Two hundred and fifty years ago Captain James Cook, during his extraordinary voyages of navigation and maritime exploration, searched for Antarctica - the Unknown Southern Continent. During parts of his three voyages in the southern Pacific and Southern Oceans, Cook 'narrowed the options' for the location of Antarctica. Over three summers, he completed a circumnavigation of portions of the Southern Continent, encountering impenetrable barriers of ice, and he suggested the continent existed, a frozen land not populated by a living soul. Yet his Antarctic voyages are perhaps the least studied of all his remarkable travels. That is why James Hamilton's gripping and scholarly study, which brings together the stories of Cook's Antarctic journeys into a single volume, is such an original and timely addition to the literature on Cook and eighteenth-century exploration. Using Cook's journals and the log books of officers who sailed with him, the book sets his Antarctic explorations within the context of his historic voyages. The main focus is on the Second Voyage (1772-1775), but brief episodes in the First Voyage (during 1769) and the Third Voyage (1776) are part of the story. Throughout the narrative Cook's exceptional seamanship and navigational skills, and that of his crew, are displayed during often-difficult passages in foul weather across uncharted and inhospitable seas. Captain James Cook and the Search for Antarctica offers the reader a fascinating insight into Cook the seaman and explorer, and it will be essential reading for anyone who has a particular interest the history of the Southern Continent.

From the author of INTO THE SILENCE, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction In 1941, Richard Evans Schultes took a leave of absence from Harvard University and disappeared into the Northern Amazon of Colombia. The world's leading authority on the hallucinogens and medicinal plants of the region, he returned after twelve years of travelling through South America in a dug-out canoe, mapping uncharted rivers, living among local tribes and documenting the knowledge of shamans. Thirty years later, his student Wade Davis landed in Bogota to follow in his mentor's footsteps - so creating an epic tale of undaunted adventure, a compelling work of natural history and a testament to the spirit of scientific exploration.

If there's an adventure to be had, it's likely that David Hempleman-Adams has been there first. Ranking alongside Ranulph Fiennes and Chris Bonnington in the pantheon of British explorers, he is the first person in history to achieve what is termed the Adventurers' Grand Slam, by reaching the Geographic and Magnetic North and South Poles as well as climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents. The question Hempleman-Adams is most often asked is, simply: what drives him on? Why risk frostbite pulling a sledge to the North Pole? Why experience the Death Zone on Everest? Why fly in the tiny basket of a precarious balloon across the Atlantic? Is it simply the case that he likes to push himself to the limits, or is there something more to it? No Such Thing as Failure answers these questions and more, uncovering what drives arguably the world's greatest adventurer.

""Men like to conquer, fight, or subdue the Arctic, while we had a different attitude. We felt that we had to go along with what we were faced with. . . . We tried to have the Arctic on our side instead of confronting it."" In 1997 a group of 20 women set out to become the world's first all-female expedition to the North Pole, hoping to raise awareness and support for sufferers of cancer and other illnesses. Sue Riches, recently recovering from a mastectomy, and her daughter Victoria were among them, and this is their inspirational story of personal accomplishment.

At 2,922 miles, the Congo is the eighth longest river and the deepest in the world, with a flow rate second only to the Amazon. Ex-Marine Phil Harwood embarked on an epic solo journey from the river's true source in the highlands of Zambia through war-torn Central Africa. With no outside help whatsoever he faced swamps, waterfalls, man-eating crocodiles, hippos, aggressive snakes and spiders' webs the size of houses. He collapsed from malaria, and was arrested, intimidated and chased. On one stretch, known as 'The Abattoir' for its history of cannibalism and reputation for criminal activity, the four brothers he hired as bodyguards were asked by locals, 'Why haven't you cut his throat yet?' But he also received tremendous hospitality from proud and brave people long forgotten by the Western world, especially friendly riverside fishermen who helped wherever they could on Phil's exhilarating and terrifying five-month journey. Author's documentary film of the journey, available on his website ww.canoeingthecongo.com, won several awards and went on tour in North America with the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.

For the first time ever Roland Huntford presents each man's full account of the race to the South Pole in their own words. In 1910 Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen set sail for Antarctica, each from his own starting point, and the epic race for the South Pole was on. December 2011 marks the centenary of the conclusion to the last great race of terrestrial discovery. For the first time Scott's unedited diaries run alongside those of both Amundsen and Olav Bjaaland, never before translated into English. Cutting through the welter of controversy to the events at the heart of the story, Huntford weaves the narrative from the protagonists' accounts of their own fate. What emerges is a whole new understanding of what really happened on the ice and the definitive account of the Race for the South Pole.

From the supernal peaks of sacred temples to the depths of roaring river rapids, author/photographer/adventurer John Annerino takes us off the Grand Canyon's tourist grid to retrace the footpaths and rough-water passages of its earliest explorers. Spectacular photographs and stories of Annerino's own dicey expeditions in the canyon and on the Colorado River are juxtaposed with historical tales, illustrations, and black-and-white images taken by pioneering photographers. Annerino visits the ancient sites of native peoples who roamed the far corners of this otherworldly abyss, and in vivid prose provides firsthand descriptions of the hidden landscapes explored by Spanish missionaries, scientists, National Geographic Society parties, and women river runners. These trailblazing treks tested their endurance in extreme conditions and, for some, yielded rare plant and animal specimens that were collected for scientific study. Join Annerino on this wild adventure in what National Geographic called the "greatest and most spectacular canyon system on earth."

"GRIPPING. ... AN HOUR-BY-HOUR ACCOUNT." - WALL STREET JOURNAL * From one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history comes a masterful account of Lindbergh's death-defying nonstop transatlantic flight in Spirit of St. Louis On the rainy morning of May 20, 1927, a little-known American pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh climbed into his single-engine monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, and prepared to take off from a small airfield on Long Island, New York. Despite his inexperience-the twenty-five-year-old Lindbergh had never before flown over open water-he was determined to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize promised since 1919 to the first pilot to fly nonstop between New York and Paris, a terrifying adventure that had already claimed six men's lives. Ahead of him lay a 3,600-mile solo journey across the vast north Atlantic and into the unknown; his survival rested on his skill, courage, and an unassuming little aircraft with no front window. Only 500 people showed up to see him off. Thirty-three and a half hours later, a crowd of more than 100,000 mobbed Spirit as the audacious young American touched down in Paris, having acheived the seemingly impossible. Overnight, as he navigated by the stars through storms across the featureless ocean, news of his attempt had circled the globe, making him an international celebrity by the time he reached Europe. He returned to the United States a national hero, feted with ticker-tape parades that drew millions, bestowed every possible award from the Medal of Honor to Time's "Man of the Year" (the first to be so named), commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp within months, and celebrated as the embodiment of the twentieth century and America's place in it. Acclaimed aviation historian Dan Hampton's The Flight is a long-overdue, flyer's-eye narrative of Lindbergh's legendary journey. A decorated fighter pilot who flew more than 150 combat missions in an F-16 and made numerous transatlantic crossings, Hampton draws on his unique perspective to bring alive the danger, uncertainty, and heroic accomplishment of Lindbergh's crossing. Hampton's deeply researched telling also incorporates a trove of primary sources, including Lindbergh's own personal diary and writings, as well as family letters and untapped aviation archives that fill out this legendary story as never before.

An important figure in British commercial mineralogy, John Mawe (1766-1829) first published this work in 1812; reissued here is the 1821 revised edition. Mawe and his wife ran a mineral-dealing business, based in Derby with a shop in London. Collecting specimens for the aristocracy, advising on explorations, and going on gathering tours, he also wrote on Derbyshire mineralogy, the South Seas, diamonds, geology and conchology. This book covers his voyage to South America in 1804, including his expedition in 1809 to the gold and diamond mining areas of Brazil. It also describes the local climate, people, natural history, trade and agriculture, and the splendour of such cities as Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. A bestseller, found on library shelves across Europe - and aboard the Beagle with Charles Darwin - the book remains relevant in the history of mineralogy and will appeal to non-specialists interested in South American adventure.

In the tradition of Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery - an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who used it to explore, conquer, and map the world. This is the dramatic story of an instrument that changed history. Built around David Barrie's own transatlantic passage using the very same navigational tools as Captain Cook, Sextant tells how one of the most vital navigational instruments was invented and used - and why the golden age of celestial navigation has now come to an end. From Cook, Bligh and Vancouver to Bougainville, La Perouse, Flinders and FitzRoy, Barrie recounts the fortunes of the explorers who risked their lives in charting the Pacific, as well as the intrepid adventures of Slocum, Shackleton and Worsley. A heady mix of history, science and adventure, this elegy to a lost technology is infused with the wonder of discovery and the sublimity of the cosmos.

Carl Lumholtz (1851 1922) was a Norwegian ethnographer and explorer who, soon after publishing an influential study of Australian Aborigines (also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection), spent five years researching native peoples in Mexico. This two-volume work, published in 1903, describes his expeditions to remote parts of north-west Mexico, inspired by reports about indigenous peoples who lived in cliff dwellings along mountainsides. While in the US in 1890 on a lecture tour, Lumholtz was able to raise sufficient funds for the expedition. He arrived in Mexico City that summer, and after meeting the president, Porfirio D az, he set off with a team of scientists for the Sierra Madre del Norte mountains in the north-west of Mexico, to find the cave-dwelling Tarahumare Indians. Volume 1 covers the start of the expedition and Tarahumare life, etiquette and beliefs, as well as details of the natural history of this little-explored region.

Carl Lumholtz (1851 1922) was a Norwegian ethnographer and explorer who, soon after publishing an influential study of Australian Aborigines (also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection), spent five years researching native peoples in Mexico. This two-volume work, published in 1903, describes his expeditions to remote parts of north-west Mexico, inspired by reports about indigenous peoples who lived in cliff dwellings along mountainsides. While in the US in 1890 on a lecture tour, Lumholtz was able to raise sufficient funds for the expedition. He arrived in Mexico City that summer, and after meeting the president, Porfirio D az, he set off with a team of scientists for the Sierra Madre del Norte mountains in the north-west of Mexico, to find the cave-dwelling Tarahumare Indians. Volume 2 focuses mainly on the neighbouring Huichols people, their daily life, and their religious practices, including shamanism.

"Portugal is not all that far away, or exotic, or dangerous, but it felt like a huge stretch for me to leave my partner, family, job and home and just go off. An overland solo trip lasting months in an ancient little campervan was not the kind of thing I did. But it was something I was about to do."In her debut memoir A Van of One's Own, Biddy Wells tells the story of how, propelled by a thirst for peace and quiet, for a modest adventure and, perhaps, for freedom, she left for Portugal on her own, with only her old campervan, Myfawny, and her GPS, Tanya, for company. Having left just about everything behind, her solo trip forces her to face her fears, her past, and herself. The road provides the perfect canvas to connect the dots between a past breakdown and her present need for freedom, as she reflects on her own life, her relationship, her family and the world around her - to see whether her life still has room for her in it. As she meets wise and not-so- wise people, members of the campervan community and friendly locals, her outlook on life begins to shift, and a chance meeting in a bar leads to the person who will put her on the right track.But will she go back home, to Wales?And what is the meaning of 'home? 'A Van of One's Own is a journey through the breath-taking scenery of France, Spain, and finally Portugal, populated by colourful characters and the roar of the ocean, the taste of fresh fish and the grind of the asphalt; but more importantly, it is a journey through past memories and present conflicts to inner peace.

A rip-roaring yet intimate biography of the mighty Nile by Robert Twigger, award-winning author of ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS. 'A tour de force' FINANCIAL TIMES. So much begins on the banks of the Nile: all religion, all life, all stories, the script we write in, the language we speak, the gods, the legends and the names of stars. This mighty river that flows through a quarter of all Africa has been history's most sustained creator. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey from ancient times to the Arab Spring, award-winning author Robert Twigger weaves a Nile narrative like no other. As he navigates a meandering course through the history of the world's greatest river, he plucks the most intriguing, colourful and dramatic stories - truly a Nile red in tooth and claw. The result is both an epic journey through the whole sweep of human and pre-human history, and an intimate biography of the curious life of this great river, overflowing with stories of excess, love, passion, splendour and violence.

2018 Dwight L. Smith (ABC-CLIO) Award from the Western History Association A Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri offers the first annotated scholarly edition of Jean-Baptiste Truteau's journal of his voyage on the Missouri River in the central and northern Plains from 1794 to 1796 and of his description of the upper Missouri. This fully modern and magisterial edition of this essential journal surpasses all previous editions in assisting scholars and general readers in understanding Truteau's travels and encounters with the numerous Native peoples of the region, including the Arikaras, Cheyennes, Lakotas-Dakotas-Nakotas, Omahas, and Pawnees. Truteau's writings constitute the very foundation to our understanding of the late eighteenth-century fur trade in the region immediately preceding the expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803. An unparalleled primary source for its descriptions of Native American tribal customs, beliefs, rituals, material culture, and physical appearances, A Fur Trader on the Upper Missouri will be a classic among scholars, students, and general readers alike. Along with this new translation by Mildred Mott Wedel, Raymond J. DeMallie, and Robert Vezina, which includes facing French-English pages, the editors shed new light on Truteau's description of the upper Missouri and acknowledge his journal as the foremost account of Native peoples and the fur trade during the eighteenth century. Vezina's essay on the language used and his glossary of voyageur French also provide unique insight into the language of an educated French Canadian fur trader.

In the winter of 1739, Georg Steller received word from Empress Anna of Russia that he was to embark on a secret expedition to the far reaches of Siberia as a member of the Great Northern Expedition. While searching for economic possibilities and strategic advantages, Steller was to send back descriptions of everything he saw. The Empress's instructions were detailed, from requests for a preserved whale brain to observing the child-rearing customs of local peoples, and Steller met the task with dedication, bravery, and a good measure of humor. In the name of science, Steller and his comrades confronted horse-swallowing bogs, leaped across ice floes, and survived countless close calls in their exploration of an unforgiving environment. Not stopping at lists of fishes, birds, and mammals, Steller also details the villages and the lives of those living there, from vice-governors to prostitutes. His writings rail against government corruption and the misuse of power while describing with empathy the lives of the poor and forgotten, with special attention toward Native peoples. What emerges is a remarkable window into life—both human and animal—in 18th century Siberia. Due to the secret nature of the expedition, Steller's findings were hidden in Russian archives for centuries, but the near-daily entries he recorded on journeys from the town of Irkutsk to Kamchatka are presented here in English for the first time.

The immense 18th-century scientific journey, variously known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition or the Great Northern Expedition, from St. Petersburg across Siberia to the coast of North America, involved over 3,000 people and cost Peter the Great over one-sixth of his empire's annual revenue. Until now recorded only in academic works, this 10-year venture, led by the legendary Danish captain Vitus Bering and including scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers, and laborers, discovered Alaska, opened the Pacific fur trade, and led to fame, shipwreck, and "one of the most tragic and ghastly trials of suffering in the annals of maritime and arctic history."

Historians, biographers, and scholars of John James Audubon and natural history have long been mystified by Audubon's 1843 Missouri River expedition, for his journals of the trip were thought to have been destroyed by his granddaughter Maria Rebecca Audubon. Daniel Patterson is the first scholar to locate and assemble three important fragments of the 1843 Missouri River journals, and here he offers a stunning transcription and critical edition of Audubon's last journey through the American West. Patterson's new edition of the journals-unknown to Audubon scholars and fans-offers a significantly different understanding of the very core of Audubon's life and work. Readers will be introduced to a more authentic Audubon, one who was concerned about the disappearance of America's wild animal species and yet also loved to hunt and display his prowess in the wilderness. This edition reveals that Audubon's famous late conversion to conservationism on this expedition was, in fact, a literary fiction. Maria Rebecca Audubon created this myth when she rewrote her grandfather's journals for publication to make him into a visionary conservationist. In reality the journals detail almost gratuitous hunting predations throughout the course of Audubon's last expedition. The Missouri River Journals of John James Audubon is the definitive presentation of America's most famous naturalist on his last expedition and assesses Audubon's actual environmental ethic amid his conflicted relationship with the natural world he so admired and depicted in his iconic works.

Ernest Coleman has led or participated in four expeditions to find out the fate of the Franklin expedition. 129 men were lost from the two ships the Erebus and the Terror, looking for the North-West Passage. Many theories have been put forward - and some of them, in the author's opinion, have been shaped by political bias. 'The whole subject has been taken over by academics and politicians, both for questions of Canadian sovereignty and academic advancement - all at the cost of Franklin's (and the Royal Navy's) reputation.' In this work, Coleman is determined to set the record straight: ' I have provided answers to all their machinations (including the "lead poisoning" tripe, and the "cannibalism" nonsense), cracked the code in the writings of Petty Officer Peglar (bones found and wallet recovered), and given new answers to all the many smaller mysteries that continue to be reproduced by others. I have also revealed the possible site of Franklin's grave, the biggest mystery of all.' No Earthly Pole is an adventure set within an adventure. Ernest Coleman's lifetime quest for the truth at the ends of the earth is an extraordinary tale of determination in itself. The story of Franklin's expedition remains one of the greatest and most tragic events of the age of exploration.

When Otto Ecroyd embarked on a voyage to sail a broken boat from Norway to France - and failed - he decided to do what any other hapless adventurer would do: cycle from Alaska to Mexico. But, as Otto says, he 'had never ridden further than across town.' So, with no experience, the wrong type of bike and with panniers overflowing with lentils, Otto pedals across vast American landscapes, cowers from juggernaut RVs, and all the while wonders when he will next meet a grizzly bear. En route, Otto's wit and self-deprecating charm ensure he wins many friends, from an array of regional characters, to a cosmopolitan mix of fellow long-distance cyclists, each with their own motivation for riding the hard miles. With some, he cycles leisurely in tandem; with others, in lungbusting sprints; and with others still, in bedraggled pelotons. But then, this is no grand depart from the daily grind to the upper echelons of sport, for Otto is not in it for the competition - just the adventure of a lifetime. Northbound and Down isn't Ranulph Fiennes crossing Antarctica, or 'The Man Who Cycled the World'. It's more entertaining than that. Three months in North America, 100km a day on a bike. The places, the people, the misadventures of the journey. Like a Bill Bryson book if Bill stayed out of the pub once in a while. The local wildlife in the northern frontier. The moose, the bears, the refugees from 'The Lower 48' states. The characters in cowboy country. People who defy any stereotype of heartland America, and those who definitely don't. Down the Pacific Coast, redwood forests, hippie surf towns, mansions and homeless camps. Californian plastic perfection and the weirdness of the American dream. The preparation for cycling 5,000 miles was questionable at best. The furthest Otto had ridden before landing in Anchorage was from London to Brighton. He rode through a golf course and along a motorway, did laps of Gatwick airport and rolled into Brighton two hours late, ready for bed. He learned how to fix a puncture from YouTube and discovered that not all Porsche drivers are dickheads. Otto's touring skills start from a low base. The steep learning curve and daily struggles with reality on the road bring humour to the book. The challenge and the shared experience with people along the way leads to a lasting sense of the rewards of adventure. Otto's motivations for embarking on this adventure were relatable ones. He was bored at work, too old to get wasted in every hostel in Latin America and too poor for a proper mid-life crisis. This is the story of a normal guy breaking out of the daily grind. Cheryl Strayed's 'Wild', but inspired by a struggle against a life on autopilot rather than a life collapsing. A whole middle class, middle career and middle fulfilled generation is in a similar position. They are searching for inspiration. Northbound and Down gives them a taste of this, without having to miss a mortgage payment. Northbound and Down is the everyman's take on breaking the everyday.

Armed with a toilet trowel and a converted Mazda Bongo called Roxy, self-styled 'ordinary' ultrarunner, Gavin Boyter, embarks on his latest long-distance challenge: to run the 3400km from Paris to Istanbul along the route of the world's most illustrious railway journey, the Orient Express. And, despite work on Roxy having hampered his training programme, Gavin remains undeterred and plans to run through eight countries, to cross 180 rivers and to ascend 16,500 metres, through forests, mountains, plains and major cities - aided all the way by temperamental mapping technology and the ever encouraging support of his girlfriend, Aradhna. En route, Gavin will pass through urban edgelands and breathtaking scenery, battlefields and private estates, industrial plants and abandoned villages, and on through a drawn-back Iron Curtain where the East meets West. He will encounter packs of snarling, feral dogs, wild boar, menacing cows, and a herd of hundreds of deer. But he will also meet many fascinating characters, including a German, leg-slapping masseuse, music-loving Austrian farmers, middle-class Romanians, itinerant Romanies, stoic soldiers, and boisterous Turks. However, confined to the cramped conditions of Roxy, and each other's company, Gavin and Aradhna's journey is not only a test of the endurance and stamina required to put in the hard miles, but of their relationship, too. After all, if they can survive this challenge, they can survive anything. But will Gavin's legs make it all the way to Istanbul, where he has planned a special surprise for Aradhna?