … Drake’s story is both dramatic and timely. … In Laurence Bergreen’s colorful assessment, an unlikely alliance between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake empowered English Protestants to … stake out the beginnings of the British Empire.” — New York Times Book Review, "Editors' Choice" “A dramatic tale of discovery. ... A comprehensive look at Drake, in all his contradictions. ... A lively and compelling history of a man whose blend of audacity, piety and cruelty changed the world.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Vivid. … Entrancing. ... The accounts of Drake’s circumnavigation and his subsequent naval career are very good indeed. They will surely delight aficionados of imperial history and anyone keen on real-life adventure stories.” — Wall Street Journal "With a keen sense of adventure and a sharp grasp of personalities on sea and land, Bergreen details Drake’s round-the-world adventures as well as political intrigues and mutinous sailors." — Booklist (starred review) “The swashbuckling life and times of the explorer who achieved what Magellan could not—and made England’s fortune in the process. ... Demonstrating his deep knowledge of the era, the author energetically recounts Drake’s action-packed journey. ... Bergreen masterly portrays the principal characters in this drama. … A smooth, dramatic, and well-fleshed world history.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “The great pleasure of In Search of a Kingdom is the revelation of Drake as a man of apparent contradictions that helped rather than hindered his ambitions. Readers in search of a story of how a clergyman’s son gained the support of a queen and helped found the British Empire will not be disappointed.” — Washington Independent Review of Books “Laurence Bergreen’s new book tells the swashbuckling tale of Sir Francis Drake. … Drake’s trip around the globe, which Bergreen describes in great and fascinating detail, was truly a marvel. … The account of Drake’s remarkable trip and Bergreen’s parsing of this complicated character will repay the time of readers who choose to take this 400-page trip.” — American Spectator
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness
Book SynopsisIn 922 AD, an Arab envoy from Baghdad named Ibn Fadlan encountered a party of Viking traders on the upper reaches of the Volga River. In his subsequent report on his mission he gave a meticulous and astonishingly objective description of Viking customs, dress, table manners, religion and sexual practices, as well as the only eyewitness account ever written of a Viking ship cremation.Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, Arab travellers such as Ibn Fadlan journeyed widely and frequently into the far north, crossing territories that now include Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Their fascinating accounts describe how the numerous tribes and peoples they encountered traded furs, paid tribute and waged wars. This accessible new translation offers an illuminating insight into the world of the Arab geographers, and the medieval lands of the far north.Trade ReviewExceptional...a fascinating book, with a nugget of curious information on each page, adding up to a picture that turns preconceptions on their head...Delightful and intriguing * The Scotsman *
£11.69
Yale University Press Nature Shock Getting Lost in America
Book SynopsisAn award-winning environmental historian explores American history through wrenching, tragic, and sometimes humorous stories of getting lostFascinating. . . . Underlying . . . is a deep belief in the importance of collaboration and cooperation between humans and their environments, as well as between humans and other humans.Robert Macfarlane, New York Review of Books The human species has a propensity for getting lost. The American people, inhabiting a mental landscape shaped by their attempts to plant roots and to break free, are no exception. In this engagingbook, environmental historian Jon Coleman bypasses the trailblazers so often described in American history to follow instead the strays and drifters who went missing. From Hernando de Soto's failed quest for riches in the American southeast to the recent trend of getting lost as a therapeutic escape from modernity, this book details a unique history of location and movement as well as the confrontations that occur when our phTrade Review"Fascinating. . . . Underlying . . . is a deep belief in the importance of collaboration and cooperation between humans and their environments, as well as between humans and other humans."—Robert Macfarlane, New York Review of Books “Nature Shock is original, compelling, deeply researched, and expansively written, showcasing Jon Coleman’s signature wit and verve.”—Louis Warren, author of God's Red Son: The Ghost Dance Religion and the Making of Modern America“In an ambitious continental frame extending from the sixteenth century to the present, Nature Shock carries us through the history of getting lost in America. This is an unconventional and deeply compelling history of American empire, nation-making, and identity seen not from the typical centers of power but rather from the unstable edges.”—Samuel Truett, author of Fugitive Landscapes: The Forgotten History of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands“From the wanderings of Spanish explorers to the age of smartphones, Jon Coleman’s Nature Shock artfully explores ‘getting lost’ in America and why it should matter to all of us.”—William Wyckoff, author of How to Read the American West: A Field Guide"No doubt about it, we are a nation of lost souls; in this book for our times, Jon Coleman explains brilliantly how that happened, and its consequences."—Thomas P. Slaughter, author of Exploring Lewis and Clark“In this sweeping work, Jon T. Coleman traces what it has meant to be lost over the centuries, and introduces the remarkable individuals who experienced such wilderness. The result is an illuminating and inspirational rethinking of nature and social connection.”—Louis P. Masur, Rutgers University
£26.12
Orion Publishing Co Lost City of the Incas
Book SynopsisFirst published in the 1950s, this is a classic account of the discovery in 1911 of the lost city of Machu Picchu.In 1911 Hiram Bingham, a pre-historian with a love of exotic destinations, set out to Peru in search of the legendary city of Vilcabamba, capital city of the last Inca ruler, Manco Inca. With a combination of doggedness and good fortune he stumbled on the perfectly preserved ruins of Machu Picchu perched on a cloud-capped ledge 2000 feet above the torrent of the Urubamba River. The buildings were of white granite, exquisitely carved blocks each higher than a man. Bingham had not, as it turned out, found Vilcabamba, but he had nevertheless made an astonishing and memorable discovery, which he describes in his bestselling book LOST CITY OF THE INCAS.
£10.44
The Natural History Museum Voyages of Discovery
Book SynopsisVoyages of Discovery is a mesmerising visual record of ten of the world’s most significant natural history expeditions.Trade Review'It's difficult to resist attacking this book with a pair of scissors. Not because it's bad – far from it – but because so many of the illustrations whisper 'Cut me out and stick me on the wall over the mantelpiece.'' Royal Geographical Society 'Nature lovers should enjoy Voyages of Discovery with hundreds of naturalist drawings.' USA Today
£17.00
Ebury Publishing True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the
Book SynopsisIn March 1971, Terence McKenna, his brother Dennis and a small gypsy-like band of friends set off for the Colombian Amazonas. Along the surreal way, they encounter a cast of remarkable characters - including a mushroom, a flying saucer, pirates from outer space, and James Joyce in the guise of poultry.One result of their adventures was McKenna's theory that psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in the stropharia cubensis mushroom, is the missing link in the development of human consciousness and languaTrade ReviewA rollicking intellectual adventure yarn of the highest order. . . -- Tony Stevens, author of STORMING HEAVEN: LSD AND THE AMERICAN DREAMTruly amazing -- THE VILLAGE VOICE
£16.14
Hodder & Stoughton Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know: Updated and
Book Synopsis'Always the leader and always the best' Bear Grylls 'Fiennes has so much to fit in, it's a wonder to grasp the full breadth of a lifetime of adventuring' - Compass Magazine'Even readers with a broadly low tolerance for macho heroism will find themselves gripped . . . compelling' - Time OutSir Ranulph Fiennes has travelled to the most dangerous and inaccessible places on Earth, almost died countless times, lost nearly half his fingers to frostbite, raised millions of pounds for charity and been awarded a polar medal and an OBE. He has been an elite soldier, an athlete, a mountaineer, an explorer, a bestselling author and nearly replaced Sean Connery as James Bond.In his bestselling autobiography, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, he describes how he led expeditions all over the world and became the first person to travel to both Poles on land. He tells of how he discovered the lost city of Ubar in Oman and attempted to walk solo and unsupported to the North Pole - the expedition that cost him several fingers, and very nearly his life.And now the extraordinary life story of the world's greatest living explorer is re-published to celebrate his 75th birthday, with two new chapters to bring his story up to date - telling of more mountains climbed, including his ascent to the top of Mount Everest, and even more extraordinary and risky adventures.Trade ReviewRip-roaringly readable * Guardian *Even readers with a broadly low tolerance for macho heroism will find themselves gripped . . . compelling * Time Out *It's exhausting just reading about his exploits, so it is a perfect bedtime book. It's delightful to plump up one's duck-down pillows while vicariously enduring Fiennes's successive plunges into the deadly waters of the Artcic, and his festering crotch-rot. * Helena Drysdale, New Statesman Books of the Year *It is lively and vivid, and often exciting as we anticipate each plunge into deadly Arctic waters. There are some wonderful throwaway lines . . . So, not an alien species after all but - as they say - a national treasure. * Spectator *enthralling * Independent *
£9.74
Penguin Books Ltd The Moth and the Mountain
Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH BEST SPORTS WRITING AWARD 2021SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD 2021''One of the best books ever written about the early attempts to conquer Everest. A fine, fine slice of history by a truly special writer who proves time and time again that he is among the best of his generation'' Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets''A small classic of the biographer''s art'' Sunday TimesIn the 1930s, as official government expeditions set their sights on conquering Everest, a little-known World War I veteran named Maurice Wilson conceived his own crazy, beautiful plan: he would fly a Gipsy Moth aeroplane from England to Everest, crash land on its lower slopes, then become the first person to reach its summit - all utterly alone. Wilson didn''t know how to climb. He barely knew how to fly. But he had pluck, daring and a vision - he wanted to be the first man to stand on top of the wTrade Review'Ed Caesar has written a slim, ravishing chronicle that is absolutely bursting with life - doomed romance, the dread of the battlefield, the lure of adventure, hair-raising tales of amateur aviation, and, above all, the beauty and madness of the quest to ascend Earth's tallest summit. Maurice Wilson is as rich and full of surprise and contradiction as a character in a novel, and through painstaking historical research, Caesar brings his hero back to vivid life in all his messy, inspiring, ultimately tragic glory. A major feat of reporting and elegant storytelling' -- Patrick Radden Keefe, author of the Orwell Prize-winning Say Nothing'The Moth and the Mountain is gripping and exquisite. A mad, magnificent, and moving tale' -- Philippe Sands, author of East West Street'Maurice Wilson was an amazing human being. Passionate, heroic, hilariously deluded, inspired, brave to the point of lunacy, determined, war damaged, lovelorn and gloriously unhinged. The Moth and the Mountain is a wonderful, elegiac account of an extraordinary life written with a wry, compassionate humour. It is clear that Ed Caesar loves his hero. I think I do too' -- Joe Simpson, author of Touching the Void'The adventurer Maurice Wilson was a forgotten figure until Ed Caesar's brilliantly written book restored him to his rightful place in the annals of exploration... Caesar's book received enormous praise on publication last year and rightly so. This splendid tale is every bit as exciting as any adventure novel and deeply moving' -- Alex Larman * Observer *'This bonkers ripping yarn of derring-don't is a hell of a ride ... scrupulously researched ... Maurice Wilson was a one-off, quite outside the ordinary run of people, and The Moth and the Mountain is a "sorry, beautiful, melancholy, crazy" tribute to a man who, like a leaf in autumn, burnt brightest just before he fell' -- John Self * The Times *'An urgent and humane story that invites not mockery of a madman, but pity and admiration. A small classic of the biographer's art' -- James McConnachie * The Sunday Times *'Caesar is a journalist with a novelist's eye for character ... Wilson's story is bonkers, but also beautiful. The profile Caesar builds is compelling, colourful and warm - of a complex, contradictory man with admirable self-belief and a healthy disregard for class boundaries and national borders' (Book of the Week) -- Sam Wollaston * Guardian *'A riveting tale of trauma, spiritual awakening and postwar derring-do ... a gem of a book ... meticulously researched' (Book of the Week) * Observer *'An outstanding book . . . The Moth and the Mountain returns readers to a romantic era when Everest was terra nova rather than an experience to be bought . . . the author, a contributing writer for the New Yorker, is a talented storyteller with a flair for detail. . . Wilson's story is an entry less in the annals of mountaineering than in the Book of Life. That such an extraordinary person even existed is cause for celebration' * Wall Street Journal *'A wonderful adventure story, beautifully told. Based on years of painstaking archival research, Ed Caesar's The Moth and the Mountain brings us a modern-day myth with a beguiling, impossible hero from a vanished era of empire, one man on an epic quest that is by turns gripping and heartbreaking' -- Adam Higginbotham, author of Midnight in Chernobyl'The Moth and the Mountain is a gripping story of heroism, adventure, madness and thwarted love, told with extraordinary empathy and intelligence. Ed Caesar is a writer of rare style and depth, and he has written a great and moving work of non-fiction' -- Mark O'Connell, Wellcome Book Prize-winning author of To Be a Machine and Notes from an Apocalypse'In the 1930s, an Englishman, Maurice Wilson - a traumatized veteran of the Great War - decided he would fly to Mount Everest, crash-land on the slopes and climb to the summit alone. (Never mind that he was a novice pilot and had never climbed a mountain.) It's not a spoiler to say that things didn't go well, but Caesar puts the man, and his quest, in historical context' -- New York Times, 'New Books to Watch Out For''An engrossing biography ... credit to Caesar for rescuing such a splendid tale of an engaging maverick from the footnotes of Everest history. * Spectator *'Praise is due to Ed Caesar for managing to tell this tale so well, because the sheer madness of Wilson's life would surely have thrown off all but the most sure-footed biographer. Caesar sets about it with fantastic energy and makes use of a marvellous collage of letters, diary entries, poetry, telegrams, interviews and archival iced gems. He is to be applauded for giving romantic, adamantine, lion-hearted Maurice Wilson his overdue day in the sun' -- Dan Richards * Literary Review *'Why climb the world's highest mountain? For King and Country; for the glory of God; because it is there. Or, as for Maurice Wilson, because of an unhappy love affair, a wartime trauma, and a longing to get away from a life whose values are measured at the cash register. In Ed Caesar's telling, the hapless, defiant Wilson becomes an unexpected hero - an unforgettable inspiration for anyone who chafes at the limits of ordinary life' -- Benjamin Moser. Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sontag'Gripping at every turn ... it's impossible not to root for Wilson' * Outside *'Engagingly depicts Wilson and his times in ebullient and well-written prose ... a widely appealing and affecting character study, microhistory, story of love and loss, and inquiry into some surprising effects of trauma and personal tragedy' * Booklist *'Riveting... Caesar's biographical tale of Wilson rightly restores a footnoted figure of alpine history to the storied peaks of Mount Everest, where his body lays still today' * InsideHook *
£10.44
Transworld Publishers Ltd 1421
Book SynopsisOn 8 March 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen set sail from China. The ships, some nearly five hundred feet long, were under the command of Emperor Zhu Di''s loyal eunuch admirals. Their mission was ''to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas'' and unite the world in Confucian harmony. Their journey would last for over two years and take them around the globe but by the time they returned home, China was beginning its long, self-imposed isolation from the world it had so recently embraced. And so the great ships were left to rot and the records of their journey were destroyed. And with them, the knowledge that the Chinese had circumnavigated the globe a century before Magellan, reached America seventy years before Columbus, and Australia three hundred and fifty years before Cook...The result of fifteen years research, 1421 is Gavin Menzies'' enthralling account of the voyage of the Chinese fleet, the reTrade ReviewMenzies has come up with something entirely new... it is a startling claim * Guardian *Exhaustively researched... an intriguing and highly persuasive thesis, told with passion and energy * Evening Standard *Popular history at its best * The Times *A book as engrossing as any adventure story * Daily Mail *
£11.69
Guernica Editions,Canada Seeker Volume 19: A Sea Odyssey
Book SynopsisSeeker: A Sea Odyssey is the story of two people who meet in Mexico and fall in love. Rita is an American part-time English language teacher and freelance reporter for an English language tourist magazine struggling to raise two young boys on her own. Bernard is a French geologist under contract to the Mexican government to search for underground thermal springs. She dreams of finding Shangri-la after witnessing a bloody government crackdown from which she barely escapes. He dreams of having a yacht and sailing the world. Their dreams mesh, and they immigrate to Canada to earn the money to build their boat.
£16.46
HarperCollins Publishers Sea People In Search of the Ancient Navigators of
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for nonfiction and the 2019 NSW Premier''s History Awards for general historyWonderfully researched and beautifully written' Philip Hoare, author of LeviathanSucceeds in conjuring a lost world' Dava Sobel, author ofLongitudeFor more than a millennium, Polynesians have occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, a vast triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Until the arrival of European explorers they were the only people to have ever lived there. Both the most closely related and the most widely dispersed people in the world before the era of mass migration, Polynesians can trace their roots to a group of epic voyagers who ventured out into the unknown in one of the greatest adventures in human history.How did the earliest Polynesians find and colonise these far-flung islands? How did a people without writing or metal tools conquer the largest ocean in the world? This conundrum, which came tTrade Review‘I loved this book. I found Sea People the most intelligent, empathic, engaging, wide-ranging, informative, and authoritative treatment of Polynesian mysteries that I have ever read. Christina Thompson’s gorgeous writing arises from a deep well of research and succeeds in conjuring a lost world’ Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and The Glass Universe ‘To those of the western hemisphere, the Pacific represents a vast unknown, almost beyond our imagining; for its Polynesian island peoples, this fluid, shifting place is home. Christina Thompson’s wonderfully researched and beautifully written narrative brings these two stories together, gloriously and excitingly. Filled with teeming grace and terrible power, her book is a vibrant and revealing new account of the watery part of our world’ Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan ‘A compelling story, beautifully told, the best exploration narrative I’ve read in years’ Richard Rhodes, author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb ‘Fascinating and satisfying’ Simon Winchester, author of The Map that Changed the World ‘Essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Polynesia, the Pacific, or the spread of humanity around the globe’ Jack Weatherford, author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World ‘Christina Thompson…is perhaps ideally placed to try to answer the question [of Polynesian origins] – and in Sea People, her fascinating and satisfying addition to an already considerable body of Polynesian literature, she succeeds admirably’ New York Times Book Review ‘Compelling… These pages will unleash the imagination [and] spark insight’ National Geographic ‘Superb. . . . An illuminating read for amateur sleuths and professional scholars alike’ Spectator
£11.69
HarperCollins Publishers Youre the Captain
Book SynopsisThe first ever puzzle book from Flightradar24
£15.29
Little, Brown Book Group Scott And Amundsen
Book SynopsisAt the beginning of the twentieth century, the South Pole was the most coveted prize in the fiercely nationalistic modern age of exploration. In the brilliant dual biography, the award-winning writer Roland Huntford re-examines every detail of the great race to the South Pole between Britain''s Robert Scott and Norway''s Roald Amundsen. Scott, who dies along with four of his men only eleven miles from his next cache of supplies, became Britain''s beloved failure, while Amundsen, who not only beat Scott to the Pole but returned alive, was largely forgotten. This account of their race is a gripping, highly readable history that captures the driving ambitions of the era and the complex, often deeply flawed men who were charged with carrying them out.THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH is the first of Huntford''s masterly trilogy of polar biographies. It is also the only work on the subject in the English language based on the original Norwegian sources, to which Huntford returned to revise
£15.29
Simon & Schuster Ltd To the Ends of the Earth
Book SynopsisRanulph Fiennes has entered the public imagination as the intrepid explorer par excellance. Taunted by his wife over the challenge of the never-before attempted circumpolar navigation of the globe, he set off in 1979 on a gruelling 52,000 mile adventure. Together with fellow members of 21 SAS regiment, Fiennes left from Greenwich, travelling over land, passing through both ends of the polar axis. Completed over three years later, it was the first circumpolar navigation of the globe, and justifiably entered Fiennes into the record books. TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH is the record of that journey. It captures the natural beauty of the landscapes they passed through, and the cameraderie that necessarily grows between men who had served in the British forces'' elite regiment and were now throwing themselves into danger of a different sort. Time and again, the expedition found themselves in life-threatening situations, weaving through the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean or sharing a single
£11.69
Baraka Books A Peoples History of Quebec
Book SynopsisRevealing a little-known part of North American history, this lively guide tells the fascinating tale of the settlement of the St. Lawrence Valley. It also tells of the Montreal and Quebec-based explorers and traders who travelled, mapped, and inhabited a very large part of North America, and ""embrothered the peoples"" they met, as Jack Kerouac wrote.Trade ReviewA concise history of Quebec, from the earliest days of colonization to the aftermath of the most recent sovereignty referendum, rendered in an easily read 200 pages. As fascinating as the march of great figures and the mapping of landmark events are the details of how they affected the ordinary life of their times." —Montreal Gazette"At a trim 208 pages (including a tidy timeline of Quebec history and a useful index) and in a soft cover, it's the kind of book that's easy to carry on a trip and easy to bring to bed. It's also a good read which offers lots of room for reflection." —Quebec Heritage News"[This] is both an excellent history book to refresh the reader’s memory and a rich introduction to a people who were told they had no history. A great read." —Hélène De Billy, journalist
£17.95
Gibson Square Books Ltd The First Crossing Of Greenland: The Daring
Book SynopsisBefore Fridtjof Nansen's Greenland expedition of 1888, the vast impenetrable arctic regions exasperated nineteenth-century scientists. The twenty-six-year-old thought he knew better. Convinced that he would succeed by skiing, a sport practically unknown at the time, he put together a group of only six members to cross the arctic interior of Greenland for the first time. They would pull their own sledges and, on a shoe-string, arrange transport to Greenland on two steam liners to drop them off in the icy Arctic sea. They could only afford a basic camera to document their trip. Astonishingly, this audacious but much criticised plan succeeded! Nansen's riveting expedition classic including his diary entries are here republished for the first time in full. His words and captivating expedition photographs caught with a student camera set in motion a golden age of exploration.Trade Review'Nansen was the last of the Nordic gods... Tall, blond, and ridiculously handsome... The First Crossing Of Greenland is a... thrilling account of his earliest adventure... It was a hideous journey... Hair froze fast to headgear, beards solidified so that the lips could not be opened to speak... Polar exploration tends to attract more testosterone than talent... One man towers over the other ice-encrusted sledgers: Fridtjof Nansen, colossus of the glaciers... Of all the frozen beards... only Nansen communicated a sense of the true subjugation of the ego that endeavour can bring. Failure, he acknowledged, would mean "only disappointed human hopes, nothing more".' Sara Wheeler, Guardian; 'Seminal... demythologised the polar environment and revolutionised modern polar travel with the introduction of skis.' Roland Huntford, The Times; 'Nansen defied that conventional wisdom, which dictated explorers proceed from the known to the unknown to maintain a line of retreat, by sailing first to the largely uncharted eastern coast of Greenland.' Times Higher Education; 'The visionary Norse explorer.' Jon KrakauerTable of ContentsMap of Greenland 12 Introduction 13 1. The Equipment 26 2. Skis and Skiing 46 3. Voyage to Iceland 54 4. Cruising the Ice 60 5. Point of No Return 70 6. Danger 76 7. Adrift 87 8. Land in Sight, at Last 101 9. Cape Bille 116 10 An Icy Greenland Idyll 134 11. Rapid Progress 148 12. Glaciers and “Nunataks” 163 13. The Conquest of the Inland Ice 174 14. 7930 Feet above Sea Level 190 15. Snowstorms of the Interior 205 16. Shipwreck on the Icy Plains 216 17. Water, but no Land 226 18. Rocks and Land 236 19. Splitting Up 247 20. A Change in Fortune 253 21. Ny Herrnhut 261 22. Civilisation 270 23. Winter Quarters 275 24. The Hvidbjörnen 282
£14.99
HarperCollins Publishers Planting the World
Book SynopsisBased on meticulous research in original sources Goodman illustrates vividly how adept [Banks] was Shining a light on individuals whose achievements are relatively uncelebrated'Jenny Uglow, New York Review of BooksA bold new history of how botany and global plant collecting centred at Kew Gardens and driven by Joseph Banks transformed the earth.Botany was the darling and the powerhouse of the eighteenth century. As European ships ventured across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, discovery bloomed. Bounties of new plants were brought back, and their arrival meant much more than improved flowerbeds it offered a new scientific frontier that would transform Europe's industry, medicine, eating and drinking habits, and even fashion.Joseph Banks was the dynamo for this momentous change. As botanist for James Cook's great voyage to the South Pacific on the Endeavour, Banks collected plants on a vast scale, armed with the vision as a child of the Enlightenment that to travel physically was to advance intellectually. His thinking was as intrepid as Cook's seafaring: he commissioned radically influential and physically daring expeditions such as those of Francis Masson to the Cape Colony, George Staunton to China, George Caley to Australia, William Bligh to Tahiti and Jamaica, among many others.Jordan Goodman's epic history follows these high seas adventurers and their influence in Europe, as well as taking us back to the early years of Kew Gardens, which Banks developed devotedly across the course of his life, transforming it into one of the world's largest and most diverse botanical gardens.In a rip-roaring global expedition, based on original sources in many languages, Goodman gives a momentous history of how the discoveries made by Banks and his collectors advanced scientific understanding around the world.Trade Review PRAISE FOR PLANTING THE WORLD ‘Goodman turns his attention to the “adventurous history” of the botanists, naturalists, gardeners, and ship captains who carried out his vicarious plant-hunting across the world, shining a light on individuals whose achievements are relatively uncelebrated. The book is particularly strong on the minutiae of planning, negotiating, and financing these ventures, and on the disasters that so often beset them … For each expedition, Goodman builds up a picture based on meticulous research in original sources … Goodman illustrates vividly how adept [Banks] was, all through his career, at piggybacking on different government, diplomatic, and mercantile ventures … Planting the World tracks Banks’s projects in detail and illustrates dramatically how difficult it was to move plants around the world’Jenny Uglow, New York Review of Books ‘A brilliant and authoritative insight into the global reach of Joseph Banks, one of the great figures of the Enlightenment, through the lives of the intrepid botanists, gardeners, and nurserymen whose explorations and adventures made it all possible’Peter Crane 'The story of 18th century European botanists, their ships and voyages, united by the mind and extraordinary energy of Joseph Banks as he developed both the science and gardens of England. It is a marvellous history packed with naval explorations, plant collecting, and the role of individuals in making Britain a major centre for global botany'Janet Browne
£10.44
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Himalaya
Book Synopsis''John Keay is the master storyteller and historian. This grand narrative of Himalaya is as epic as the mountains and peoples he describes'' Dan Snow''Adds the human element to the hard rock. And what a rich vein it is'' Michael PalinHistory has not been kind to Himalaya. Empires have collided here, cultures have clashed. Buddhist India claimed it from the south, Islam put down roots in its western approaches, Mongols and Manchus rode in from the north, and, from the east, China continues to absorb what it prefers not to call Tibet. Hunters have decimated its wildlife and mountaineers have bagged its peaks. Today, machinery gouges minerals out of its rock.Roughly the size of Europe, the region is one of the most seismically active on the planet. Summers bring avalanches, rainfall triggers landslides and winters obliterate trails. Glaciers retreat, rivers change course and whole lakes quietly evaporate.To some, Himalaya is an otherworldly realm, profoundly life-chanTrade ReviewWonderful … In prose that feels as effortless as it is entertaining, Keay paints a fascinating picture of this magical region, covering everything from geology, glaciers, tectonic plates and botany to the spiritual and religious evolutions of humans -- C P W Gammell * Literary Review *There cannot be any current anglophone writer more knowledgeable about the region. -- Jonathan Buckley * Times Literary Supplement *Adds the human element to the hard rock. And what a rich vein it is -- Michael PalinExcellent -- Michael Dirda * The Washington Post *John Keay is the master storyteller and historian. This grand narrative of Himalaya is as epic as the mountains and peoples he describes -- Dan SnowFrom palaeontology to mysticism, from the East India Company to mountaineers, this is dazzlingly wide-ranging, brilliantly researched and elegantly told -- Ranulph FiennesThe guru of modern writers on Himalaya. Here, after a lifetime’s travel and reflection, is the story of the most important region on earth -- Michael WoodA dazzling collision of storytelling and scholarship, and the culmination of a lifetime’s research and experience, this is surely John Keay’s masterwork. He tackles the epic subject of the entire Himalayan region, through human history, and brings to it his own distinctive style – at once authoritative and colourful, stirring and droll, ambitious yet humble. A compelling portrait of a uniquely vulnerable region -- James McConnachieLet John Keay be your guide: he has decades of first-hand experience in the region, he wears his extensive learning lightly and he is a magnificent storyteller -- Chris BoningtonJohn Keay’s stunning book is meticulously researched and a gripping read. It lays out the long-standing allure of Himalaya, from the geographical and environmental to the archaeological and cultural. -- Kavita PuriA compendium of centuries of outsiders’ quests for scientific understanding of every aspect of the Himalayas — from its geology, topography and natural history to questions of anthropology and social history. No potential angle is left unexplored -- Amy Kazmin * Financial Times *The term ‘tour de force’ doesn’t do Keay's Himalaya justice. A beautiful work by one of the world’s foremost historians, the book is meticulously researched and written with Keay's particular flair. Comparable in its page-turning addiction to a fictional thriller, this will go down as a seminal work on the Himalaya. -- Kenton CoolPoetically written ... A wonderfully digressive read, with rich portraits and stories of those who made their careers and fame from Himalaya -- Maximillian Morch * Asian Review of Books *A wonderful book about an extraordinary place ... Keay's undertaking in print is as vast in its scope as the area it seeks to enclose between the covers of this single, handsomely illustrated volume ... Truly a place of wonder, wonderfully caught -- Peter Stanford * Church Times *A book that is meant to be savoured, not to be conquered. Enjoy the ride -- Mandira Nayar * The Week, India *The appropriate crown for John Keay’s writing on Asia. His study of the Himalaya marks the grand finale to his prodigious twin histories of India and China. Roll over Edward Gibbon. The powerful reimagining of the Himalaya from the structural perspective adds to the mountaineering and mythological lore, while the magisterial style is lightened by marvellous one liners… One of the best and easily the most informed books on the Himalaya -- Bill Aitken, author of Seven Sacred Rivers
£11.69
Phaidon Press Ltd Map: Exploring The World
Book SynopsisA compelling exploration of the ways that humans have mapped the world throughout history Map, Exploring the World brings together more than 250 fascinating examples of maps from the birth of cartography to today's cutting-edge digital maps and reflects the many reasons people make maps - to find their way, to assert ownership, to encourage settlement, or to show political power. Carefully chosen by an international panel of experts and arranged to highlight thought-provoking contrasts and similarities, it features maps by the greatest names in cartography and lesser-known creators, as well as rare maps from indigenous cultures around the world.Trade Review"A book showcasing exquisite drawings both ancient and modern captures our evergreen relationship with mapping the world."—Air Mail
£22.46
Ebury Publishing True Hallucinations: A Psychedelic Adventure
Book Synopsis'The single most influential spokesperson for organic psychedelics' The Independent With a new foreword from Dennis McKenna.From renowned ethnobotanist and psychonaut Terence McKenna comes this surreally mind-bending adventure into the depths of the human experience.True Hallucinations is a mesmerising odyssey of McKenna's travels in the Amazon with a band of friends during the 1970s. From mushrooms and flying saucers to pirates and James Joyce, McKenna uncovers the limitless potential of organic psychedelics to open our minds, bodies and spirits to higher states of being.Trade ReviewOne of the five or six most important people on the planet * Timothy Leary *It would be hard to find a drug narrative more compellingly perched on a baroquely romantic limb than this passionate Tom-and-Huck-ride-Great-Mother-river-saga of brother bonding ... Terence is a hoot * Esquire *
£13.49
Reardon Publishing The Polar Book: British Polar Exhibition 1930
Book SynopsisThe Polar Book created as a facsimile of a now very scarce publication for the British Polar Exhibition of 1930 that celebrated the history of Polar discoveries and expeditions of the day. This is the first edition as a case bound hardback, complete with two coloured maps designed by John Bartholomew. This book celebrates Polar discoveries and expeditions, with chapters on the history of Polar discoveries, geophysics, geology, flora and fauna along with equipment needed and used at the time. Contributors: G T Atkinson and H R Mil. The Foreword is by L.C. Bernacchi.
£33.25
Double 9 Booksllp The Oregon Trail
Book Synopsis
£16.79
Swift Press River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal
Book SynopsisThis complex, compelling tale is told with simplicity and grace'' - The TimesA story of courage and adventure, set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers.For millennia the location of the Nile River''s headwaters was shrouded in mystery. In the mid-19th century, Richard Burton and John Hanning Speke were sent by the Royal Geographical Society to claim the prize for Britain. Burton spoke twenty-nine languages, and was a decorated soldier. He was also mercurial, subtle, and an iconoclastic atheist. Speke was a young aristocrat and Army officer determined to make his mark, Burton's opposite in temperament and beliefs.From the start the two men clashed. They would endure tremendous hardship, illness, and constant setbacks. Two years in, deep in the African interior, Burton became too sick to press on, but Speke did, and claimed he found the source in a great lake that he christened Lake Victoria. When they returned to England, the two became sworn enemies.Yet there was a third man on both expeditions, his name obscured by imperial annals, whose exploits were even more extraordinary. This was Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who was enslaved and shipped from his home village in East Africa to India. When the man who purchased him died, he made his way into the local Sultan's army, and eventually travelled back to Africa, where he used his resourcefulness, linguistic prowess and raw courage to forge a living as a guide. Without Bombay and men like him, who led, carried, and protected the expedition, neither Englishman would have come close to the headwaters of the Nile, or perhaps even survived.
£11.69
Little, Brown & Company Born to Be Hanged
Book SynopsisDiscover the fascinating and outrageously readable account of the roguish acts of the first pirates to raid the Pacific in a crusade that ended in a sensational trial back in England-perfect for readers of Nathaniel Philbrick and David McCullough (Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lost City of the Monkey God)The year is 1680, in the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, and more than three hundred daring, hardened pirates-a potent mix of low-life scallywags and a rare breed of gentlemen buccaneers-gather on a remote Caribbean island. The plan: to wreak havoc on the Pacific coastline, raiding cities, mines, and merchant ships. The booty: the bright gleam of Spanish gold and the chance to become legends. So begins one of the greatest piratical adventures of the era-a story not given its full due until now.Inspired by the intrepid forays of pirate turned Jamaican governor Captain Henry Morgan-yes, that Captain Morgan-the company crosses Panama on foot, slashing its way through the Darien Isthmus, one of the thickest jungles on the planet, and liberating a native princess along the way. After reaching the South Sea, the buccaneers, primarily Englishmen, plunder the Spanish Main in a series of historic assaults, often prevailing against staggering odds and superior firepower. A collective shudder racks the western coastline of South America as the English pirates, waging a kind of proxy war against the Spaniards, gleefully undertake a brief reign over Pacific waters, marauding up and down the continent.With novelistic prose and a rip-roaring sense of adventure, Keith Thomson guides us through the pirates'' legendary two-year odyssey. We witness the buccaneers evading Indigenous tribes, Spanish conquistadors, and sometimes even their own English countrymen, all with the ever-present threat of the gallows for anyone captured. By fusing contemporaneous accounts with intensive research and previously unknown primary sources, Born to Be Hanged offers a rollicking account of one of the most astonishing pirate expeditions of all time.
£17.09
Faber & Faber Jeal T Explorers of the Nile
Book SynopsisBetween 1856 and 1876, five explorers, all British, took on the seemingly impossible task of discovering the source of the White Nile. Showing exceptional courage and extraordinary resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, Samuel Baker, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and their reputations in the name of this quest. They journeyed through East and Central Africa into unmapped territory, discovered the great lakes Tanganyika and Victoria, navigated the upper Nile and the Congo, and suffered the ravages of flesh-eating ulcers, malaria and deep spear wounds. Using new research, Tim Jeal tells the story of these great expeditions, while also examining the tragic consequences which the Nile search has had on Uganda and Sudan to this day.Explorers of the Nile is a gripping adventure story with an arresting analysis of Britain''s imperial past and the Scramble for Africa.
£11.69
W. W. Norton & Company Palace of Deception
£24.00
Orion Publishing Co Exploring the World
Book SynopsisExplorers and travellers have always been attracted by the lure of the unknown. By traversing and mapping our planet, they have played a vital role in mankind''s development. For almost two hundred years, the Royal Geographical Society has recognised their achievements by awarding its prestigious gold medals to those who have contributed most to our knowledge of the world.Taking us on a journey across mountains and deserts, oceans and seas, Exploring the World tells the stories of more than eighty of these extraordinary men and women. Some, such as David Livingstone, Scott of the Antarctic and Jacques-Yves Cousteau, are well known; whilst others, such as William Chandless and Ney Elias, are today less familiar. Some dreamed of being the first to sight a lake or a river; others sighted some of the world''s greatest natural features by chance. Some were naturalists, anthropologists or mountaineers; others went in search of explorers who had vanished without trace, or haTrade ReviewNearly all of the men and women covered are worthy of a book in their own right, and many of the big names are here: Richard Burton, David Livingstone, Colonel Percy Fawcett, Alfred Russel Wallace, Eric Shipton, Gertrude Bell and Dame Freya Stark. What emerges as the tales layer up is the inspiring singularity of so many of these intrepid individuals. They aren't all high-achieving head girl/boy types, but instead come across as often unconventional and intractable, occasionally irrational, but nearly always resolute, even in their aberrance * GEOGRAPHICAL *Bristling with heroic tales of indomitable characters forcing their way in impossible circumstances through forests, over mountains and across deserts in search of a better understanding of this world . . . as a busy person's eyebrow-raising page-turner, this book is hard to beat * COUNTRY LIFE *A model biography of the explorer . . . Maitland has separated reality from legend . . . Meticulous research is illuminated by Maitland's evocations of Thesiger's affinity with a world characterised by desert romance * Sunday Telegraph on WILFRED THESIGER *A worthy testament to an exceptional life * Independent on Sunday on WILFRED THESIGER *Masterly * The Times on WILFRED THESIGER *Thesiger was compared to the greatest travellers of the Victorian age . . . Maitland captures that strange attractiveness, his undoubted love and understanding of a now-vanished world * Financial Times on WILFRED THESIGER *This thorough biography will be fascinating to Thesiger aficionados * Mail on Sunday on WILFRED THESIGER *Maitland has done justice to an extraordinary subject * Scotsman on WILFRED THESIGER *In this important biography of one of England's great legendary figures, Wilfred Thesiger's life and works are analysed in minute detail . . . it reads like an adventure story * Country Life on WILFRED THESIGER *
£10.79
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Man Who Discovered Antarctica: Edward
Book SynopsisCaptain Cook claimed the honour of being the first man to sail into the Antarctic Ocean in 1773, which he then circumnavigated the following year. Cook, though, did not see any land, and he declared that there was no such thing as the Southern Continent. Fifty years later, an Irishman who had been impressed into the Royal Navy at the age of eighteen and risen through the ranks to reach the position of master, proved Cook wrong and discovered and charted parts of the shoreline of Antarctica. He also discovered what is now Elephant Island and Clarence Island, claiming them for the British Crown. Edward Bransfield's varied naval career included taking part in the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 onboard the 50-gun warship HMS _Severn_. Then, in 1817, he was posted to the Royal Navy's Pacific Squadron off Valpara so in Chile, and it was while serving there that the owner and skipper of an English whaling ship, the _Williams_, was driven south by adverse winds and discovered what came to be known as the South Shetland Islands where Cook had said there was no land. Bransfield's superior officer, Captain Sherriff, decided to investigate this discovery further. He chartered Williams and sent Bransfield with two midshipmen and a ship's surgeon into the Antarctic - and the Irishman sailed into history. Despite his achievements, and many parts of Antarctica and an Antarctic survey vessel being named after him, as well as a Royal Mail commemorative stamp being issued in his name in 2000, the full story of this remarkable man and his historic journey, have never been told - until now. Following decades of research, Sheila Bransfield MA, a member of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, has produced the definitive biography of one of Britain's greatest maritime explorers. The book has been endorsed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, whose patron the Princess Royal, has written the Foreword.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd HMS Terror: The Design, Fitting and Voyages of
Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1845, Sir John Franklin and a crew of 128 men entered Lancaster Sound on board HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in search of a Northwest Passage. The sturdy former bomb ships were substantially strengthened and fitted with the latest technologies for polar service and, at the time, were the most advanced sailing vessels developed for Polar exploration. Both ships, but especially HMS Terror, had already proven their capabilities in the Arctic and Antarctic. With such sophisticated, rugged, and successful vessels, victory over the Northwest Passage seemed inevitable, yet the entire crew vanished, and the ships were never seen again by Europeans. Finally, in 2014, the wreck of HMS Erebus was discovered by Parks Canada. Two years later, the wreck of HMS Terror was found, sitting upright, in near pristine condition. The extraordinarily well-preserved state and location of the ships, so far south of their last reported position, raises questions about the role they played in the tragedy. Did the extraordinary capabilities of the ships in fact contribute to the disaster? Never before has the Franklin Mystery been comprehensively examined through the lens of its sailing technology. This book documents the history, design, modification, and fitting of HMS Terror, one of the world's most successful polar exploration vessels. Part historical narrative and part technical design manual, this book provides, for the first time, a complete account of Terror's unique career, as well as an assessment of her sailing abilities in polar conditions, a record of her design specifications, and a full set of accurate plans of her final 1845 configuration. Based on meticulous historical research, the book details the ship's every bolt and belaying pin, and ends with the discovery and identification of the wreck in 2016, explaining how the successes and ice-worthiness of Terror may have contributed to the Franklin disaster itself. It is an ideal reference for those interested in the Franklin Mystery, in polar exploration, the Royal Navy, and in ship design and modelling.
£24.00
