Geographical discovery and exploration Books

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.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first ever puzzle book from Flightradar24

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Sunday Times History Book of the Year 2019Shortlisted for The Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award'No Briton has written better than Winder about Europe' - Sunday TimesIn AD 843, the three surviving grandsons of the great Emperor Charlemagne met at Verdun. After years of bitter squabbles over who would inherit the family land, they finally decided to divide the territory and go their separate ways. In a moment of staggering significance, one grandson inherited what became France, another Germany and the third Lotharingia: the chunk that initially divided the other two. The dynamic between these three great zones has dictated much of our subsequent fate.In this beguiling, hilarious and compelling book we retrace how both from west and from east any number of ambitious characters have tried and failed to grapple with these Lotharingians, who ultimately became Dutch, German, Belgian, French, Luxembourgers and Swiss. Over many centuries, not only has Lotharingia brought forth many of Europe's greatest artists, inventors and thinkers, but it has also reduced many a would-be conqueror to helpless tears of rage and frustration. Joining Germania and Danubia in Simon Winder's endlessly fascinating retelling of European history, Lotharingia is a personal, wonderful and gripping story.Trade ReviewA master of the art of making history both funny and fun . . . Once again he brings Germany bouncing back to life -- Simon Jenkins, author of A Short History of EuropeWinder is our guide with delicious festive wit, and equal erudition -- Diarmaid MacCulloch * Tablet *Weird and wonderful . . . No Briton has written better than Winder about Europe -- Daniel Johnson * Sunday Times *There is so much fascinating detail in this book that it is hard to put down . . . -- Michael Burleigh, author of The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: A History of NowWinder looks afresh at the long arc of European history, with its perpetual interplay between defiant local units and grandiose attempts at unifying schemes -- Stephen Moss * Guardian *The high plateau of my year was my catching up with Simon Winder. Danubia and Germania are an idiosyncratic, often funny fusion of history writing, travel writing and disrespect -- Sir Tom Stoppard * TLS *Brings to mind PJ O'Rourke's Holidays in Hell or anything by Bill Bryson -- Gerard DeGroot * The Times *A heady blend of jolly travel stories, weird German aristocrats, obscure baroque altarpieces and horrendous sectarian massacres. There are plenty of serious points here, but Winder never forgets that history is meant to be fun -- Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times, Best History Books of the year 2019An absolutely wonderful hybrid of hilarious travel writing and incisive historical analysis . . . Lotharingia follows on the acclaimed Danubia and Germania * Quillette *It's not so much history, as a long cultural tour, led by a brilliantly witty guide . . . There are a great many jokes and irreverent hoots, in case everything gets too earnest . . . -- Neal Ascherson, The New York Review of BooksSimon Winder has created a genre all of his own, the history-travelogue-memoir, which he uses adeptly to explore the hinterlands between France and Germany and their centuries of dynasties, discord and discontent . . . -- Judith Flanders, author of The Victorian House and Christmas: A Biography

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Age of Discovery was a time of exploration and developing new ideas, when Europeans first travelled across the seas to other lands. In his warm and expressive style, Charles Kovacs tells stories of key European historical figures, from the Crusades to the Renaissance, including Saladin, Joan of Arc, Columbus, Magellan, Queen Elizabeth I and Francis Drake, and draws out the interrelation of world events.This revised edition of a classic text is an engaging resource for teachers and home-schooling parents. This historical period is traditionally covered in Class 7 (age 13-14) of the Steiner-Waldorf curriculum.Trade Review'An excellent overview of world history, compiled from Charles Kovacs' copious lesson notes. Throughout, Kovacs is keen to convey to the reader the notion of cause and effect and the inter-relatedness of world events. Any teacher of the 13-year-old age group will find this book an excellent resource.'-- New View

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book SynopsisSir Edmund Hillary described Douglas Mawson’s epic and punishing journey across 600 miles of unknown Antarctic wasteland as ‘the greatest story of lone survival in polar exploration’.This Accursed Land tells that story; how Mawson declined to join Captain Robert Scott’s ill-fated British expedition and instead lead a three-man husky team to explore the far eastern coastline of the Antarctic continent.But the loss of one member and most of the supplies soon turned the hazardous trek into a nightmare. Mawson was trapped 320 miles from base with barely nine days’ food and nothing for the dogs.Eating poisoned meat, watching his body fall apart, crawling over chasms and crevices of deadly ice, his ultimate and lone struggle for survival, starving, poisoned, exhausted and indescribably cold, is an unforgettable story of human endurance. Grippingly told by Lennard Bickel, this is the most extraordinary journey from the brutal golden age of Antarctic exploration. Perfect for fans of Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air or Michael Palin’s Erebus.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1841, a twenty-eight-year-old Scottish missionary, David Livingstone, began the first of his exploratory treks into the African veldt. During the course of his lifetime, he covered over 29,000 miles uncovering what lay beyond rivers and mountain ranges where no other white man had ever been. Livingstone was the first European to make a trans-African passage from modern day Angola to Mozambique and he discovered and named numerable lakes, rivers and mountains. His explorations are still considered one of the toughest series of expeditions ever undertaken. He faced an endless series of life-threatening situations, often at the hands of avaricious African chiefs, cheated by slavers traders and attacked by wild animals. He was mauled by a lion, suffered thirst and starvation and was constantly affected by dysentery, bleeding from hemorrhoids, malaria and pneumonia.This biography covers his life but also examines his relationship with his wife and children who were the main casualties of his endless explorations in Africa. It also looks Livingstone's legacy through to the modern day. Livingstone was an immensely curious person and he made a habit of making meticulous observations of the flora and fauna of the African countryside that he passed through. His legacy includes numerable maps and geographical and botanical observations and samples. He was also a most powerful and effective proponent for the abolition of slavery and his message of yesterday is still valid today in a continent stricken with drought, desertification and debt for he argued that the African culture should be appreciated for its richness and diversity. But like all great men, he had great faults. Livingstone was unforgiving of those that he perceived had wronged him; he was intolerant of those who could not match his amazing physical powers; and finally and he had no compunction about distorting the truth, particularly about other people, in order to magnify his already significant achievements.

Read more less

Book SynopsisComposed in a prison cell in 1298 by Venetian merchant Marco Polo and Arthurian romance writer Rustichello of Pisa, The Description of the World relates Polo's experiences in Asia and at the court of Qubilai, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. In addition to a new translation based on the Franco-Italian "F" manuscript of Polo's text, this edition includes genealogies of the Mongol rulers and nine maps of Polo's journey, as well as thorough annotation and an extensive bibliography.Trade Review"Marco Polo's account provided both what was thought to be a reliable guide to East Asia—Columbus carried with him a heavily annotated copy of Marco Polo's work during his own expedition to the Americas—and an intriguingly fantastical account that for centuries has continued to fuel the imagination of poets and artists. Kinoshita's superb, groundbreaking translation brilliantly renders into modern English this crucial text of the Middle Ages. Indispensable in the undergraduate and graduate classroom, The Description of the World will also appeal to a wide range of readers curious about the medieval encounter of East and West." —Suzanne Conklin Akbari, University of Toronto"This excellent and lucid translation is comprehensible to 21st-century students, yet retains the medieval flair of the original text. Kinoshita's footnotes, which support a reading of the text without overwhelming the reader, properly address and consider the latest scholarship. This will undoubtedly become the standard translation of Marco Polo for classroom use." —Timothy May, University of North Georgia"Ever since Marco Polo and Rustichello's creation first piqued the interests of the reading public, it has been shaped and reshaped, reformed and deformed to meet the desires of the medieval and modern readers. With this new translation, Kinoshita gives English-speakers for the first time something like the original 'Description of the World' that electrified medieval Europe. Racy and readable, this translation is the only one that actually aims to recreate the type of language that Polo and Rustichello used to reach their public." —Christopher Atwood, Indiana University"An excellent book, both an accessible edition of Polo’s text and a scholarly one. The translation reads well, following the oddities of the Franco-Italian without compromising readability in English. Kinoshita's introduction is brief but highly informative and offers much to scholars as well as students in different disciplines; the notes are likewise informative and to the point. This is the Polo that students and scholars alike will want to read if they are not going to read the original(s)." —Iain Macleod Higgins, University of Victoria"An excellent new translation of the earliest known version of the text. . . . Kinoshita synthesizes a vast body of scholarship in her admirably concise but rich introduction, her notes, and her critical apparatus. . . . Kinoshita has also used to good effect medieval Asian sources that were not so comprehensively available to most earlier scholars; her notes at every stage offer supplementary information about the places, peoples, and customs the Devisement describes, contextualizing much of the information more helpfully and succinctly than other translations into English. Six genealogical tables and nine maps also direct the reader's attention firmly towards Asia. . . . Kinoshita embraces the stylistic quirkiness and rough edges of her source. Furthermore, whereas previous translators (including the recent Penguin Classics translation) conflate different versions of the text and, like many medieval transmitters, manicure stylistic imperfections and inconsistencies, Kinoshita's translation gives English readers better access, if not to the authentic version of the text, certainly to a particularly challenging and interesting medieval iteration of it. This gives us a much better sense of contact with the different narrative voices of the first Devisement (which was supposedly co-written by Marco Polo with a fellow Italian, Rustichello da Pisa). . . . Kinoshita's translation . . . amply deserves to become the standard text for teaching in the anglophone world." —Simon Gaunt, King's College London, in Speculum"This excellent edition and translation will be a standard course text. It is simply superb." —Theresa Earenfight, Seattle University"There is much to appreciate in this volume. Kinoshita, a specialist in medieval French literature, is also a leading scholar in the burgeoning field of global medieval studies, and her knowledge of the many fields that illuminate Polo's text is on display throughout. Her translation is true to a single edition of a single authoritative source, not the product of fanciful--and questionable--compilation. She thereby gives us a particular Marco Polo text, not the "definitive" text other translators have concocted, and in so doing is true to the work's history. Polo's text is not a major work of literary art, and the translation challenges it poses relate more to idiom and accuracy than to the aesthetics of tone or imagery. Perhaps the biggest challenge, as Kinoshita recognizes, is deciding how to handle the text's medieval features: its repetition, parataxis, euphemism, etc. Here again, one can only respect Kinoshita's decision to retain many of these features, which are constant reminders of this text's complicated genesis and of the ways it shows its author(s) devising how to represent the new and the strange. As advertised, the introduction and annotations are written for non-specialists and deliver facts and arguments concisely and clearly. The footnote annotations are particularly helpful: short yet informative, inserted when needed, and based on current research, they render the text accessible and provide useful context. The bibliography is current, thorough, varied, and will be of use to anyone interested in learning more about Polo and his era. In addition to the introduction, annotated translation, and bibliography, the book also includes genealogies of Mongol rulers, a map of Eurasia, seven maps of regions discussed by Polo, maps of medieval Beijing and Xian, and an index. This volume is an excellent resource for the curious reader, for high school and university courses, and for specialists alike." —Mark Cruse, in The Medieval Review

Read more less

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 *

Read more less

Book SynopsisRichard Burton's life offers dazzling riches. He was one of the greatest Victorian explorers, an innovative translator and brilliant linguist, a prolific travel writer, a pioneer in the fields of anthropology and sexual psychology, a mesmeric lover, a spy and a publisher of erotica. Fawn Brodie has created a vivid portrait of this remarkable man, who emerges from the richly textured fabric of his time. His travels to Mecca and Medina dressed as a Muslim pilgrim, his witnessing of the human sacrifices at Dahomey and his unlikely but loving partnership with his pious Catholic bride are all treated with warmth, scholarship and understanding.Trade Review"No one could fail to write a good life of Burton, but Fawn Brodie has written a brilliant one" J. H. Plumb, New York Times

Read more less

Book SynopsisLong before GPS and Google Earth, humans traveled vast distances using environmental clues and simple instruments. What is lost when technology substitutes for our innate capacity to find our way? Illustrated with 200 drawings, this narrative—part treatise, part travelogue, and part navigational history—brings our own world into sharper view.Trade ReviewOne of the repeated themes of The Lost Art of Finding Our Way is that even the most confused of us can improve our navigational understanding by paying closer attention to the world around us… A learned and encyclopedic grab bag, packed with information drawn from study and Huth’s own experience. -- Michael Dirda * Washington Post *It’s a great reference, filled with personal and historical anecdotes and fascinating bits of physics, astronomy, oceanography, and meteorology. And that’s one of Huth’s central points: To find your way in a world without maps, you can’t rely on any single cue—you need to make the best of whatever combination of cues is available to you… With a little study, The Lost Art of Finding Our Way could be your guide to reconnecting with the navigational aids in the world around you. -- Greg Miller * Wired *John Huth’s The Lost Art of Finding Our Way is a book for anyone who’s ever cursed themselves for not being able to get home by way of the stars and winds. Or for anyone who wants to learn how the Vikings and others once managed to. -- Thomas Meaney * Times Literary Supplement *Full of wisdom that is fast disappearing in an age of satnav and GPS. -- Arthur Musgrave * The Guardian *[Huth’s] exuberance shines through: he makes gadgets in his garage and narrates adventures at sea. Huth’s is a book filled with joy about what we might term the everyday mathematics of living on the Earth… Huth is concerned that we have become desensitized to our physical environment because of technology such as smartphones and global positioning systems, which do the work of plotting and routefinding for us. To live in what Huth dubs ‘the bubble’ created by such devices is to lose not only our wonder at the world but also a bundle of precious survival skills. To be able to find our way in the world is to reconnect with its value in a virtuous spiral of environmental awareness. -- Robert J. Mayhew * Times Higher Education *The book offers a clear, comprehensive, and entertaining short course in navigation that draws on Earth science, history, anthropology, neuroscience, archaeology, and linguistics. It provides both a primer on navigational techniques and a tour through ‘the historical evolution of way finding.’ Huth punctuates instruction on celestial navigation and reading wind, weather, and currents with engaging stories and images. These are derived from sources as varied as the oral histories of Pacific Islanders and Inuit hunters, Homer’s Odyssey, Icelandic sagas, navigational tables from the medieval Islamic world, and contemporary news reports and sailing accounts. -- Deirdre Lockwood * Science *Humanity’s lust for exploring terra incognita shaped and tested our prodigious capacity for mental mapping. Now, with the advent of the Global Positioning System, wayfaring skills are on the wane. Physicist John Edward Huth turns explorer in this rich, wide-ranging and lucidly illustrated primer on how to find yourself in the middle of somewhere. Huth’s prescription for navigating fog, darkness, open ocean, thick forests or unknown terrain rests first on harnessing compass, Sun and stars; then on the subtleties of weather forecasting and decoding markers such as the wind, waves and tides. * Nature *[An] irresistible book… Huth has an affable, smart tone, as welcoming as a Billy Collins poem. His knowledge of way-finding and its history is rangy and detailed, but his enthusiasm never flickers, lifting the educational factor to higher ground: rewarding, artful, ably conveying what can be some fairly abstruse material, the finer points of navigation being among them. There are, by the way, many, many fine points regarding navigation, and if Huth gets a bit windy in pointing them out, well, let the wind blow. It’s refreshing. -- Peter Lewis * Barnes & Noble Review *Early humans learned to navigate on land and sea by watching the world around them… Huth recovers some of this history by looking at Norse legends, the records of Arab traders moving across the Indian Ocean and Pacific Islanders… Huth’s subject is fascinating… We have lost many of our innate abilities on the way to this technologically advanced moment in time. But John Edward Huth believes, and his book shows, that some of what was lost can still be found. We just need to relearn how to read the signs. -- Anthony Sattin * Literary Review *Lamenting the loss of navigational skills, [Huth] set out to collect in one volume the many schemes that kept our forebears alive. Ancient explorers could, through navigational nous, undertake voyages over great expanses of ocean and land to establish settlements and trade routes, and return home. -- Peter Monaghan * Chronicle of Higher Education *Just as we are said to have abandoned the art of memory when we started writing things down, so Huth says that we have lost our instinct for knowing how to get from here to there. Before the scientific revolution we had the ability to interpret environmental information that enabled us to navigate long distances. Huth surveys Pacific Islanders, medieval Arab traders, Vikings and early Western European travellers before examining techniques for navigators to look to the stars for astronomical beacons, as well as to the weather and the water. -- Iain Finlayson * The Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHugh Brody has an international reputation as an anthropologist and documentary film-maker of the Inuit peoples. This book is a marvellous account of hunter-gatherer culture, gleaned from years of living and hunting with the Inuits of the Arctic and the salmon-fishing tribes in the Canadian Northwest. Brody explores the frontiers between hunters and farmers, and shows us how the encounter between radically different ways of being in the world is at the core of human history. He travels through exquisite landscapes of ice and snow, with people who know the land as part of their selves. Posing the question, ''Why did the farmer triumph over the hunter-gatherer?'', Brody finds answers in a variety of places, among them the Book of Genesis, the great creation myth at the centre of the agriculturalist view of the world.This is a book that invites the reader to embark on a series of expeditions, into the territories of hunter-gatherers, and into radical ideas about what itTrade Review'Often eloquent, sometimes moving, and always fascinating... Brody's gripping book brings the resourceful intelligence and courage of hunter-gatherers vividly to life.' New Scientist 'The case for the hunter's ethic has never been more persuasively argued than in this wide-ranging, eloquent book.' TLS

Read more less

Book Synopsis2019 Banff Mountain Book Competition Category Finalist in Mountain Literature 2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Finalist "If you climbed during that era, you'll turn each page eagerly to find out what happens next (even though you know). If you didn't, you'll likely do the same.... In many ways, Hangdog Days reads as the great American climbing novel. Smoot accepts Todd [Skinner]'s call to join him, and brings us along." -Gripped Fast-paced history-cum-memoir about rock climbing in the wild-and-wooly '80s Highlights ground-breaking achievements from the era Hangdog Days vividly chronicles the era when rock climbing exploded in popularity, attracting a new generation of talented climbers eager to reach new heights via harder routes and faster ascents. This contentious, often entertaining period gave rise to sport climbing, climbing gyms, and competitive climbing--indelibly transforming the sport. Jeff Smoot was one of those brash young climbers, and here he traces the development of traditional climbing "rules," enforced first through peer pressure, then later through intimidation and sabotage. In the late '70s, several climbers began introducing new tactics including "hangdogging," hanging on gear to practice moves, that the old guard considered cheating. As more climbers broke ranks with traditional style, the new gymnastic approach pushed the limits of climbing from 5.12 to 5.13. When French climber Jean-Baptiste Tribout ascended To Bolt or Not to Be, 5.14a, at Smith Rock in 1986, he cracked a barrier many people had considered impenetrable. In his lively, fast-paced history enriched with insightful firsthand experience, Smoot focuses on the climbing achievements of three of the era's superstars: John Bachar, Todd Skinner, and Alan Watts, while not neglecting the likes of Ray Jardine, Lynn Hill, Mark Hudon, Tony Yaniro, and Peter Croft. He deftly brings to life the characters and events of this raucous, revolutionary time in rock climbing, exploring, as he says, "what happened and why it mattered, not only to me but to the people involved and those who have followed."Trade Review"Hangdog Days" by Washington-based climber Jeff Smoot details rock climbing's often hilarious growing pains of the 1970s and 1980s. The parallels between then and now struck me, even as our sport has changed tremendously. Now it's the same conflict, different issues; the same challenge, higher bar; the same stakes, different rules.--Chris Weidner "The Daily Camera" An engaging account of the changes that took place in American rock climbing in the '70s and '80s told with great verve, through the stories of some fascinating characters from died-in-the-wool bottom-up traditionalists to top-down rap-bolters.-- "2019 Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature shortlist" As a direct result of the people and climbing Smoot describes, we have sport climbing, gyms, comps, bouldering as we know it, and so many other things that were once unthinkable and that now form the bedrock of all serious climbing efforts. As such, I highly recommend this sensitive and fascinating account to anyone interested in how we got here.--David Smart, Gripped founding editor "Ontario Climbing" If you climbed during that era, you'll turn each page eagerly to find out what happens next (even though you know). If you didn't, you'll likely do the same.... In many ways, Hangdog Days reads as the great American climbing novel. Smoot accepts Todd [Skinner]'s call to join him, and brings us along.--Tom Valis "Gripped" Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, thoroughly engaging in organization and presentation, Hangdog Days: Conflict, Change, and the Race for 5.14 is an extraordinary and unique sports history that is unreservedly recommended.--Micah Andrew "Midwest Book Review" In his book Hangdog Days, Jeff Smoot chronicles the controversial method of "hangdogging" a climbing route and the debate that raged during the 1980s in climbing circles about this method.... Part history and part memoir, Smoot's book uses his personal experiences as a climber and freelance rock-climbing magazine writer as the vehicle to narrate the sport's rocky transition from the purview of a few grizzled climbers to a phenomenon that attracted younger and more eager climbers wanting to climb harder routes once thought impossible to scale. Smoot's story incorporates the biggest names of the era--everyone from John Bachar to Todd Skinner to Lynn Hill. Each one adds to the debate about the ethics of hangdogging a route.--Eric Patterson "Foreword Reviews" It's awesome. Highly recommend it.--Chris Kalous "The Enormocast" Smoot does an incredible job of making the reader question their own climbing ethics and wonder what the future holds for our crags. If you're into reading on the history of specific climbs or nerding out about Yosemite/Joshua Tree/Smith Rock, this one's for you.-- "monopkt." Smoot effortlessly weaves his own experiences through a wildly colorful historical record filled with fistfights, sabotaged routes, and even death threats.... Hangdog Days is at its heart a tribute to Skinner and the groundbreaking (and yes, sometimes controversial) ways he helped redefine the sport itself.--Shawnte Salabert "Adventure Journal" Smoot tracks the evolution of climbing, from the early hard free climbs of Yosemite to indoor climbing gyms, and introduces readers to climbing luminaries like John Bachar, Alan Watts, Lynn Hill, and Hugh Herr (a double amputee), and he delves into his relationship with a charismatic free climber, Todd Skinner, to whom the book is dedicated...this crisply written memoir provides solid information on a crucial historical period in a sport of increasing popularity.--Brenda Barrera "Booklist" This rollicking book is a welcome trip back to the 1980s, the decade of greatest change--and conflict--in America, when resting on the rope and rap bolting were taboo.... With engaging writing and research, Smoot's book is a pleasure, even as it details the uglier incidents (bolt wars, Yosemite rope-shitting, Index crack-greasing!) in American climbing. Without the 1980s, our sport would not be where it is today, a lesson Hangdog Days artfully conveys.-- "Climbing" Hangdog Days recalls the colorful personalities and ethical struggles that spurred a revolution in rock climbing. This fun trip back in time will motivate you to climb harder.--Paul Piana, climber and writer Full of Homeric characters, epic struggles, heroes and heartbreaks, all played out on an international stage--fans of adventure narratives can't do much better than Hangdog Days.--John Long, writer and climber In Hangdog Days, Jeff Smoot offers an enlightening behind-the-scenes perspective on this fantastic era and its memorable characters. I was climbing in the areas he describes where and while these scenes were playing out. He captures them vividly.--Hans Florine, climber and writer Powerful, moving, compelling, outrageous, fascinating--Hangdog Days captures eighties climbing perfectly. If you're a climber and you can read, this book's for you.--Cam Burns, writer and editor Well-researched and fun with flashes of neon--Smoot's Hangdog Days captures all the wild color of climbing in the late '70s through the '80s.--Lynn Hill, climber

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis"John K. Thornton’s new book is another must-read. It contains both translations of the extant letters of the most significant king of Kongo’s history, Afonso I (r. 1506–1542), and a powerful, learned, and highly readable analysis of what these letters tell us about the life and times of one of the most important rulers anywhere in the world during the sixteenth century. This book will be essential reading for scholars, teachers, and students engaged with the history of the Kingdom of Kongo." —Toby Green, King’s College LondonTrade Review"Historians of Africa and the Atlantic World have long known of King Afonso I’s pioneering efforts in establishing the Catholic Church in Kongo, as well as his efforts in fighting the Portuguese slave trade. But until now there has been no authoritative biography of one of the world’s most important political figures of the sixteenth century. Thornton’s account fills this gap, vividly revealing Afonso’s complicated life and legacies on the global stage. As Thornton deftly demonstrates, Afonso was neither a victim of European deception nor a naïve dupe. Rather, he was an astute, innovative statesman who advanced Kongolese political interests both at home and abroad. "Accompanying Thornton’s biography are unique, translated letters penned by Afonso that will also be of great interest to historians of Africa and the Atlantic World. In these letters, Afonso reveals his firsthand thoughts on Kongolese political sovereignty, the distinctiveness of Kongolese Christianity, and his demands to control the slave trade in his kingdom. Additionally, he expresses his desires to expand the technological capacity of the kingdom through education and literacy campaigns, as well as by offering apprenticeships in carpentry, masonry, and medicine. Afonso’s letters, along with those of his European and African contemporaries, are a treasure trove of primary source materials that reveal Kongo’s key role in early modern Atlantic history.” —James H. Sweet, University of Wisconsin-Madison"Only decades of research and engagement with primary sources and centuries of secondary historical analysis could yield such a detailed, insightful account of a pivotal reign in the history of Kongo, Atlantic Africa, and the early modern world at large. It may be the author’s most impressive book yet. “Both the biography and the translated letters will serve for many years to come as sources for research and material for teaching. They will bring knowledge about Afonso, Kongo, and their world-shaping role in the early modern period to students and researchers well beyond specialist circles. I look forward to the new wave of research, discoveries, and debates the book will spur.” —Cécile Fromont, Yale University"This is a page-turner that students and their professors will appreciate. Through a compelling narrative and translated primary sources focused on the life of an important African leader, Thornton examines larger issues around African development, religions conversion, slavery, the rise of the Atlantic trade in enslaved people, and interconnectedness of the 16th-century world." —Walter Hawthorne, Michigan State University"With this monograph, John K. Thornton, the doyen of West Central African history, has not only further cemented his place in the field, but has also steered the 'biographical turn' in the precolonial history of Africa into a new phase. This is regional history on a grand scale, an exceptional feat for Sub-Saharan Africa during the first half of the XVIth century, made possible by a career-long passion with understanding the Kingdom of Kongo." —José C. Curto, History, York University, Canada"Never has the voice of the ruler of the early sixteenth-century Kongo Kingdom, the renowned Christian Mwene Kongo, King Afonso, resonated in language so accessible to a modern audience and yet so faithful to original historical context. Luís Madureira provides a superb translation of Afonso's most significant correspondence along with an insightful translator’s note that contributes to confidence in his rigorous effort. Scholars and students can at last understand the original meaning of Afonso's letters. "With the translation and contextualization provided here, Afonso’s complaints of Portuguese slave trading, for example, can be better understood. Other episodes recounted in the letters, such as Afonso’s victory over his non-Christian brother, attributed to the miraculous appearance of Saint James, will provide for fascinating class discussions. Going beyond its key contribution to African history, this edition will be widely used in the study and teaching of early modern global history.” —David Gordon, Bowdoin College

Read more less

Book SynopsisA romantic retelling of a classic fairy tale about a beautiful herbalist and a lovestruck prince.Shirayuki is an herbalist famous for her naturally bright-red hair, and the prince of Tanbarun wants her all to himself! The prince from the neighboring kingdom, Zen, rescues her from her plight, and thus begins their love story.Hoping for permission to line the roads between the wintry cities with the glowing phostyrias plant, Shirayuki, Obi, and Ryu arrive at the Oriold checkpoint. The knight captain there won’t stand in their way, but due to political instability in the northern region, they’ll have to win over a certain Lord Lugiria. Deep in uncharted territory, can they light a path to the future?

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen Admiral Richard E. Byrd set out on his second Antarctic expedition in 1934, he was already an international hero for having piloted the first flights over the North and South Poles. His plan for this latest adventure was to spend six months alone near the bottom of the world, gathering weather data and indulging his desire "to taste peace and quiet long enough to know how good they really are". But early on, things went terribly wrong. Isolated in the pervasive polar night with no hope of release until spring, Byrd began suffering inexplicable symptoms of mental and physical illness. By the time he discovered that carbon monoxide from a defective stovepipe was poisoning him, Byrd was already engaged in a monumental struggle to save his life and preserve his sanity.Trade Review"Better than most modern explanations, Byrd's book shows why men and women still cast themselves into danger in remote parts of the world." - The Los Angeles Times Book Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Illuminating ... Modern specialists dismiss [Banks] as a jack of all trades, but Musgrave's claim that he changed our world is not an exaggeration.”—John Carey, Sunday Times“Multifarious he [Mr. Banks] was indeed, and Mr. Musgrave treats us to an extensive, admiring account of his subject’s circuitous route to fame and power.”—Wall Street Journal"Charismatic Sir Joseph Banks discovered hundreds of new plants, but was much more than just an explorer.”—Peter Sheridan, Daily Express“[An] enthusiastic admiration of its subject and commitment to repairing a calumny-damaged reputation”—Steven Shapin, London Review of Books“Readers will get a good idea of the range of Banks' scientific and administrative activities in this book, handled with a light touch and tinctured with wit.”—Brent Elliott, The Garden“It is evident that the author knows a great deal about all aspects of Banks’ life and about contemporaneous affairs...One is left with a clear, rounded picture of Banks as a person...I have no doubt the author will achieve his aim to return Banks to his rightful place in our history.”—Patrick Kaye, Sir Joseph Banks Society Magazine “Musgrave’s book is an engaging picture of how a love of plants can lead to many things, even ‘shaping the world’.”—Sandra Knapp, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland“An enjoyable and informative text to read, it gives a clear picture of the many-sided interests of [Banks], his networks of power and communication and their outcomes. The author addresses issues such as Banks’s character faults, for example, his egotism, his informal relationships with women, or his colonial aspirations.”—Gina Douglas, Archives of Natural History“In this entertaining biography, Musgrave presents a massive amount of information, as well as drawing widely on Banks’s writings, to illustrate the long-held passion for natural history which Banks pursued from a very young age.”—WSG Bulletin CHOICE 2021 Outstanding Academic Title“Sir Joseph Banks was perhaps the greatest scientist of his age and this book is an inspiration to all as we start to re-examine our relationship with nature.”—Robin Hanbury-Tenison OBE, author of The Great Explorers“Combines depth of research with concise exposition of Banks’s remarkable career.”—John Gascoigne, author of Joseph Banks and the English Enlightenment“At long last - a book that shines new light on such a key figure in history! From botanical gardens to Botany Bay, Joseph Banks’s brilliance radiates throughout this important and highly-readable new biography.”—Vanessa Collingridge, author of Captain Cook"In the inimitable prose of garden historian Toby Musgrave, Banks is brought alive as a key figure in facilitating, among many other things, scientific - particularly botanical - endeavour, as part of the global positioning of Georgian England.”—David Mabberly, author of Botanical Revelation“This well-researched and even-handed biography of Banks confirms his importance as a pioneering scientist, philanthropist and explorer.”—Graham Seal, author of The Savage Shore

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 2013, Tom Denniss became the fastest person to circumnavigate the world on foot. His epic journey lasted nearly two years, and for each of the 622 days it took him to run around the planet, Tom completed the equivalent of a marathon or more. Based on distance alone his feat was an extraordinary act of endurance, but along the way Tom also survived a near-death experience on an ice cliff as he was running over the top of the Andes, was chased by dogs, snakes and suspicious border police, narrowly avoided lethal cars and buses, suffered in sixty-degree heat and sub-zero blizzards, tore through seventeen pairs of running shoes, and raised tens of thousands of dollars for Oxfam. He also experienced an amazing diversity of scenery, culture, food and people as he traversed New Zealand, North and South America, Europe from the Atlantic to the Bosphorus, and Australia from Fremantle to Sydney.The World at My Feet is his account of an incredible 26,232 kilometre run, and a vivid insight into an adventure of truly global proportions.Trade ReviewWith a chatty, engaging writing style, this high achiever relives his mega journey. * Weekly Times *

Read more less

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

Read more less

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 *

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPraise for The Curse of Oak Island: “Sullivan writes with open-minded balance, rendering the Oak Island story into a weirdly fascinating mystery.” —Booklist “The Curse of Oak Island is a definitive read for fans of the History Channel television show. Sullivan delves deeper into the history, personalities, and theories presented only briefly on the show. His approach is mostly unbiased, though he does tell the reader his thoughts on some of the theories and the theorists that he thoroughly researches and debunks. The book is incredibly well researched and the presentation . . . is very readable. If you’ve watched The Curse of Oak Island and were frustrated that snippets and possibilities were left tantalizingly unexplored, this is the book for you.” —Heather Cover, Homewood Library (Birmingham, Alabama) “Sullivan isn’t writing about Oak Island the TV show; his subject is Oak Island the place, largely as seen and imagined by the show’s viewers. So, if you’ve ever been more entranced by the show’s long trips into history and theoretical island encounters across history, Sullivan’s book probably needs to be on your Christmas list.” —Starcasm Praise for Randall Sullivan: “Compelling . . . No single source presents so complete or damning a record as LAbyrinth.” —Entertainment Weekly on LAbyrinth “As a forceful author, Sullivan does a masterly job of juggling the dense thicket of facts and navigating the crowded chronology of the case.” —Salon.com on LAbryinth “Sullivan’s reportage is extraordinary, his narrative enthralling.” —Rolling Stone on The Price of Experience “Sullivan’s riveting tale is amazingly detailed and artfully presented. . . You can hardly turn the page fast enough . . . Contiporary history, brilliantly written.” —Playboy on The Price of Experience “[An] engrossing, damning tale . . . Exhaustively researched, the book methodically weaves a disturbing story of corruption, intimidation, and murder.” —Boston Globe on LAbyrinth “Worthy of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sullivan captures the essence of the world in which Hunt and the BBC operated.” —Chicago Tribune on The Price of Experience “A stunning mix of the personal and the historic, interviews and experiences, with Sullivan incredibly nimble at making the worlds overlap.” —Booklist (starred review) on The Miracle Detective “Well-told and expertly researched.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) on The Miracle Detective

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom brilliant young polymath Andrew Rader – an MIT-credentialled scientist, popular podcast host and SpaceX mission manager – an illuminating chronicle of exploration that spotlights humans’ insatiable desire to continually push into new and uncharted territory, from civilisation’s earliest days to current planning for interstellar travel. For the first time in history, the human species has the technology to destroy itself. But having developed that power, humans are also able to leave Earth and voyage into the vastness of space. After millions of years of evolution, we’ve arrived at the point where we can settle other worlds and begin the process of becoming multi-planetary. How did we get here? What does the future hold for us? Divided into four accessible sections, Beyond the Known examines major periods of discovery and rediscovery, from Classical Times, when Phoenicia

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrederik Paulsen's first great adventure involved taking the reins, at age thirty, of the Ferring pharmaceutical firm founded by his father. After he had transformed the company into a multinational corporation, Paulsen began to recall his childhood dream of discovering unknown lands, sparked by the Viking tales of his native Sweden. He therefore set off to explore realms of ice and snow.In the spring of 2000, he stood at the North Pole - only to discover that the planet had several other extreme poles: the wandering magnetic pole, to which every compass points; the somewhat more stable geomagnetic pole; and the 'pole of inaccessibility'. Since the earth has two hemispheres, these four northern poles have their southern counterparts in the Antarctic. Paulsen therefore set himself the challenge of being the first person to reach all eight poles.Charlie Buffet and Thierry Meyer recount Paulsen's thirteen-year adventure in freezing, hostile regions that were once the site of historic exploits and are now a laboratory for scientists trying to decipher our planet's future. The foreword is by Ellen MacArthur

Read more less

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The remarkable true story of a man who lived alone in the woods of Maine for 27 years, making this dream a reality—not out of anger at the world, but simply because he preferred to live on his own.“A meditation on solitude, wildness and survival.” —The Wall Street JournalIn 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life—why did he leave? what did he learn?—as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.

Read more less

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 *

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen, a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish–Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the "enlightened" European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Orientalism. This edition is the first English translation of Habshush's writings from the original Judeo-Arabic and Hebrew and includes an accessible historical introduction to the work. The translation maintains Habshush's gripping style and rich portrayal of the diverse communities and cultures of Yemen, offering a potent mixture of artful storytelling and cultural criticism, suffused with humor and empathy. Habshush writes about the daily lives of men and women, rich and poor, Jewish and Muslim, during a turbulent period of war and both Ottoman and European imperialist encroachment. With this translation, Alan Verskin recovers the lost voice of a man passionately committed to his land and people.Trade Review"Alan Verskin has provided a masterful translation of Hayyim Habshush's gripping account of his travels and a rare and intimate glimpse into Jewish and Muslim life in the Arabian hinterlands. A Vision of Yemen should be of great interest not only to students and scholars of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern history, but also to the wider audience of travel literature."—Norman A. Stillman, University of Oklahoma"A Vision in Yemen reveals Hayyim Habshush's remarkable curiosity about his own society in nineteenth-century Yemen and its ancient history. With his masterful translation, Alan Verskin elucidates time and place for modern readers, bringing Habshush and his European interlocutors to life."—Brinkley Messick, Columbia University"Alan Verskin's book goes a long way in countering the various orientalist tropes that have often characterised our understanding of Yemeni Jews by rendering accessible the travelogue A Vision of Yemen....It enhances our understanding of encounters between East and West, and more importantly is a testament to Muslim-Jewish relations in the Middle East just as cacophonous sectarian voices dominate the region's public discourse."—Thanos Petouris, Asian Affairs

Read more less

Book SynopsisAmong the hordes of starry-eyed 'argonauts' who flocked to the California gold rush of 1849 was an Australian named Edward Hargraves. He left America empty-handed, only to find gold in his own backyard. The result was the great Australian rush of the 1850s, which also attracted participants from around the world. A South African named P.J. Marais was one of them. Marais too returned home in defeat – only to set in motion the diamond and gold rushes that transformed southern Africa. And so it went.Most previous historians of the gold rushes have tended to view them as acts of spontaneous nationalism. Each country likes to see its own gold rush as the one that either shaped those that followed or epitomized all the rest. In The Gold Crusades: A Social History of Gold Rushes, 1849-1929, Douglas Fetherling takes a different approach.Fetherling argues that the gold rushes in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa shared the saTrade Review'The gold rushes were among the most dynamic episodes in modern history, when people from many nations and every level of society converged, turning wilderness into colonies, crossroads into boom towns and boom towns into cities. The Gold Crusades conveys that excitement, while offering a broader perspective. Readers will find it meticulously researched, with a helpful and entertaining essays on sources appended for further reading. Anyone prospecting for a good book should find it a gem.' -- Eric Marks New Brunswick Telegraph Journal

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe age of discovery was at its peak in the eighteenth century, with heroic adventurers charting the furthest reaches of the globe. Foremost among these explorers was navigator and cartographer Captain James Cook of the British Royal Navy. This book reveals Cook's place in history as a brave and brilliant seaman.Trade Review"'McLynn's biography is well researched and respectful.' (John de Falbe, The Spectator) 'Frank McLynn has no doubt about Captain Cook's status... the finest maritime explorer in the history of the world... He proves it in a meticulous rollercoaster chronicle.' (Duncan Fallowell, Daily Express) 'A first-class biography by a prominent British historian, Frank McLynn.' (John M. Taylor, The Washington Times)"

Read more less

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.

Read more less

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.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThe Mortal Sea chronicles the history of the fishing industry in the North West Atlantic over the past 500 years. Based on a comprehensive set of original sources, it charts the fascinating and ultimately disastrous story of how successive waves of European seafarers arrived to take advantage of the fishing opportunities that had become distant memories in their own more circumscribed and heavily exploited home waters… Such is the complexity of marine ecosystems that the recovery of severely depleted cod populations is taking decades longer than simple theory would suggest. The Mortal Sea is a beautifully written chronicle of what lay before this latest catastrophe and much earlier dire outcomes of poorly regulated fishing. As an authoritatively written natural history of the developing fishing communities of the North West Atlantic, it makes an important contribution to fishery science as well as to social history. -- Richard Shelton * Times Literary Supplement *The Mortal Sea is highly pertinent to urgent matters before us now. If in the late 1800s the men who worked the sea for their livelihoods could see that creatures were being fished to extinction, while scientists in the employ of business interests argued that the seas were endlessly replenishable, today it is the other way around. Scientists argue that human activity has placed the planet in uncertain but potentially calamitous peril, while ordinary people shrug at the evidence and go on misusing the Earth’s resources, abetted by governments too cowardly and businesses too self-interested to take that evidence seriously… The Mortal Sea should be read as a cautionary tale… Anyone who thinks…this book is only about fish is living in a fool’s paradise. -- Jonathan Yardley * Washington Post *Historian and seafarer Jeffrey Bolster ‘writes the ocean into history,’ tracing the currents leading to today’s serious fish-stock depletion. Focusing on the North Atlantic from Cape Cod to Newfoundland’s Grand Banks, he shows how one species after another—halibut, lobster, cod—has been exploited for centuries, long before industrialization. Bolster braids marine biology into a narrative driven by courageous chancers, such as fifteenth-century explorer John Cabot and unnamed hordes of fishermen, to argue that the precautionary approach is key to heading off collapse. * Nature *[A] well-documented and fascinating chronicle of New England’s interdependence with the sea from the 16th century to the World War I era. In The Mortal Sea, Bolster skillfully weaves material from historical documents and newspaper and scientific reports with tales of fishermen to demonstrate how the activities of individuals have affected the northwest Atlantic, for better and worse. -- Michael Kenney * Boston Globe *The Mortal Sea is a fascinating look back at the last millennium of fishing—and overfishing—the North Atlantic, from Cape Cod to Cape Breton. -- Lauren Daly * Cape Cod Times *Bolster has mined evidence from a wide range of contemporary sources that convincingly demonstrates the widespread overfishing and sequential depletion of bird, fish, and marine mammal stocks before the advent of steamships and modern trawlers… Essential reading for anyone interested in the sea and its resources. -- G. C. Jensen * Choice *By demonstrating the ‘catastrophic changes in the sea’ over the past 400-plus years, Bolster has created a work that is not only a comprehensive chronicling of North Atlantic fishing but also a harrowing cautionary tale of human consumption and a challenge to those who have the final chance to restore ‘our exhausted seas.’ * Publishers Weekly *All hands on deck! Bolster makes an all-too-convincing case that the northwest Atlantic has been overfished for centuries and that we must act now to avert catastrophe. -- Joyce E. Chaplin, author of The First Scientific American: Benjamin Franklin and the Pursuit of GeniusThis remarkable book will forever change our understanding of the human tragedy of overfishing that has fueled the downward spiral of ecological destruction of the oceans. It is a story of hubris, greed, and a stubborn failure to learn from experience that continues unabated to this day. -- Jeremy Jackson, coeditor of Shifting Baselines: The Past and the Future of Ocean FisheriesBolster gives a fascinating account of the devastating impact of the sail-driven machinery that was unleashed on the North Atlantic since the early Middle Ages, which now appears like a trial run for the coup de grâce in the twentieth century. -- Daniel Pauly, author of 5 Easy Pieces: The Impact of Fisheries on Marine EcosystemsThe Mortal Sea looks at the North Atlantic and reveals how the marine stocks of the world arrived at the desperate pass they are in. This is a work of stunning importance. -- Daniel Vickers, University of British Columbia

Read more less

Book SynopsisApsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott''s final expedition to the Antarctic. Cherry undertook an epic journey in the Antarctic winter to collect the eggs of the Emperor penguin. The temperature fell to seventy below, it was dark all the time, his teeth shattered in the cold and the tent blew away. ''But we kept our tempers,'' Cherry wrote, ''even with God.''After serving in the First War Cherry was invalided home, and with the zealous encouragement of his neighbour Bernard Shaw he wrote a masterpiece. In The Worst Journey in the World Cherry transformed tragedy and grief into something fine. But as the years unravelled he faced a terrible struggle against depression, breakdown and despair, haunted by the possibility that he could have saved Scott and his companions. This is the first biography of Cherry. Sara Wheeler, who has travelled extensively in the Antarctic, has had unrestricted access to new material and the Trade ReviewAccomplishes what only the best biographies can * The Times *Beautiful...written with unfailing eloquence and grace, and great admiration for its subject * Independent *Brilliantly succeeds not only in bringing this modest man disarmingly to life but also in recreating the England of his time and social setting...a formidable accomplishment * Sunday Telegraph *Beautifully written... Wheeler's vocabulary to evoke this luminous and cruel continent appears limitless * New York Times *With this wonderful biography Sara Wheeler has now vaulted into the front rank of modern British writers...this volume is so much more than a story of one remarkable man. It is among other things an exploration of the mind, a tour through the notions of national identity and pride, and a celebration of the tensile strength of the human spirit -- Simon Winchester

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review“Seal’s spirited account of these early adventurers inspires both admiration and regret.”—Jon Wright, Geographical -- Jon Wright * Geographical *

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade Review"Undoubtedly the most authoritative, cool-headed and thrilling investigation so far." London Observer "Woodman has examined all the documentation on Inuit testimony with relentless thoroughness. He has made a vitally important, long overdue contribution ... It is a book anyone obsessed with Franklin will want to have." Toronto Star "Compelling reading ... On a warm week at an Ontario lakefront cottage, I sat inside turning unwieldy page proofs ... and could not stop." Books in Canada

Read more less

Book SynopsisPresenting tales of noble intentions, novel inventions, and epic miscalculations, The Greatest Show in the Arctic brings fresh life to a unique and underappreciated story of American exploration.Trade ReviewAs this thoughtful and finely textured book makes clear, Franz Josef Land represented the spectacular final act of America's Arctic quest. A story of noble intentions, new inventions, and epic miscalculations playing out on the icy shores of an Arctic archipelago, this is a drama that once commanded the attention of the world."" - Michael F. Robinson, author of The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture""Superbly written and deftly researched, P. J. Capelotti's The Greatest Show in the Arctic is vastly more than a comic saga. It sheds considerable light on a previously obscure cast of explorers and on the history of Franz Josef Land, one of the least-studied regions in the Far North. Of all the Arctic books I've read in recent years, I'd rank Capelotti's very close to the top. It is astonishingly good. - Lawrence Millman, author of Last Places: A Journey in the North

Read more less