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The romance and danger of the great explorers' daring expeditions captured the public imagination and the world's headlines to an extraordinary degree. Journalists vied for their stories, and publishers rushed their first-hand accounts of exciting and dangerous journeys into print for a wide and voracious readership.
Acclaimed travel historian John Keay introduces this selection of the best of these first-hand narratives, including:
David Livingstone's exploration of the headwaters of the mighty river Congo with Henry Stanley, the New York Herald journalist who went in search of him
Alexander Mackenzie's first recorded crossing of the North American continent
Hiram Bingham's discovery of the magnificent Inca city of Machu Picchu
Wilfred Thesiger's crossing of Arabia's forbidding Empty Quarter with Bedouin companions
Foreword Wilfred Thesiger ix
Introduction xi
Siberia and Alaska
Stranded on Bering Island Georg Wilhelm Steller 1
The Walk to Moscow John Dundas Cochrane 11
Central and South Asia
Alarms Amongst the Uzbeks Alexander Burnes 23
On the Roof of the World John Wood 36
Lhasa Beckons Regis-Evariste Huc 47
Exploring Angkhor Henri Mouhot 60
Over the Karakorams Francis Edward Younghusband 69
Trials in Tibet Ekai Kawaguchi 81
At the Source of the Indus Sven Hedin 91
Everest by Storm Edmund Hillary 98
Arabia
Escape from Riyadh William Gifford Palgrave 108
Desert Days Charles Montagu Doughty 117
The Point of Return Harry St John Bridger Philby 125
To the Empty Quarter for a Drink of Water Wilfred Thesiger 137
West Africa
Alone in Africa Mungo Park 147
The Road to Kano Hugh Clapperton 157
Down the Niger Richard Lander 165
Arrival in Timbuktu Heinrich Barth 175
My Ogowé Fans Mary Kingsley 186
East and Central Africa
Among the Sudanese James Bruce 202
Not the Source of the Nile Richard Francis Burton 213
A Glimpse of Lake Victoria John Hanning Speke 226
The Reservoir of the Nile Samuel White Baker 242
Last Days David Livingstone 254
Encounters on the Upper Congo Henry Morton Stanley 268
A Novice at Large Joseph Thomson 286
Australia
Landfall at Botany Bay James Cook 301
Escape from the Outback Charles Sturt 310
Death at Coopers Creek William John Wills 320
To See the Sea John McDouall Stuart 336
North America
First Crossing of America Alexander Mackenzie 345
Meeting the Shoshonee Meriwether Lewis 357
South America
Eating Dirt in Venezuela Alexander von Humboldt 374
Iron Rations in Amazonia Henry Savage Landor 383
The Discovery of Machu Picchu Hiram Bingham 396
Arctic
Four Years in the Ice John Ross 404
Living off Lichen and Leather John Franklin 415
Adrift on an Arctic Ice Floe Fridtjof Nansen 428
The Pole is Mine Robert Edwin Peary 440
Antarctic
Farthest South Ernest Henry Shackleton 448
The Pole at Last Roald Amundsen 458
In Extremis Robert Falcon Scott 469
Sources and Acknowledgments 485
fin_bheara
Posted October 20, 2011
I am still in the process of reading the stories in this book, but I do highly recommend it. The book contains choice accounts and logs of explorers from throughout history, some of whom are very well known and there are some that I had not heard of before. The book is broken down into different regions of the world, with the explorer's own account of they're journeys there. Note that these stories are not the explorer's complete accounts of their travels-the author selected what he thought was the best part of their experiences (most explorer's complete accounts would fill an entire novel; Ernest Shackleton is a good example with his book-"South: The Endurance Expedition.) I find that this book is very interesting and informative and is enjoyable to read about as well. Anyone who has an interest in history and especially about explorers and exploration will like this book.
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Overview
The romance and danger of the great explorers' daring expeditions captured the public imagination and the world's headlines to an extraordinary degree. Journalists vied for their stories, and publishers rushed their first-hand accounts of exciting and dangerous journeys into print for a wide and voracious readership.
Acclaimed travel historian John Keay introduces this selection of the best of these first-hand narratives, including:
David ...