Nancy Brooks was sixteen when she went to sea with her father. Despite a gypsy fortune-teller’s warning to her mother, on 2 July 1938, she signed up as Captain’s Clerk for a shilling a week on the SS Nailsea Manor.

Leaving from Birkenhead in Liverpool, the ship was to circumnavigate the world. The log Nancy Fancy Pants, as she became known, types during the voyage tells tales of exotic ports, fascinating people and places, and the rope-and-grease routine of a sailor. On board, she masters navigation, the Morse code as well as all the sea knots, and she flies high on the swing the crew rig up for her. On land, she learns even more, but when a squall takes its toll one stormy night in Australia, she is unprepared for the lessons death brings. Between the neatly typed lines of her extraordinary record, she captures her own journey, of self-discovery, and love.

The Skipper’s Daughter interweaves the log with Nancy’s recollections and is lovingly shared with us by her daughter, Nancy Richards.

‘A journey that I don’t think could be made again today’. It was this comment by Sir David Attenborough on the fiftieth anniversary of the iconic First Overland expedition that became an irresistible challenge for filmmaker and adventurer Alex Bescoby.

In 1955, Attenborough, then a young TV producer, was approached by six recent university graduates determined to drive the entire length of ‘Eurasia’, from London to Singapore. It was the unclimbed Everest of motoring – many had tried, none had succeeded. Sensing this time might be different, Attenborough gave the expedition enough film reel to cover their attempt. The 19,000-mile journey completed by Tim Slessor and the team captivated a nation emerging from postwar austerity. Tim’s book, The First Overland, soon became the bible of the overlanding religion.

Inspired by the First Overland, Alex made contact with now eighty-six-year-old Tim and together they planned an epic recreation of the original trip, this time from Singapore to London. Their goal was to complete the legendary journey started more than sixty years ago in the original Land Rover. In awe of the unstoppable Tim, and haunted by his own grandfather’s declining health, Alex and his team soon find themselves battling rough roads, breakdowns and Oxford’s constantly leaky roof to discover a world changed for the better – and worse – since the first expedition.

**NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING ROBERT PATTINSON, CHARLIE HUNNAM AND SIENNA MILLER** 'A riveting, exciting and thoroughly compelling tale of adventure'JOHN GRISHAM The story of Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, the inspiration behind Conan Doyle's The Lost World Fawcett was among the last of a legendary breed of British explorers. For years he explored the Amazon and came to believe that its jungle concealed a large, complex civilization, like El Dorado. Obsessed with its discovery, he christened it the City of Z. In 1925, Fawcett headed into the wilderness with his son Jack, vowing to make history. They vanished without a trace. For the next eighty years, hordes of explorers plunged into the jungle, trying to find evidence of Fawcett's party or Z. Some died from disease and starvation; others simply disappeared. In this spellbinding true tale of lethal obsession, David Grann retraces the footsteps of Fawcett and his followers as he unravels one of the greatest mysteries of exploration. 'A wonderful story of a lost age of heroic exploration' Sunday Times 'Marvellous ... An engrossing book whose protagonist could out-think Indiana Jones' Daily Telegraph 'The best story in the world, told perfectly' Evening Standard 'A fascinating and brilliant book' Malcolm Gladwell

In 1982, at the age of just twenty-three and halfway through her architecture studies, Elspeth Beard left her family and friends in London and set off on a 35,000-mile solo adventure around the world on her 1974 BMW R60/6. Reeling from a recent breakup and with only limited savings from her pub job, a tent, a few clothes and some tools, all packed on the back of her bike, she was determined to prove herself. She had ridden bikes since her teens and was well travelled. But nothing could prepare her for what lay ahead. When she returned to London nearly two and a half years later she was stones lighter and decades wiser. She'd ridden through unforgiving landscapes and countries ravaged by war, witnessed civil uprisings that forced her to fake documents, and fended off sexual attacks, biker gangs and corrupt police convinced she was trafficking drugs. She'd survived life-threatening illnesses, personal loss and brutal accidents that had left permanent scars and a black hole in her memory. And she'd fallen in love with two very different men. In an age before email, the internet, mobile phones, satnavs and, in some parts of the world, readily available and reliable maps, Elspeth achieved something that would still seem remarkable today. Told with honesty and wit, this is the extraordinary and moving story of a unique and life-changing adventure.

The extraordinary story of how the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, was found in the most hostile sea on Earth in 2022 On 21 November 1915, Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, Endurance, finally succumbed to the crushing ice. Its crew watched in silence as the stern rose twenty feet in the air and then, it was gone. The miraculous escape and survival of all 28 men on board have entered legend. And yet, the iconic ship that bore them to the brink of the Antarctic was considered forever lost. A century later, an audacious plan to locate the ship was hatched. The Ship Beneath the Ice gives a blow-by-blow account of the two epic expeditions to find the Endurance. As with Shackleton's own story, the voyages were filled with intense drama and teamwork under pressure. In March 2022, the Endurance was finally found to headlines all over the world. Written by Mensun Bound, the Director of Exploration on both expeditions, this captivating narrative includes countless fascinating stories of Shackleton and his legendary ship. Complete with a selection of Frank Hurley's photos from Shackleton's original voyage in 1914-17, as well as from the expeditions in 2019 and 2022, The Ship Beneath the Ice is the perfect tribute to this monumental discovery.

A SPECTATOR and PROSPECT Book of 2022 'Ceaselessly interesting, knowledgeable and evocative' Spectator 'A fresh way to write history' Alan Johnson 'A quirky, amused, erudite homage to France . . . ambitious and original' The Times _____ Original, knowledgeable and endlessly entertaining, France: An Adventure History is an unforgettable journey through France from the first century BC to the present day. Drawn from countless new discoveries and thirty years of exploring France on foot, in the library and across 30,000 miles on the author's beloved bike, it begins with Gaulish and Roman times and ends in the age of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, the Gilets Jaunes and Covid-19. From the plains of Provence to the slums and boulevards of Paris, events and themes of French history may be familiar - Louis XIV, the French Revolution, the French Resistance, the Tour de France - but all are presented in a shining new light. Frequently hilarious, always surprising, France: An Adventure History is a sweeping panorama of France, teeming with characters, stories and coincidences, and offering a thrilling sense of discovery and enlightenment. This vivid, living history of one of the world's most fascinating nations will make even seasoned Francophiles wonder if they really know that terra incognita which is currently referred to as 'France'. _____ 'Packed full of discoveries' The Sunday Times 'A gorgeous tapestry of insights, stories and surprises' Fintan O'Toole 'A rich and vibrant narrative . . . clear-eyed but imaginative storytelling' Financial Times 'Full of life' Prospect

Dick Isherwood learnt his craft in the 1960s in the competitive melee of the Cambridge University Mountaineering Club. His enthusiasm meant he took every opportunity to gain more experience on steep rock - dry, grotty or wet - but by 1964 he was already looking to wider horizons and joined Henry Day's "Cambridge Chitral Expedition". By 1969 he had become one of the top rock climbers in the UK, repeating many of the hardest routes and putting up a few new ones in North Wales, the Lakes and Scotland. A job move to the Far East then enabled him to concentrate on his passion for small alpine-type expeditions, much in the style of Shipton and Tilman. One example was his audacious two-man attempt on Annapurna II (7937m). But not all trips were to the Himalaya - he climbed the Carstensz Pyramide (4884m) in New Guinea - one of the "Seven Summits" - by a new route and rounded off the trip with an epic solo ascent of Sunday Peak. He finally "settled down" in 1999 in Port Townsend, Washington and whilst still mountaineering, became an accomplished sailor, frequently taking himself off on long solo trips in his sea kayak or sailing boat around the north Pacific coast. A blogger recently wrote "Everyone had a Dick Isherwood story". This anthology tells many as described in his writings and those of his friends. They illustrate some of his extraordinary adventures over more than 50 years.

Since the days of conquistador Hernan Cortes, rumours have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden deep in the Honduran interior. Indigenous tribes speak of ancestors who fled there to escape the Spanish invaders, and warn the legendary city is cursed: to enter it is a death sentence. They call it the Lost City of the Monkey God. In 1940, swashbuckling journalist Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artefacts and an electrifying story of having found the City - but then committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, bestselling author Doug Preston joined a team of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. In 2012 he climbed aboard a single-engine plane carrying a highly advanced, classified technology that could map the terrain under the densest rainforest canopy. In an unexplored valley ringed by steep mountains, that flight revealed the unmistakable image of a sprawling metropolis, tantalizing evidence of not just an undiscovered city but a lost civilization. To confirm the discovery, Preston and the team battled torrential rains, quickmud, plagues of insects, jaguars, and deadly snakes. They emerged from the jungle with proof of the legend... and the curse. They had contracted a horrifying, incurable and sometimes lethal disease. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with history, adventure and dramatic twists of fortune, The Lost City of the Monkey God is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century.

A disabled foreigner in Japan, a society historically hostile to difference, Kenny Fries finds himself on a journey of profound self-discovery. As he visits gardens, experiences Noh and butoh, and meets artists and scholars, he discovers disabled gods, one-eyed samurai, blind chanting priests, and atomic bomb survivors. When he is diagnosed as HIV positive, all his assumptions about Japan, the body, and mortality are shaken, requiring him to find a way to reenter life on new terms.

Having made the daring decision to set off around the world by bicycle, Pam Goodall left the comfortable surroundings of her home in West Sussex one spring morning, and went on to pedal her way through Europe, Asia and America. She was approaching her sixtieth birthday and travelled alone. Riding It Out is a record of this remarkable journey, giving a vivid and lighthearted account. This includes the trials of finding a place to sleep each night, the reality of owning a Brooks saddle and choosing to ignore persistent warnings from well meaning strangers of the dangers lurking ahead for a lone female cyclist. The challenge of obtaining visas throughout Asia proves nerve-wracking and costly. This one woman tale of adventure encapsulates the spirit of freedom of the open road (or bumpy track) so that you can enjoy the experience without the discomforts.

Nigel Barley travels to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia to live among the Torajan people, known for their spectacular buildings and elaborate ancestor cults. At last he is following his own advice to students, to do their anthropological fieldwork `somewhere where the inhabitants are beautiful, friendly, where you would like the food and there are nice flowers. With his customary wit and delight in the telling detail, he takes the reader deep into this complex but adaptable society. The mutual warmth of his friendships allows Barley to reverse the habitual patterns of anthropology. He becomes host to four Torajan carvers in London, invited to build a traditional rice barn at the Museum of Mankind. The observer becomes the observed, and it is Barley s turn to explain the absurd complexities of an English city to his bemused but tolerant guests in a magnificent, self critical finale. Not a Hazardous Sport provides a magnificent end to a trilogy of anthropological journeys that began with The Innocent Anthropologist and A Plague of Caterpillars (both published by Eland). A postscript, penned thirty years after these adventures had been concluded, confirms the rich arc of this storyline of role reversals.

One woman, one bike and one richly entertaining, perception-altering journey of discovery. In 2015, as the Syrian War raged and the refugee crisis reached its peak, Rebecca Lowe set off on her bicycle across the Middle East. Driven by a desire to learn more about this troubled region and its relationship with the West, Lowe's 11,000-kilometre journey took her through Europe to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, the Gulf and finally to Iran. It was an odyssey through landscapes and history that captured her heart, but also a deeply challenging cycle across mountains, deserts and repressive police states that nearly defeated her. Plagued by punctures and battling temperatures ranging from -6 to 48C, Lowe was rescued frequently by farmers and refugees, villagers and urbanites alike, and relied almost entirely on the kindness and hospitality of locals to complete this living portrait of the modern Middle East. This is her evocative, deeply researched and often very funny account of her travels - and the people, politics and culture she encountered. 'Terrifically compelling ... bursting with humour, adventure and insight into the rich landscapes and history of the Middle East. Lowe recounts the beauty, kindnesses and complexities of the lands she travels through with an illuminating insight. A wonderful new travel writer.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes

The Oxus in Afghanistan's High Pamir is one of the greatest rivers of the world, and also one of the least known. Running through the core of Central Asia, it is unusual in a myriad of ways--the most surprising of which is that it never reaches the sea. Through the centuries, the majestic Oxus has been the source of legends. For explorers and travelers in Central Asia, the Oxus provided an enduring mystery--where exactly was its source? In 2008 Bill Colegrave and two colleagues set out to find the true source and settle the argument for once and all. No easy task, but they succeeded. This is a vivid account of this quest, and also tells of the author's previous precarious visits to one of the most unstable regions of the world. Bill Colegrave brings to life an extraordinary cast of characters--including those Victorian adventurers, soldiers, and statesmen who traveled before him, as well as his fellow explorers and guides on his own extraordinary adventure.

The astounding saga of an American sea captain and the New Guinean nobleman who became his stunned captive, then ally, and eventual friend Sailing in uncharted waters of the Pacific in 1830, Captain Benjamin Morrell of Connecticut became the first outsider to encounter the inhabitants of a small island off New Guinea. The contact quickly turned violent, fatal cannons were fired, and Morrell abducted young Dako, a hostage so shocked by the white complexions of his kidnappers that he believed he had been captured by the dead. This gripping book unveils for the first time the strange odyssey the two men shared in ensuing years. The account is uniquely told, as much from the captive's perspective as from the American's. Upon returning to New York, Morrell exhibited Dako as a "cannibal" in wildly popular shows performed on Broadway and along the east coast. The proceeds helped fund a return voyage to the South Pacific-the captain hoping to establish trade with Dako's assistance, and Dako seizing his chance to return home with the only person who knew where his island was. Supported by rich, newly found archives, this wide-ranging volume traces the voyage to its extraordinary ends and en route decrypts Morrell's ambiguous character, the mythic qualities of Dako's life, and the two men's infusion into American literature-as Melville's Queequeg, for example, and in Poe's Pym. The encounters confound indigenous peoples and Americans alike as both puzzle over what it is to be truly human and alive.

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Geography; Science / Earth Sciences / Geography; Travel / General; Travel / Essays

A beautiful, fully illustated edition of Apsley Cherry-Garrard's wonderful record of the Worst Journey in the World. Cherry-Garrard does describe Scott's unsucessful attempt to be to first person to the South Pole, but this is not the "worst journey." This is the complete book--Volumes I and II and glossary.

The no-holds-barred, eagerly awaited autobiography of one of Britain's most popular icons - known to millions from her many film and TV appearances, including Dynasty and The Brothers. Kate O'Mara writes here: "Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington! advised Noel Coward is his famous song. Stories of people going on incredible journeys constantly amaze and astound. Some journeys are meant to be adventures from the start; some begin inauspiciously and finish with a bang; some are groundbreaking and some show extraordinary triumphs in the face of adversity. Some travellers survive their journey and some do not. What makes these people risk their lives? Why do they put themselves in such danger? Divided into six chapters - Air and Space, Ice and Snow, Wind and Water, Great Escapers, Imperialists and Adventurers, Survivors - this book takes 60 extraordinary journeys from the past 100 years and recounts what happened to these intrepid travellers. Think of Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from Britain to Australia; Robert Swan, the first man to walk to both the North and South Poles; Jim Shekhdar, who rowed across the Pacific from Peru to Australia; Neil Armstrong, Ellen MacArthur, Ernest Shackleton, Mallory and Irvine, Charles Lindbergh, Yuri Gagarin, Amelia Earhart, Hiram Bingham, Joe Simpson, Hillary and Norgay, Nautilus, Apollo 13 and Ranulph Fiennes. Incredible Journeys celebrates the remarkable achievements made by these extraordinary adventurers. With insightful text from Thomas Cussans, and fantastic images from the breathtaking summits to the perilous high seas, this book will truly inspire.

'Mountains have given structure to my adult life. I suppose they have also given me purpose, though I still can't guess what that purpose might be. And although I have glimpsed the view from the mountaintop and I still have some memory of what direction life is meant to be going in, I usually lose sight of the wood for the trees. In other words, I, like most of us, have lived a life of structured chaos.' Structured Chaos is Victor Saunders' award-winning follow-up to Elusive Summits (winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize in 1990), No Place to Fall and Himalaya: The Tribulations of Vic & Mick. He reflects on his early childhood in Malaya and his first experiences of climbing as a student, and describes his progression from scaling canal-side walls in Camden to expeditions in the Himalaya and Karakoram. Following climbs on K2 and Nanga Parbat, he leaves his career as an architect and moves to Chamonix to become a mountain guide. He later makes the first ascent of Chamshen in the Saser Kangri massif, and reunites with old friend Mick Fowler to climb the north face of Sersank. This is not just a tale of mountaineering triumphs, but also an account of rescues, tragedies and failures. Telling his story with humour and warmth, Saunders spans the decades from youthful awkwardness to concerns about age-related forgetfulness, ranging from 'Where did I put my keys?' to 'Is this the right mountain?' Structured Chaos is a testament to the value of friendship and the things that really matter in life: being in the right place at the right time with the right people, and making the most of the view.

Mountaintops have long been seen as sacred places, home to gods and dreams. In one climbing year Peter Boardman visited three very different sacred mountains. He began in the New Year, on the South Face of the Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea. This shark's fin of steep limestone walls and sweeping glaciers is the highest point between the Andes and the Himalaya, and one of the most inaccessible, rising above thick jungle inhabited by warring Stone Age tribes. During the spring Boardman was on more familiar, if hardly more reassuring, ground, making a four-man, oxygen-free attempt on the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga. Hurricane-force winds beat back their first two bids on the unclimbed North Ridge, but they eventually stood within feet of the summit - leaving the final few yards untrodden in deference to the inhabiting deity. In October, he was back in the Himalaya and climbing the mountain most sacred to the Sherpas: the twin-summited Gauri Sankar. Renowned for its technical difficulty and spectacular profile, it is aptly dubbed the Eiger of the Himalaya and Boardman's first ascent of the South Summit took a committing and gruelling twenty-three days. Three sacred mountains, three very different expeditions, all superbly captured by Boardman in Sacred Summits, his second book, first published shortly after his death in 1982. Combining the excitement of extreme climbing with acute observation of life in the mountains, this is an amusing, dramatic, poignant and thought-provoking book, amply fulfilling the promise of Boardman's first title, The Shining Mountain, for which he won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1979.

Through its extensive use of primary source materials and invaluable contextual notes, this book offers a documented history of one of the most famous adventures in early American history: the Lewis and Clark expedition. This book is the first to situate the Lewis and Clark expedition within the political and scientific ambitions of Thomas Jefferson. It spans a forty-year period in American history, from 1783–1832, covering Jefferson's early interest in trying to organize an expedition to explore the American West through the difficult negotiations of the Louisiana Purchase, the formation of the "Corps of Discovery," the expedition's incredible journey into the unknown, and its aftermath. The story of the expedition is told not just through the journals and letters of Lewis and Clark, but also through the firsthand accounts of the expedition's other members, which included Sacagawea, a Native American woman, and York, an African American slave. The book features more than 100 primary source documents, including letters to and from Jefferson, Benjamin Rush, and others as the expedition was being organized; diary excerpts during the expedition; and, uniquely, letters documenting the lives of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and York after the expedition.

The story of John Devoy's 1876 Catalpa rescue is a tale of heroism, creativity, and the triumph of independent spirit in pursuit of freedom. The daily log on board the whaling ship Catalpa begins with the typical recount of a crew intact and a spirit unfettered, but such quiet words deceive the truth of the audacious enterprise that came to be known as one of the most important rescues in Irish American history. John Devoy's men aided in the break-in and subsequent rescue of Irish political prisoners from the Australian coast, allowing millions of fellow Irishmen and American-Feninans, many of whom secretly financed the dangerous plot, to draw courage from the newly exiled prisoners. Philip Fennell and Marie King, both descendants of pardoned Fenian prisoner, tell the story from the John Devoy's own records and from the ship's logbooks. John Devoy's Catalpa Expedition includes an introduction by Terry Golway and the personal diaries, letters, and reports from John Devoy and his men.

The origins of anthropology lie in expeditionary journeys. But since the rise of immersive fieldwork, usually by a sole investigator, the older tradition of team-based social research has been largely eclipsed. Expeditionary Anthropology argues that expeditions have much to tell us about anthropologists and the people they studied. The book charts the diversity of anthropological expeditions and analyzes the often passionate arguments they provoked. Drawing on recent developments in gender studies, indigenous studies, and the history of science, the book argues that even today, the 'science of man' is deeply inscribed by its connections with expeditionary travel.

In this engaging tale of movement from one hemisphere to another, we see doctors at work attending to their often odious and demanding duties at sea, in quarantine, and after arrival. The book shows, in graphic detail, just why a few notorious voyages suffered tragic loss of life in the absence of competent supervision. Its emphasis, however, is on demonstrating the extent to which the professionalism of the majority of surgeon superintendents, even on ships where childhood epidemics raged, led to the extraordinary saving of life on the Australian route in the Victorian era.