Ernest Powell Giles (1835-97) is best remembered as one of the first explorers of South Australia. Powell emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1850, settling in Adelaide. From 1861 he was leading small-scale expeditions along the Darling River, searching for land suitable for cultivation. Following the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line between Adelaide and Darwin in 1872, Powell embarked on five expeditions attempting to discover an overland route between Adelaide and Perth. These volumes, first published in 1889, provide a detailed and dramatic account of his discoveries. Based on Powell's personal journals, these volumes describe in vivid detail the hardships and dangers of exploration in Australia in the nineteenth century, while providing an evocative description of the South Australian landscape before colonisation. Volume 1 contains Powell's account of his first two unsuccessful expeditions of 1872 and 1873, including his discovery of the Gibson Desert and Lake Amadeus.

Ernest Powell Giles (1835-97) is best remembered as one of the first explorers of South Australia. Powell emigrated to Australia with his parents in 1850, settling in Adelaide. From 1861 he was leading small-scale expeditions along the Darling River, searching for land suitable for cultivation. Following the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line between Adelaide and Darwin in 1872, Powell embarked on five expeditions attempting to discover an overland route between Adelaide and Perth. These volumes, first published in 1889, provide a detailed and dramatic account of his discoveries. Based on Powell's personal journals, these volumes describe in vivid detail the hardships and dangers of exploration in Australia in the nineteenth century, while providing an evocative description of the South Australian landscape before colonisation. Volume 2 deals with Powell's expeditions in 1874 and 1875, including his discovery of the Great Victoria Desert and his return journey.

John Lort Stokes (1812-85) was a naval officer on board H.M.S. Beagle - the same ship that had carried naturalist Charles Darwin around the world in 1831-6. Stokes served on that expedition and on the following commission, which was a survey of Australia in which the crew was charged with discovering more about the largely unknown land mass. The expedition set off in 1837 and Stokes did not return to England until 1843 - after 18 years of service on the Beagle - when he began work on this two-volume account of the voyage, which was published in 1846. This work provides a detailed narrative of the journey, including interaction with indigenous peoples and observations about the natural world in Australia, making it an important source about the early years of the European colony. Volume 1 covers Stokes' time exploring north-west Australia and includes illustrations of plants, insects, and reptiles.

John Lort Stokes (1812-85) was a naval officer on board H.M.S. Beagle - the same ship that had carried naturalist Charles Darwin around the world in 1831-6. Stokes served on that expedition and on the following commission, which was a survey of Australia in which the crew was charged with discovering more about the largely unknown land mass. The expedition set off in 1837 and Stokes did not return to England until 1843 - after 18 years of service on the Beagle - when he began work on this two-volume account of the voyage, which was published in 1846. This work provides a detailed narrative of the journey, including interaction with indigenous peoples and observations about the natural world in Australia, making it an important source about the early years of the European colony. Volume 2 sees the expedition explore the Victoria River, and later venture north into the Indonesian archipelago.

One of the most renowned nineteenth-century British explorers of Africa, David Livingstone (1813 73) was a medical missionary who received the Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1855. His fame was established by his 1853 6 coast-to-coast exploration of the African interior, and by the best-selling Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, published upon his return to England in 1857 (also reissued in this series). Livingstone's last expedition in search of 'the true source of the Nile', undertaken in 1866, forms the core of this two-volume travel diary, published posthumously in 1874. Volume 1 describes his illness-plagued journey from Zanzibar to Ujiji, in Western Tanzania. It also records his 1871 encounter with the New York Herald correspondent and explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who had been dispatched to find him after Livingstone had been cut off from the outside world for so long that he was presumed dead.

One of the most renowned nineteenth-century British explorers of Africa, David Livingstone (1813 73) was a medical missionary who received the Royal Geographical Society gold medal in 1855. His fame was established by his 1853 6 coast-to-coast exploration of the African interior, and by the best-selling Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, published upon his return to England in 1857 (also reissued in this series). Livingstone's last expedition in search of 'the true source of the Nile', undertaken in 1866, forms the core of this two-volume travel diary, published posthumously in 1874. Volume 2 describes the last two years of his life, when, after his meeting with the journalist Henry Morton Stanley in 1871, Livingstone insisted on staying in Africa despite his poor health. It includes details about his death and the journey to bring his body back to the British authorities, reported by Livingstone's attendants Chuma and Susi.

This is an English translation from 1772 of the famous Voyage Autour du Monde (1771) by Louis de Bougainville (1729 1811), French admiral and explorer. The contemporary fascination with global circumnavigation created demand for this translation by John Reinhold Forster (1729 98), which includes many annotations and comments from the translator himself on de Bougainville's observations. Describing all of de Bougainville's adventures on the voyage (which took place between 1766 and 1769) as well as his descriptions of local flora and fauna, the gripping tale includes such interesting passages as the unmasking of the botanist's valet as a woman (the first known to have circumnavigated the globe); de Bougainville's famous descriptions of Tahitian society; and graphic descriptions of the discomforts and perils of sea voyaging in the eighteenth century. It includes a copy of the original eighteenth-century plot of the route, and several plates representing original sketches from the trip.

When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799-1877), who eventually took the decision to abandon four ships in the pack-ice. He recounts his unsuccessful adventure, defending his actions against critics, in this illustrated two-volume book, first published in 1855, which also includes scientific contributions. Volume 1 describes Belcher's outward journey, Arctic animals such as walruses and whales, and the effects of extreme cold.

When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799-1877), who recounts his unsuccessful adventure in this illustrated two-volume book, first published in 1855. Volume 2 covers, and attempts to justify, Belcher's much-criticised decision to abandon four ships in the pack-ice. It also contains Belcher's views on reports of cannibalism among Franklin's crew, as well as scientific observations and a fascinating list of provisions.

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) was a British botanist and one of the most influential scientific patrons of the eighteenth century. After inheriting a fortune on the death of his father in 1761, Banks devoted his life to studying natural history. His fame following his participation in Captain Cook's epic voyage on the Endeavour between 1768 and 1771 led to his election as President of the Royal Society in 1778, a post which he then held until his death. This volume, first published in 1896, contains Banks' account of the voyage of the Endeavour across the Pacific Ocean. Edited by the great botanist Sir Joseph Hooker, it describes in fascinating detail the peoples, cultures and wildlife Banks encountered in Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. Banks' aptitude as a natural historian and the crucial role he played in cataloguing and illustrating exotic wildlife during the expedition are emphasised in the work.

In Travels Through Norway and Lapland, Leopold von Buch (1774-1853), a German geologist and palaeontologist, recounts his expedition to Scandinavia in 1806-1808. This book, originally published in Berlin in 1810, and in this English translation in 1813, describes these large, sparsely populated regions at the turn of the nineteenth century. The translator's preface provides an important geo-political backdrop - the possibility of war in Norway and the machinations of Sweden, Russia and Great Britain over the future of this territory. Von Buch's observations, however, are firmly engaged with the scientific. He writes that his motivation for the expedition was to find out how the harsh climate influenced the land, and he records detailed information about the weather and the region's mineralogy and geological structure. He also describes the local population, providing a wide-ranging account of life in the remote reaches of Northern Europe.

Jean Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse (1741-88) was a French explorer appointed by Louis XVI to lead an expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean, which ended in disaster when in 1788 the ships left Botany Bay in Australia on course for the islands of Oceania, and were never heard from again. However, La Perouse had sent back via a British ship letters, journals and charts which form the basis of these detailed volumes (first published in English translation in 1799), providing a fascinating account of the journey and the discoveries of the expedition. They provide valuable insights into the social and political context of contemporary scientific naval expeditions. Volume 1 contains a short biography of La Perouse, copies of documents concerning the planning and provision of the expedition and a description of the voyage across the Pacific Ocean as far as Korea.

Jean Francois de Galaup, comte de La Perouse (1741-88) was a French explorer appointed by Louis XVI to lead an expedition to explore the Pacific Ocean, which ended in disaster when in 1788 the ships left Botany Bay in Australia on course for the islands of Oceania, and were never heard from again. However, La Perouse had sent back via a British ship letters, journals and charts which form the basis of these detailed volumes (first published in English translation in 1799), providing a fascinating account of the journey and the discoveries of the expedition. They provide valuable insights into the social and political context of contemporary scientific naval expeditions. Volume 2 contains a description of the remainder of the voyage to Botany Bay, navigational tables showing the route of the expedition and ethnological notes concerning the indigenous inhabitants of California and Easter Island.

Swedish archbishop Uno von Troil (1746 1803) had a lifelong enthusiasm for travel and scientific study which led him to accompany the famous naturalist Sir Joseph Banks (1743 1820) on an expedition to Iceland in 1772. Banks was already well known for his role as botanist on Captain Cook's first voyage on the Endeavour, which mapped the Pacific and uncharted parts of Australia and New Zealand. This book, first published in 1780, is a compilation of letters written by von Troil, documenting the tour of Iceland. The letters describe volcanos and other geological features as well as providing meteorological information and an account of the northern lights. Through his amiable and enthusiastic correspondence, von Troil paints a picture of the Icelandic people, their national character and culture, including their diet and occupations. Also featured is an account of the religious history of Iceland and the organisation of the Icelandic church.

In 1866, William Howard Russell (1820 1907) published this work, the official account of the July 1865 expedition on board the Great Eastern to lay a cable along the Atlantic Ocean floor between Valentia, Ireland, and Foilhummerum Bay in Newfoundland. It is illustrated with 26 lithographs of watercolours by Robert Dudley, who also travelled with the expedition. The cable, constructed by the Telegraph Construction & Maintenance Company, was designed to create a communications bridge between North America and Europe, enabling telegrams to be sent and received within minutes, when previously messages could be sent only by ship. The 1865 expedition was the fourth attempt to lay the cable, and although after 1200 miles the cable broke and was lost in the ocean, an expedition the following year was finally successful. This lively account of a pioneering attempt will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of technology.

The success of the Victorian explorer and missionary David Livingstone's first book, Missionary Travels (1857), led to his receiving government funding in 1858 for an expedition up the Zambezi River. The trip was expected to last two years, and was intended to further commercial and scientific as well as missionary aims. However, owing to internal disagreements, illness (including the death of Livingstone's wife), drought and tribal warfare, the explorers' mission took six and a half years and achieved little apart from collecting plant and geological specimens. The upper reaches of the Zambesi proved unnavigable owing to rapids and waterfalls, and the expedition was recalled. This account, published in 1865 by Livingstone (1813-1873) and his younger brother Charles, who had accompanied him, was in part an attempt to excuse the problems which had beset the expedition, and restore Livingstone's reputation in order to gain backing for further ventures.

John Hanning Speke (1827 1864) was a British army officer and explorer, remembered for his expeditions in search of the source of the Nile and his disputes with Richard Burton on that subject. On an expedition begun in 1856 Burton and Speke reached Lake Tanganyika together, but Speke travelled on alone to Lake Victoria. He controversially gave lectures about the lakes in London in 1859, without awaiting Burton's return. Speke returned to Africa later that year, leading an expedition organised by the Royal Geographical Society, to explore Lake Victoria and investigate whether it really was the source of the Nile. This book, published in 1863, describes the 1859 expedition's challenging and eventful journey through present-day Zanzibar, Tanzania and Uganda, and the indigenous peoples the explorers encountered. Speke made invaluable surveys of the area, but it was only after his death that his views about the Nile were finally proved correct.

One hundred and fifty years ago travelling with a camera was both a novelty and an enormous challenge. The intrepid photographers who took their cameras to remote corners of the world brought back images which amazed their peers. Photographer and historian John Hannavy has recreated some of their epic journeys - travelling to Scotland along the route followed by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1844; recreating Charles Kinnear and Thomas Melville Raven's 1857 journeys to France; exploring the Nile from Cairo to Abu Simbel along the route Francis Frith followed between 1856 and 1859; travelling through Russia and the Ukraine as Roger Fenton did in 1852 and 1855; across India from Calcutta to Simla following Samuel Bourne's 1863 account of his travels; and exploring China and Cyprus as John Thomson did between 1863 and 1878.This beautifully illustrated book contrasts the Victorian world with our own, and looks at how our view of the world has changed in the intevening years. It chronicles the developments which have taken place in travel, architecture, culture, and of course photography itself.

This absorbing narrative by the world famous explorer and Christian missionary, David Livingstone, (1813 1873) was first published in 1857 after the President of the Royal Geographical Society asked Livingstone to give a series of public lectures on his travels in Africa. The book was a great success, but Livingstone reportedly said 'I think I would rather cross the African continent again than undertake to write another book'. Livingstone's book describes in careful detail his travels and work in parts of southern and central Africa previously unknown to Europeans. It distils the experiences and observations of sixteen years during which Livingstone bravely faced the challenges of climate, terrain and tropical disease, travelling in a small group and adopting a non-confrontational approach to the local populations. The book makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in Africa's indigenous peoples, their customs and languages, animal and plant life, geology, and mineralogy.

Captured by slavers as a boy, freed by the Royal Navy, and raised at a mission, Samuel Crowther in 1864 became the first African to be ordained as an Anglican bishop. As a priest, he accompanied the Scottish merchant MacGregor Laird on his expedition to West Africa in 1854, and celebrated Sunday services in a variety of bizarre locations and perilous conditions. This 1855 book is Crowther's detailed record of his journey aboard the steamboat Pleiad. Written from the unusual perspective of an African-born, London-educated clergyman, it is a congenial and evocative account of the day-to-day difficulties confronting the explorers, their interactions with native peoples, and encounters with slavery and civil war. Crowther, a keen linguist, went on to publish several books on African languages including Nupe, Igbo and Yoruba. This book includes a substantial appendix comparing the grammar and vocabularies of the languages he encountered.

Tom is an Asian puppy, destined to be dinner. Instead, an Irish couple rescue him from a street vendor and take him into their care. Together they embark on a whirlwind tour through Vietnam, Nepal and Cambodia, thwarting street dogs and customs officials along the way. But can the three of them truly become a family?

Bob Shepton is an ordained minister in the Church of England in his late 70s, but spends most of his time sailing into the Arctic and making first ascents of inaccessible mountains. No tea parties for this vicar. Opening with the disastrous fire that destroyed his yacht whilst he was ice-bound in Greenland, the book travels back to his childhood growing up on the rubber plantation his father managed in Malaysia, moving back to England after his father was shot by the Japanese during the war, boarding school, the Royal Marines, and the church. We then follow Bob as he sails around the world with a group of schoolboys, is dismasted off the Falklands, trapped in ice, and climbs mountains accessible only from iceberg-strewn water and with only sketchy maps available. Bob Shepton, winner of the 2013 Yachtsman of the Year Award, is an old-school adventurer, and this compelling book is in the spirit of sailing mountaineer HW Tilman, explorer Ranulph Fiennes, climber Chris Bonington and yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston, all of whom have been either friends of Bob's or an inspiration for his own exploits. Derring do in a dog collar! Ranulph Fiennes: 'A wonderful true tale of adventure.' Bear Grylls: 'You are going to enjoy this...as a Commando, Bob is clearly made of the right stuff!'

This under-documented expedition was a pivotal moment in the annals of polar exploration and was the starting point, in historical terms, of revealing the great unknown continent of Antarctica. It was the first time in nearly 70 years since Captain James Cook had circumnavigated Antarctica, that a Royal Naval voyage of discovery had ventured so far South. They set a new 'furthest south' record in the process beating the one set up by James Weddell in a whaling ship in 1823. The expedition set sail from Greenwich in 1839. It consisted of two wooden sailing ships commanded by Captain James Clark Ross and Commander Francis Crozier. The ships were manned exclusively by Royal Naval personnel and each ship had a complement of 64 men and officers. Their primary task was of a scientific nature to study the Earth's magnetic field and build up a set of results that could provide a greater understanding of the effects of magnetism on compasses and their use in navigating the world's oceans. This voyage had a set of planned targets and all were accomplished. In the process a vast amount of scientific information was collected. Many exotic places were visited during the voyage amongst them Madeira, St Helena, Cape Town, Kerguelen island, New Zealand, Australia and the Falkland Islands but the pinnacle was the discovery of the Ross Sea, The Ross Ice Shelf and the mighty volcanoes of Erebus and Terror (named after the two ships). The crews experienced the dangers of navigating in ice-strewn waters and narrowly escaping being crushed by icebergs. Illness was kept at bay although several lives were lost due to accidents. It would be another 60 years before the scenes of their greatest discoveries were visited again and then the Golden Age of Discovery was ushered in with the likes of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen.

This stunning book captures the spirit of the Polar World, as never seen before - through the eyes of a man who was the bridge between the heroic age of exploration and modern adventure; a visionary who walked in the footsteps of all the greatest explorers, and learned the art of survival from the Inuit themselves.This superb collection of Sir Wally's paintings, together with personal anecdotes of his experiences in the Polar World and his connection with the polar pioneers of the past, as well as his descriptions of the inspiration behind his paintings, makes this, his last book, outstandingly valuable as a vital contribution to polar literature, and as a unique collectors item.Sir Wally Herbert, who passed away on 12th June 2007, just days after seeing the first copies of the book, was a polar explorer of international distinction - 'the greatest explorer of our time' according to Sir Ranulph Fiennes; a 'phenomenon' according to Lord Shackleton, and a man whose 'determination and courage', according to His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, 'are of such heroic proportions that his country should mark his achievements eventually by having him stuffed and put on display!' Sir Wally, who was Knighted on the last day of the old Millennium as one of the 'icons' of the 20th Century, was not only a polar hero, but is also a prize-winning author with nine books to his credit, and a gifted artist who had one-man shows in London, Sydney and New York, and whose original artworks are owned by Royals, collectors and investors from all over the world. He was the only artist who ever painted the Polar World in all four seasons of the year and, even more remarkably, did so from the unique perspective of the pioneer."The Polar World" is not only an extraordinary celebration of polar life and landscape rarely visited by man, but it is also a journey into the very heart of the last of the great polar pioneers. This is a truly important book that will give its readers an unparalleled insight into the experience of the polar wilderness.

A professional biologist with wide experience of working both in the UK and overseas, Rory Putman takes us with him on working trips to Iceland, East Africa, Nigeria and Indonesia, introducing us to the countries and their people, their natural history, and explaining some of the wildlife issues which have prompted himself and his colleagues to travel there in the first place. The stories cover episodes from more than four decades of working as a jobbing biologist overseas. The understanding required to solve problems and seek solutions to particular issues related to management and conservation of wildlife means that in some way the observer becomes much more intimately engaged, and perhaps gains a different perspective of the country and its culture than might be apparent to a more casual 'outside' onlooker. To some extent, that deeper involvement enables Rory Putman to give the reader more of an inside view and introduction to the countries and their wildlife from a wholly personal perspective. Like many other enthusiastic naturalists, the author enjoyed experiencing new habitats and seeing wonderful and exotic species on his travels and this engaging book will carry the reader along on the journey.